AO1 - Role of the Father

• Grossman's Aim: Carried out a longitudinal study looking at both parents' behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children's attachment into their teens
• Grossman's 1st Finding: The quality of infants' attachment with their mothers, but not their fathers, was related to the childrens' attachments in adolescence

  • Conclusion: Fathers' attachment is less important than the mothers
• Grossman's 2nd Finding: Quality of father's play with infants was related to the quality of the children's adolescent attachments

  • Conclusion: Fathers have a different role in attachment - one that is more to do with play and stimulation, and less to do with nurturing, but is still important for the child's wellbeing
• Field's Aim: To investigate the role of the father in attachment
• Field's Method: Controlled observation
• Field's Procedure: Filmed 4 month old infants in face to face interactions with primary caregiver mothers, primary caregiver fathers and secondary caregiver fathers
• Field's Findings: Primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers - this behaviour seems to be more important in building an attachment to an infant
• Field's Conclusion: Fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure and take on a traditionally maternal role - the key to attachment is the level of responsiveness, not the gender of the parent