Role of the father

• AO1


  Assessment Objective 1
• Schaffer and Emerson's findings

  • Around 3% of cases the male was a primary attachment figure
  • 75% of infants formed a secondary attachment with the father by the age of 18 months
• Grossman's findings


  • Fathers' roles differed with the mothers' role, in which they are more to do with play and stimulation and less to do with nurturing
  • The quality of the fathers' play with their babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachment
• Hrdy's findings


  • Fathers were less able to pick up on subtle signs of distress in infants compared to mothers
  • Suggests that the lack of oestrogen in men affect their ability to form close attachment with their children and become the primary caregiver
• Economic implications

  • increasingly fathers remain at home and therefore contribute less to the economy consequently more mothers may return to work and contribute to the economy

  • changing laws on paternity leave – government-funded so affects the economy; impact upon employers

  • gender pay gap may be reduced if parental roles are regarded as more equal

  • early attachment research, e.g. Bowlby suggests fathers should provide an economic rather than an emotional function.