Role of the father

• It appears that most fathers go on to become an important attachment figure. 75% of babies studied by Shaffer & Emerson formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months, this was determined by the fact that the babies protested when their fathers walked away.
• In a study conducted by Klaus Grossman they looked at how the quality of a baby's attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence. The findings of this research suggested that the attachment to fathers is less important than attachment to mothers.