Role of the father

• A01

  • Schaffer and Emerson found fathers are far less likely to be primary attachment figures than mothers.
  • This could be because men lack the emotional sensitivity women offer. This may be due to biological or social factors. Oestrogen underlies caring behaviour in women.
  • Another explanation is that gender stereotypes and expectations may mean men are less likely to be sensitive to needs of others.
  • Heermann et al (1994) found that men were less sensitive to infant cues than mothers.
• A01

  • Infant Attachment Research Frodi et al showed videotapes of infants crying 

  • No physiological differences found between men and women in infant crying responses.

  • Secure attachments formed by men in single male parent families.

  • In two-parent families, both parents share primary attachment role.

  • Fathers' play quality related to adolescent attachments quality.

  • Fathers' role is more play and stimulation than emotional development.
• • A strength of research into the role of the father is that it has important economic implications
  • Mothers feel pressured to stay at home because of research that says mothers are vital for healthy emotional development
  • Therefore, research supporting the role of the father in child development may be of comfort to mothers who feel they have to make hard choices about not returning to work as both mothers and fathers can balance childcare 
• • A limitation of research into the role of the father is that social biases mean that observations may not be objective
  • Stereotypes (e.g. fathers are more playful, stricter, etc.) may cause unintentional observer bias whereby observers ‘see’ what they expect rather than recording actual reality
  • As such, conclusions on the role of the father in attachment are hard to distinguish from social biases around their role
• • A limitation of research into the role of the father is that researchers are interested in different research questions
  • Some psychologists want to understand the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures but some are more concerned with fathers as primary attachment figures
  • This is a limitation because it means psychologists cannot easily answer the simple question: what is the role of the father?
• Research Limitations on Fathers' Role

  • Findings vary based on methodology used.

  • Longitudinal studies suggest fathers as secondary attachment figures play a significant role in children's development.

  • Children in single-mother and lesbian-parent families do not develop differently from those in two-parent heterosexual families.

  • The question of fathers' distinctive role remains unanswered.