The role of the father

• Primary attachment


  • Usually with mother but sometimes both
  • In only 3% of cases the father was the sole object
  • In 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment
  • Within the first weeks/months the child then formed secondary attachments to other family figures
• Attachment with the father

  • 75% of children eventually form attachments with the father by 18 months (this was shown by the infant protesting when the father walked away)
• Attachment with the mother


  Most related to teenage attachment
• Father's play


  • More important
  • The quality of fathers play with infants was related to children's attachment
  • Suggests father have a different role in attachment
• Fathers as primary caregivers

  • Evidence suggests that when fathers do take on the role of main caregiver, they adopt behaviours more similar to the mother
• Behaviours important for forming attachment

  • Smiling
  • Imitating
  • Holding infants
• This research has important economical implications
• Mothers could feel pressured to stay at home


  Because of research that says mothers are vital for healthy emotional development
• This research could upset mothers or make them feel guilty
• The real answer could be related to traditional gender roles, with women being more caring as expected
• This means fathers don't feel the need to act in a nurturing way, which could be due to female hormones which create higher levels of nurturing
• The evidence undermines the idea of fathers having a distinct role
• Grossman found that fathers as secondary attachment figures had an important and distinct role in their child's development
• Other studies found that children growing up in a same sex house hold or single parent families develop differently, this suggests that the father role as a secondary attachment is not important
• Researchers are interested in different research questions
• Some psychologists want to understand the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures, but others are more concerned with fathers as a primary attachment figure
• Most have found that fathers have a distinct role and behave differently
• This is a limitation because it doesn't answer the question, 'what is the role of the father?'