2.3. Role of the Father

Question 1

Bowlby:

Answer 1

• Suggests fathers can fill a role closely resembling that filled by a mother but this is uncommon.
• According to Bowlby, a father is more likely to engage in physically active and novel play and it is the child’s preferred play companion

Question 2

Schaffer and Emerson:

Answer 2

• Found majority of mothers attached to mother first at around 7 months (fathers solely first in 3% of cases, father joint first attachment with mother in 27% of cases)
• Additional attachment developed in proceeding months (4th stage) to secondary attachment including the father.
• In 75% of infants studies, by 18 months they had formed an attachment to the father (babies protested when fathers walked away, indicating attachment)

Question 3

Field: the role as primary caregiver

Answer 3

• Compared behaviours of primary caretaker mothers with primary and secondary caretaker fathers.
• Face to face interactions were analysed from video footage with infants at 4 months of age.
• Secondary caregiver fathers engaged more in game playing and held infants less
• Primary caretaker fathers engaged in significantly more smiling, imitative grimaces and imitate vocalisations and these were comparable with mother’s behaviours
• These behaviours are related to interactional synchrony and formation of emotional attachment

Question 4

Grossman (2002)

Answer 4

• Conducted a longitudinal study of 44 families comparing the role of the fathers and mothers contribution to their children’s attachment experiences at 6,10 and 16 yrs.
• Quality of infant attachment with mother was related to children’s attachments in adolescent, fathers attachment less important
• Therefore, fathers may be less important in long-term emotional development
• But also found quality of the fathers play with infants was related to the quality of adolescent attachment
• Suggests fathers have a different role in attachment, one that’s more to do with play and stimulation (less to do with emotional care)

Question 5

Brown et al:

Answer 5

• Investigated father involvement, paternal sensitivity and father-child attachment security at 13 months and 3 yrs
• Results: involvement and sensitivity influenced father-child attachment security at age 3
• Involvement was a greater predictor of secure attachment when fathers were rated as less sensitive
• Research indicates that the gender of a caregiver is not crucial in predicting attachment types, rather it’s the extent of caregiver involvement

Question 6

Strength: pressure

Answer 6

• Mothers may feel pressured to stay at home and fathers to focus on work
• Research on flexibility of role of father can be used to offer reassuring advice to parents
• Means parental anxiety about role of fathers can be reduced and parenting decisions made easier

Question 7

Strength: single/ same-sex parent

Answer 7

• Found children growing up in single or same-sex parent families do not develop any differently from those in two-parent heterosexual families,
• Other family structures adapt to not having fathers
• This means that findings may be clear after all -> there may be a distinctive role for fathers when present, but families adapt to not having one

Question 8

Weakness: secondary vs primary figure

Answer 8

• Some researchers look at father as a secondary figure, others as a primary
• Means some see the father as acting differently than the mother and a distinct role.
• Others state that the father can take on a maternal role
• Therefore there is agreement on the role of the father and psychologists cannot easily answer the question: what is the role of the father

Question 9

Weakness: Grossman et al

Answer 9

• Suggested fathers have a distinct role in children’s development, involving play and stimulation.
• However, McCallum and Golombok found that children without a father do not develop differently.
• Means the question of whether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered.