Attachment - Attachment Figures: Role of the Father

Question 1

Schaffer and Emerson (1)

Answer 1

• majority of babies become attached to their mother’s first
• biological —> the mother grew and gave birth to the baby
• mammary glands —> breastfeed their glands
• may take moths to form attachments to other secondary attachments

Question 2

Schaffer and Emerson (2)

Answer 2

• showed that the primary attachment is much more likely to be made with the mother than the father, fathers are secondary attachment figures
• found that the majority of babies did become attached to their mother first (around 7 months) and within a few weeks or month formed secondary attachments
• in 75% of the infants studies an attachment was formed with the father at the age of 18 months. This was determined by the fact that the infants protested when their father walked away: a sign of attachment

Question 3

Grossman - the role of the father

Answer 3

Carried out a longitudinal study
- looking at both parent’s behaviour and it’s relationship to the quality of children’s attachments into their teens
- quality of infant attachments with mothers and not their fathers was related to children’s attachments in adolescence
—> suggesting father attachment was less important