Multiple attachments and the role of the father

Question 1

What has most attachment research focussed on?

Answer 1

Most attachment research has
focused on mother and baby
attachment, and the role of the father
in the development of attachment
has often been neglected. However,
there is some research on the specific
roles that fathers play in development.

Question 2

What does Schaffer and Emerson’s research show about attachments to fathers?

Answer 2

Evidence suggests that fathers are less likely to be a first and primary attachment figure than the mother. Most babies became attached to
their mother at seven months, and in only <5% of cases the father the first and primary attachment.

However, it appears that most fathers go on to become important attachment figures. 75% of the infants studied
by Schaffer and Emerson formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months. This was shown by
the infant showing separation anxiety when the father left them.

Question 3

What did Grossman do?

Answer 3

Grossman carried out a longitudinal study of baby and child attachment to parents.

Question 4

What did Grossman look at?

Answer 4

The researchers looked at

1) parent behaviour and
2) the quality of their babies later attachment to other people.

Question 5

What did Grossman find?

Answer 5

Quality of a baby’s attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence. This
suggests that attachment to fathers is less important than attachment to mothers.

However, Grossman also found that the quality of fathers play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent
attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role from mothers, one that is more to do with play and
stimulation and less to do with emotional development.

Question 6

What did Field do?

Answer 6

filmed four-month-old babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers, and primary caregiver fathers.

Question 7

What did Field find?

Answer 7

Primary caregiver fathers were more like
primary caregiver mothers: they spent more time smiling imitating and holding babies in the secondary caregiver fathers (caregiver-infant interaction, reciprocity and interactional synchrony).

Fathers can provide the responsive interaction required for close emotional attachment when given the role of the primary caregiver.