the role of the father

Question 1

father

Answer 1

in attachment research the father is anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver. this can be but is not necessarily the biological father.

Question 2

attachment to fathers

Answer 2

available evidence suggests that fathers are much less likely to become babies first attachment figure compared to mothers.
for example, schaffer and emerson (1964) found that:
- majority of babies first became attached to their mother at around 7 months.
- in only 3% of cases the father was the first sole object of attachment.
- in 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother.

however it appears that most fathers go on to become important attachment figures. 75% of the babies studied by schaffer and emerson formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months. this was determined by the fact that the babies protested when their father walked away - sign of attachment.

Question 3

klaus grossman et al (2002)

Answer 3

carried out a longitudinal study where babies attachment were studied until they were into teens.
the researchers looked at both parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of their babies later attachments to other people.

Question 4

quality of a babies attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence. this suggests…

Answer 4

that attachment to fathers is less important than attachment to mothers.

Question 5

grossman et al findings

Answer 5

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

caregiver vs attachment figure

Answer 6

a primary caregiver is the person who spends most time with a baby, caring for its needs. a primary attachment figure is the person to whom the baby has the strongest attachment. often the same person fulfils the two roles but not always.

Question 7

first specific attachment

Answer 7

primary attachment

Question 8

later attachment

Answer 8

secondary attachment

Question 9

there is more to primary attachment than being first

Answer 9

a babies primary attachment has special emotional significant.

a baby’s relationship with the primary attachment figure forms the basis of all later close emotional relationships.

Question 10

evidence to suggest that when fathers do take on the role of primary caregiver they are able to adopt the emotional role more typically associated with mothers

Answer 10

tiffany field (1978) filmed 4-month-old babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers.

primary caregiver fathers, like primary caregiver mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies than the secondary caregiver fathers.
smiling, imitating and holding babies are all part of reciprocity and interactional synchrony which are part of of the process of attachment formation.

Question 11

,,,

Answer 11

so it seems that fathers have the potential to be the more emotion-focused primary attachment figure - they can provide the responsiveness required for a close emotional attachment but perhaps only express this when given the role of primary caregiver,