Attachment figures

Attachment figures

1. Parent-infant attachment

   • Traditionally we have thought in terms of mother-infant attachment.
     • Schaffer and Emerson found that the majority of babies did become attached to their mother first (around 7 months) and within a few weeks or months formed secondary attachments to other family members, including the father.
       • In 75% of the infants studied an attachment was formed with the father at the age of 18 months. This attachment was determined by the fact that the infants protested when their father walked away.

2. The role of the father

   • Grossman carried out a longitudinal study looking at both parents' behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children's attachment into their teens. Quality of infant attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to children's attachment in adolescence, suggesting that father attachment was less important.
     • However, the quality of fathers' play was related to the quality of adolescent attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role in attachment - one that is more to do with play and stimulation, and less to do with nurturing.

3. Father as primary carers

   • There is some evidence that suggests that when fathers do take on the role of being the main caregiver they adopt behaviours more typical of mothers.
     • Field filmed 4-month-old babies in face to face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers. Primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers. This behaviour appears to be important in building an attachment with the infant.
       • Fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure. The key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness not the gender of the parent.

4. EVALUATION

   • The research into the role of fathers is confusing because different researchers are interested in different research questions. Some are more interested in fathers as a secondary attachment figure rather than a primary. As a secondary, findings have tended to see fathers behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role. However, as a primary, findings show fathers taking on a 'maternal' role. This means psychologists cannot easily answer the simple question of the role of the father.
   • The study of Grossman found that fathers as secondary attachment figures had an important role in their children's development. However, other studies have found that children growing up in a single or same sex parent families do not develop any differently from those in two parent heterosexual families. This would suggest that the father's role as a secondary attachment figure is not important.
   • The fact that fathers tend not to become the primary attachment figure could simply be the result of traditional gender roles, in which women are expected to be more caring and nurturing than men. Therefore fathers simply don't feel they should act like that. On the other hand, it could be that female hormones create higher levels of nurturing and therefore women are biologically pre-disposed to be the primary attachment figure. Which is it?