3.3 Role of the Father

3.3 Role of the Father

1. Tiffany et al

   • Filmed babies in face to face interaction with primary caregiver mother, primary caregiver father and secondary caregiver fathers.
     • Found that fathers have potential to be the more emotion focused parent but perhaps only when they are the primary caregiver.

2. Grossman et al

   • Found that quality of father's attachment was less important than mothers, but suggested also that father has different role from mother, one related more with stimulation and play.

3. Found that attachment to fathers as primary attachments in only 3% of cases. 27% of cases where father is joint first object of attachment with the mother.

4. Evaluation

   • Strengths:
     • Real world application. Can be used to offer advice to parents, reducing parental anxiety.
     • Hardy (1999) found evidence which suggested fathers were less able to detect low levels of emotional distress, therefore fathers are less suited as primary attachment figures.
   • Weaknesses:
     • Conflicting evidence. Longitudinal studies suggested that fathers as secondary attachments have a distinct role, however doesnt account for single parent families, or same sex parents,
     • Confusion due to lack of clarity. Difficult to offer a simple answer as to what the role of the father is.

5. Possible explanations suggest that the father is less psychologically equipped to form close bonds, unlike the mother. This may be due to them lacking the emotional sensitivity required which Bowlby argued was more important than the amount of time spent with a child.

   • Females produce oestrogen which promotes caring behaviour while males do not.