The Role of the Father

Father: In attachment research the father is anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver. This can be the biological father, or not.

Schaffer on the Role of the Father: Found that the majority of babies first became attached to their mother at 7 months and only in 3% of cases was the father the first sole object of attachment. In 27% of cases, the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother.

Father Attachment at 18 Months: 75% of babies studied by Schaffer and Emerson formed an attachment with their father by the 18 months old which was shown by the babies protest when their father walked away.

Grossman et al (2002): A longitudinal study where babies’ attachments were studied ointo their teens. Researchers looked at both parents’’ behaviour and its relatiomship to the quality of theur baby’s later attachment. They found the baby;s attachment with mother but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence. However they found quality of fathers play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments.

Tiffany Field (1978): Film 4 month babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, primary caregiver fathers and secondary caregiver fathers and the primary caregiver parents shared the same activities in comparison to the secondary caregiver father.

Confusion over Research Questions: There is a lack of clarity over the question being asked. Researchers differ on how they try to respond to the question, some looking at fathers as secondary attachment figures whereas other look at them as primary attachment figures. This makes it difficult to offer a simple answer.

Conflicting Evidence: Findings vary according to methodology used. Longitudinal studies suggest secondary attachment figures have an important and distinct role in play and stimulation however if this was the case, we would expect homosexual or single-parent households to differ in comparison to children in heterosexual households, however studies have shown this is not the case.

Real World Application: Research may inform parenting decisions as mothers worry whether they should be the one to stay home due to societal standards. This research can offer reassuring advice to parents that fathers are more than capable to become primary attachment figures and lesbian parents and single-mothers can be assured that a lack of a father figure wouldn’t affect the child development.