Attachment - CII: Role of the father

Question 1

What do Shaffer and Emerson say about the attachment to the father?

Answer 1

• Fathers have some importance in attachment but not as much as the mother
• In their study, the mother was the primary attachment figure for the majority of infants
• After 7months of age, infants then formed secondary attachments with the father and at 18months, 75% of infants had attached to their father

Question 2

Explain Grossman’s study into the distinctive role of fathers

Answer 2

Method:
* Carried out a longitudinal study of 44 families where babies’ attachments were studied until they were teenagers
* Researchers compared both parents’ behaviour and relationship to the quality of their child’s attachments to other people as teenagers
Findings:
* Quality of infant attachments to mothers was correlated with quality of attachments in adolesence
* Infant’s relationship with their father had no quality on attachments in adolesence
* Quality of play with fathers did correlate with attachments in adolesence suggesting fathers have a different role in attachment to do with play and stimulation
Conclusion: Attachment to fathers is less important than mothers.

Question 3

What does Geiger say about the role of the father in relation to Grossman’s study?

Answer 3

The father’s relationship with infants is focused around play contrasting with mother’s focus on nurturing.

Question 4

What did Field do in terms of investigating the father as a primary caregiver?

Answer 4

1978
* Used an observation to compare behaviour of 3 caregivers: primary caregiver mothers, primary caregiver fathers and secondary caregiver fathers
* Primary caregiver fathers and mothers both spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies than secondary caregiver fathers - showing reciprocity
* Suggests sensitive responsiveness is crucial for attachment formation, not gender