Role of the Father

Question 1

What did Schaffer and emerson find?

Answer 1

Schaffer and Emerson’s study showed how babies form multiple attachments around the age of 10
to 11 months. In the follow-up at 18 months, only 13% of babies had a single attachment whilst
31% had five or more attachments to grandparents, siblings and significant others. Secondary
seem to meet different needs for an infant or child. For example:
- Siblings – support, rivalry, advice
- Grandparents – comfort, social development

Question 2

Whats the characteristics of fathers behaviour?

Answer 2

Fathers’ are more consistently involved in play than caretaking behaviours, and their play tends
to be more stimulating and unpredictable than mothers, who tend towards comforting.
Paquette (2004) found that fathers are more likely to encourage toddlers to take risks and to be
brave during physical play than mothers. Fathers commonly structure talk around active play,
whereas a mother’s talk is primarily emotional, to soothe and reassure the infant.

Question 3

What are cosnequences of fathers attachment?

Answer 3

The quality of attachment to the father may have significant consequences for an infant’s
social development. Verissimo et al. (2011) found that the quality of the relationship between
fathers and toddlers significantly correlated with the number of friends at preschool, and
appeared to be more important than the attachment between a toddler and their mother in
subsequent childhood friendships. Perhaps the father’s attachment is not inferior but has a
different effect than an infant’s attachment to their mother.

Question 4

A03 - Biological Factors

Answer 4

It is possible that most men are just not psychologically/biologically equipped to form an intense
attachment, for instance, the female hormone oestrogen underlies caring behaviour so women,
generally, are more oriented towards interpersonal goals than men.
Hrdy (1999) found that
fathers were less able to detect low levels of infant distress, in comparison to mothers. These
results appear to support the biological explanations highlighted above; the lack of oestrogen in
men means that fathers are not biologically equipped to form the same close attachments
as mothers do with their children.

Question 5

A03 - Interactioanl

Answer 5

Mendonga et al. (2011) found that, when only one parent was present, fathers had similar levels
of interactional synchrony to mothers in their interactions with their infants. However, fathers
interacted with their child dropped significantly when the mother present. Whereas the presence
of the father reduced the mother’s interactional synchrony only slightly. This may be because
fathers see the mother as the main caregiver.

Question 6

A03 - Cultural variations

Answer 6

Furthermore, much research into fathers’ behaviour has been are based on Western families.
Roopnarine et al (1993) points out that the tendency for fathers to be much more involved in
physical play is not true across all cultures. For example, father do not show this tendency in
middle-class Indian families. This suggests that culture (rather than biology) plays a strong role
in fathers’ behaviour. Hence, the studies and theories based upon western society are likely to
have very little relevance and lack generalisability to other cultures.