the role of the father

Question 1

What did Schaffer and Emerson find in their study about attachments to fathers

Answer 1

65% of infant first attachments were to the mother, 3% first attachments were to father.
In 75% of the infants, they did form secondary attachments to the father by 18 months - protested when their father walked away (sign of attachment)

Question 2

who studied the role of the father

Answer 2

Grossman

Question 3

what was Grossman’s study findings

Answer 3

longitudinal study
looked at the quality of infant attachments and the attachment to mother, not the father, affected later attachments in adolescence, suggesting the father attachment was less important

Question 4

what did Grossman suggest the role of the father was

Answer 4

The quality of the fathers play with infants was related to the quality of adolescent attachments. So therefore the father is more for playing and stimulation, and less for nurturing

Question 5

what is the research into fathers as primary carers.

Answer 5

researchers have found that when man take on the role of being the main caregiver, they adopt behaviour more typical of mothers. Researchers filmed 4month 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 and holding infants than secondary caregiver fathers.
So fathers CAN be the more nurturing attachment figure but is determined by the level of responsiveness, not the gender.