What is the attachment theory? , The attachment theory is a
Bowlby, Harlow, and Ainsworth each had unique positions on infant attachment and adult relationships. All three researchers pointed out that children become attached or unattached depending on the amount and type of love and affection they receive from birth. Each had a different way of creating their study. Harlow used baby monkeys taken from their mothers and replacing mom with either a metal or a terry cloth covered mom.
I can personally relate to this idea because my cognitive, emotional, and social development was influenced by the intimate attachments I had with my parents; the people who responded to my needs with love. When I was seven years old, I ran straight to my mother after I tripped over and broke my arm. My mother comforted me and took me to the doctors, positively responding to my needs. This meant that I felt protected when my parents were within close proximity and I could take risks and explore my environment, allowing me to learn how to relate to others in society (Drewery & Claiborne, 2014). The attachment theory is relevant to my life because the intimate attachments I had with my parents have meant that I have had little cognitive, emotional, and social developmental difficulties, turning me into a secure individual who can function positively into society (McLeod,
Although we are studying theories, some of them appear to explain human behavior and personality with certain accuracy. John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth theories of attachment can also explain what happens to people when attachment to their parents or caregivers is healthy or potential problems that could occur due to detachments. They suggest that individuals raised with secure attachments to their primary caregivers help them to feel secure; moreover, these children appear to be more socially skilled and less likely to experience major emotional disturbances. However, failure to form healthy attachments, especially mother-child, could serve as a descriptive mechanism for many negative psychological outcomes later in the life of an individual,
Perhaps the most influential explanation of attachment was presented by John Bowlby who began developing his ideas in the 1940s. Bowlby presented two key theories, namely the maternal deprivation hypothesis and his theory of attachment, which we shall consider here. The ideas behind these theories are closely linked. Rather than locating the child's formation of attachment within the environment as learning theories do, Bowlby argued that attachment was an evolved mechanism that ensured the survival of the child.
Ainsworth, M. S. (1989). Attachments beyond infancy [Abstract]. American Psychologist, 44(4), 709-716. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.44.4.709 The attachment and relationship based theories are where children develop attachments to parents or caregivers in their lives.
His idea of the theory was that when infants became attached to adults whom are responsive and sensitive during the social interactions and form a maintained caregiving relationship during the 6 months to 3 years of life (McLeod). Without the development of attachment, children could suffer from serious impairments both psychological and social. This process establishes various forms of attachment, which in the future will guide the thoughts, feelings, and expectations in children as adults in their future relationships. In this paper, there will be explanations, examples, and other psychologist discussing their attachment theories. There are four different style of attachment in adults; Secure, Dismissive, Preoccupied, and Fearful-Avoidant.
The term "attachment theory" refers to a psychological framework that describes the nature of interpersonal attachment in different attachment styles. It was created by British psychiatrist and psychologist John Bowlby and subsequently developed by developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth. According to the hypothesis, ties with parents and other significant caregivers throughout early childhood have a lasting impact on how people behave in future relationships throughout their lives. In the 1940s and 1950s, when Bowlby observed the adverse effects of maternal deprivation on infants and was influenced by Konrad Lorenz's ethological views, Bowlby first developed his thoughts regarding attachment. Bowlby felt that a child's survival depended
Theories (Erikson & Attachment) According to Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, trust vs. mistrust, occurs in the first year of life. Erikson believed that the caregiver’s response to the infant’s cries help them develop a sense of trust, when the caregiver responds right away to the infant’s distress of crying or fussing (Mooney, 2000). Erikson believed that in the earliest years of life, mainly during infancy, patterns of trust or mistrust are formed that control, or at least influence, a person’s actions or interactions for the rest of life (Erikson, 1950). Bowlby hypothesized that children are born with a predisposition to be attached to caregivers and that children will organize their behavior and thinking in order to maintain those relationships (Bettmann, 2006).
In 1969, John Bowlby made the connection that formed relationships and attachments to caregivers contributes to future development and growth. The attachment theory focuses on relationship association between caregivers and their children. Children who established a foundation with a caregiver despite their biological relation, gain much needed support. Establishing support, encourages a child’s development. The comfort of safety, allows children to feel secure in taking risks (Groman, 2012).
One of the main theories in Developmental psychology is the attachment theory that was devised by Bowlby (1969) and was added to in 1973, by Mary Ainsworth. The attachment theory surrounds the bond between a primary care giver and a baby. They believe that attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space. In 1930 Bowlby worked as a psychiatrist in a children’s unit, where he treated many emotionally disturbed children, this lead him to consider the relationship between mother and child and the impact that could have on the child’s development. Bowlby believed that the attachment process was an all or nothing process and that you either were attached or were not attached.
According to the PowerPoint and readings of (Bowlby) Attachment theory “comes from safety & security, development in early life, usually towards a specific individual, endures throughout a large a large part of the life cycle”. However it’s also stated in Bowlby theory young animals and children venture out away from the safety of their parents or persons whom they were attached to come back. Conversely in the case of my grandmother she will never come
Bowlby 's attachment theory had vast investigation done by Mary Ainsworth, who studied the interactions between mother and child, specifically, the theme of an infant’s investigation of their surroundings and the separation from their mother. This essay will focus on Bowlby’s attachment theory and Mary Ainsworth’s experiments and findings, discussing their views on the development and importance of attachment in early life. John Bowlby’s primary interest was in the relationship between child and mother or primary caregiver. Bowlby suspected that the earliest relationships formed by children and their primary parent or care giver, have huge impacts on the child’s later life. From this, Bowlby developed the attachment theory.
Since the ‘50s, Bowlby worked alone and with distinguished colleagues such as psychoanalyst James Robertson, ethologist/zoologist Robert Hinde and psychologist Mary Ainsworth on several different studies. Bowlby suggested that due to the attachment between children and their carers, children suffer loss when they are separated. Bowlby’s study with the ethologist Robert Hinde, inspired the idea that certain attachment behaviours have evolved as a survival mechanism (Bergen, 2008). The core of the theory today is that the quality of close relationships affects personality, emotional and social development not only in childhood but throughout the life of the individual (Howe, 2001). This suggests that attachment theory is effectively a biological, psychological and social theory of human development.
Attachment in early life is a fundamental aspect of child development and the establishment of intimate and reciprocal relationships with caregivers. Shaffer & Kipp (2007) define attachment as ‘a close emotional relationship between two persons, characterized by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity’. Contrary to the original view of infant attachment as a ‘secondary drive’ of the dependency on caregivers for physiological needs, such as hunger; Bowlby (1969, 1973) proposed that all infants are born with an innate bias to form an attachment to a primary attachment figure to whom they can seek comfort, or a ‘secure base’ during stressful circumstances. It is proposed by Ainsworth (1967) that parental sensitivity is crucial to shaping the security and development of the initial infant-parent attachment relationship, however the phenomenon of attachment requires both infants and caregivers to contribute in the formation of the attachment bond. Ultimately, the quality of attachment in early life shapes both the social and emotional
