Attachment Theory

Overview of Attachment Theory

Attachment theory tries to describe the evolution of personality and behaviour in relationships and it gives a reason for the difference in a person’s emotional and relationship attitudes.
In the beginning, it looked at the mechanics of relationships between children and their parents but it has since been expanded to cover the entire life of the human being.
Attachment theory includes insights learned from evolutionary theory, ethology, systems theory and developmental psychology.
Attachment theory is often described as a psychosocial theory as it explores the human experience which is formed by the interaction between the psychology of the individual and the social environment.
It is worth noting that as with many theories on the individual, attachment theory does not try to explain, nor is it able to, cover the entire complexity of human development or interaction. The Genius of John Bowlby

John Bowlby (1907-1990) is the child psychiatrist behind the development of 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