Types of Attachment

What us the strange situation?

Developed by Mary Ainsworth et al. (1970); the aim was to observe key attachment behaviours as a mean of assessing the quality of a baby’s attachment to their caregiver.

What was the procedure of Ainsworth’s ‘strange situation’?

Controlled observation

• Takes place in a room with quite controlled conditions (i.e. a laboratory) with a one-way mirror and/or cameras through which psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour

• 106 middle-class infants were observed

What attachment behaviours were the psychologists observing?

• Proximity seeking - a baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairly close to their caregiver

• Exploration and secure-base behaviour - a good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base i.e. a point of contact that will make them feel safe

• Stranger anxiety - one of the signs becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches

• Separation anxiety - a sign of becoming attachment is to protest at separation from caregiver

• Response to reunion - babies who are securely attached greet the caregiver’s return with pleasure and seek comfort

What are the 7 episodes of the procedure, each lasting 3 minutes?

1. The baby is encouraged to explore - exploration and secure-base behaviour

2. A stranger comes in, talks to the caregiver and approaches the baby - stranger anxiety

3. The caregiver leaves the baby and the stranger together - separation anxiety

4. The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves - proximity seeking

5. The caregiver leaves the baby alone - separation anxiety

6. The stranger returns - stranger anxiety

7. The caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby - response to reunion

What were the findings of Ainsworth’s ‘strange situation’?

Ainsworth et al (1978) found that were distinct patterns in the way that babies behaved, identifying 3 main types of attachment

• Secure attachment (Type B)

• Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A)

• Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C)

What is Secure attachment (Type B)?

These babies explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver (proximity-seeking and secure-base behaviour).

• Moderate separation anxiety and moderate stranger anxiety

• Require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage

• About 60-75% of British babies are classified as secure

What is Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A)?

These babies explore freely and don’t seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour.

• Little or no reaction when the caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety

• They make little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns and may even avoid such contact

• About 20-25% of British babies are classified as insecure-avoidant

What is Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C)?

These babies seek greater proximity than others and so explore less.

• High levels of stranger and separation anxiety

• But resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver

• Around 3% of British babies are classified as insecure-resistant

What is a strength of the strange situation?

Its outcome predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development.

• Madigan et al (2023) conducted a meta-analysis of 285 strange situation studies

• One of their findings was that insecure attachment predicted higher rates of aggression and mental health issues in later childhood, including depression and anxiety

• By contrast, other research (e.g. Ward et al. 2006) has reported positive mental health outcomes in adulthood for infants assessed as securely attached in the strange situation

This suggests that the strange situation measures something real and meaningful in a baby’s development as it has high predictive validity.

What is a counterpoint to the fact that the strange situation predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development?

Psychologists, e.g. Kagan (1982), suggested that genetic/innate anxiety levels could account for variations in attachment behaviour in the strange situation and later development, not necessarily the quality of attachment to the caregiver. This means that the strange situation may not actually measure attachment.

How does the strange situation have good inter-rater reliability (the agreement between observers)?

Bick et al (2012) tested inter-rater reliability for the strange situation and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases.

• This high level of reliability may be because the procedure takes place under controlled conditions and because behaviours (such as proximity seeking and stranger anxiety) involve large movements and therefore easy to observe, for example, anxious babies cry and crawl away froms strangers

This means that we can be confident that attachment type as assessed by the strange situation does not depend on subjective judgements.

What is a limitation of the strange situation?

It may not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts.

• The strange situation was developed in Britain and the USA, it may be culture-bound i.e. only valid for use in certain cultures

• One reason for this is that babies have different experiences in different cultures and these experiences may affect their responses to the strange situation

• For example, in a Japanese study by Takahashi (1986), babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety = a disproportionate number classified as insecure-resistant

• Takahashi (1990) suggests that this anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecurity but due to the unusual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation is very rare

This means that it’s very difficult to know what the strange situation is measuring when outside Western Europe and the USA.