3b Evaluations for Explanations of attachment: Bowlby's theory

What are the limitations of Bowlby’s theory?

One limitation of Bowlby’s theory=

• that the concept of monotropy lacks validity

• counterpoint for the support for the internal working model

Why is the concept of monotropy lacks validity a limitation of Bowlby’s theory?

One limitation of Bowlby’s theory is that the concept of monotropy lacks validity.

Schaffer and Emerson found that although most babies did attach to one person at first, a significant minority formed multiple attachments at the same time.

Also, although the first attachment does appear to have a particularly strong influence on later behaviour, this may simply mean it is stronger, not necessarily diff erent in quality from the child’s other attachments.

For example other attachments to family members provide all the same key qualities (emotional support, a safe base etc).

This means that Bowlby may be incorrect that there is a unique quality and importance to the child’s primary attachment.

What are the strengths of Bowlby’s theory?

Strengths of Bowlby’s theory=

• support for social releasers

• support for internal working model

Why is support for social releasers a strength of Bowlby’s theory?

One strength of Bowlby’s theory is the evidence supporting the role of social releasers.

There is clear evidence that cute baby behaviours are designed to elicit interaction from caregivers.

Brazelton et al. observed babies trigger interactions with adults using social releasers. The researchers then instructed the babies’ primary attachment figures to ignore their babies’ social releasers.

Babies (who were previously shown to be normally responsive) became increasingly distressed and some eventually curled up and lay motionless.

This illustrates the role of social releasers in emotional development and suggests that they are important in the process of attachment development.

Why is support for the internal working model a strength of Bowlby’s theory?

A strength of Bowlby’s theory is support for the internal working model.

The idea of the internal working model predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next.

Heidi Bailey et al. (2007) assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their one-year-old babies.

The researchers measured the mothers’ attachment to their own primary attachment fi gures (i.e. their parents). The researchers also assessed the attachment quality of the babies. They found that mothers with poor attachment to their own primary attachment figures were more likely to have poorly attached babies.

This supports Bowlby’s idea that mothers’ ability to form attachments to their babies is influenced by their internal working models (which in turn comes from their own early attachment experiences).

What is the counterpoint for the support for the internal working model?

Counterpoint for the support for the internal working model=

There are probably other important influences on social development.

For example, some psychologists believe that genetic differences in anxiety and sociability affect social behaviour in both babies and adults.

These differences could also impact their parenting abilities.

This means that Bowlby may have overstated the importance of the internal working model in social behaviour and parenting at the expense of other factors.