Attachment Theory- Bowlby and Ainsworth Chapter

Bowlby

Early social attachment between an infant and a caretaker is essential for normal social development

-babies and mothers have an innate tendency to form an attachment

Ainsworth

Continued Bowlby's research...

-proposed that infants attachment to a caregiver differs in the degree of security in the attachment

-differences in security of attachment influence personality and social relationships in infancy and beyond

Attachment Theory Basics

-infants need a "secure base" (are able to trust) their primary caregiver

-a secure attachment leads to subsequent healthy development

-an insecure attachment leads to unhealthy development

*attachment style affects relationships throughout life

Secure Base

a responsive caregiver provides security to explore the environment

-if caregiver's responses are appropriate=baby will feel confident to explore strange environment/and return back to caregiver for confirmation

inappropriate=child becomes insecure and less likely to use caregiver as base for exploring environment

*Caregiver: typically child's mother, or others who respond to infants needs

Strange Situation

experimental task for infants

-infant, parent and experimenter go into lab room

-eight episodes about 3 minutes long= used to determine the security of the infants attachment to parent

secure attachment

explore environment with parent, distressed when parent leaves, delighted when parent returns.

insecure attachment

Resistant: clings to parent, cries when parent lives, angry when parent returns.

avoidant: does not care if mother leaves and ignores the parent upon return

Securely Attached

Attachment style

-belief that the caregiver will protect and provide for them

-explores the environment with parent,

-might protest seperation from parent but smiles more often when parent is present

-shows pleasure of reunion with parent

Insecure- Avoidant

Attachment Style

-belief that the caregiver will not protect or provide. The caregiver is not a safe haven in stressful circumstances

-does not protest at parents departure

-responds the same to the stranger and the parent or more positively to the stranger

-avoid parent upon return

Insecure-Resistant

Attachment style

-uncertainty about whether the parent will protect or provide safety in stressful circumstances

-remain close to parent. refuse to explore the new environment

-distressed at separation of parent

-mixture of approach and avoidance when reunited

Disorganized Or Disoriented

Attachment Style

-no consistent way of dealing with stress

-exhibits contradictory behavior at the strange situation

-typical attachment style when the infant is abused or neglected

Attachment Depends on:

Caregiver's sensitivity to the infants needs

--children are less likely to develop secure attachment if they are raised in an orphanage

--parents living in poverty tend to provide less sensitive environments

--sensitivity to infants can be taught to mothers that then leads to a higher probability of secure attachment

Family Stress

--infants exposed to verbally abusive aggressive fighting among their parents form more insecure attachments

Parental psychopathology

--depressed mothers tend to have lower quality interactions with their infants

infant's temperament

--if an infant is irritable and the mother has no social support then the child is more likely to develop insecure attachment

Stability of attachment styles

-securely attached infants in stable middle-class american families tend to remain securely attached through two years of age

-stressful life events may cause the attachment style to change

attachment styles are not as stable in dysfunctional families

Attachment theory predicts

that the quality of the attachment predicts subsequent development

--longitudinal study found that securely attached infants were more competent at age-appropriate tasks throughout adolescence

infants attachment style to a caregiver predicts:

-effective social functioning during childhood and adolescence

-sociability through early, middle, and late adulthood

-self-esteem

-school grades

-teenage sexual activity

-quality of attachment to their own children

-attitudes toward their own children

Cultural variations in attachment styles

-the same four types of attachment have been found in various cultures, but the proportion of children in each category differ by culture

** Avoidant attachments are rare in cultures where the child is seldom apart from their mother

-little research examines the causes and effects of secure attachments in non western cultures

Secure

Adult attachment style

-people who find it easy to get close to others and are more comfortable having others feel close to them

*do not feel abandonment*

Fearful or Avoidant

Adult attachment style

-uncomfortable feeling close to another person or having that person feel close them

*difficult for them to trust or depend on a partner*

Preoccupied or Anxious-Ambivalent Lovers

Adult attachment style

-desperately want to get close to a partner but often find that the partner does not reciprocate the feeling

-insecure in the relationship

-worry that the partner does not really love them

Strengths of attachment theory

-explains development in social relationships

-enables predictions about subsequent social relationships

-provides info about specific interventions that can improve social functioning

weaknesses of attachment theory

-only comparative cross-cultural research has been conducted

-does not well predict behavior in cultures where children have ore than one primary caregiver

Implications of attachment theory for education

-parents need to be sensitive to their infants needs

-parents need to provide a stable home environment for thier children

-if children are not functioning well in school, the first problem to investigate is their home life

-any caring, stable adult can provide a secure attachment for any child