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Types of Attachment
Attachments can be secure or insecure:
Secure attachments:
In a secure attachment, there’s a strong bond between the child and its caregiver. If they’re separated, the infant becomes distressed. However, when they’re reunited, the child is easily comforted by the caregiver. The majority of the attachments are this type. Secure attachments are associated with healthy cognitive and emotional development.
Insecure attachments:
Attachments can also be insecure. Here, the bond between the child and caregiver is weaker. Ainsworth et al came up with two types of insecure attachment:
Insecure-avoidant: If they’re separated from their caregiver, the child doesn’t become particularly distressed, and can usually be comforted by a stranger. This type of insecure attachment is shown by children who generally avoid social interaction and intimacy with others
Insecure-resistant: The child is often uneasy around their caregiver, but becomes upset if they’re separated. Strangers can’t give comfort, and it’s also often resisted by the caregiver. Children who show this style of attachment both accept and reject social interaction and intimacy
An infant’s reaction in a strange situation shows if it’s securely attached:
Ainsworth came up with the concept of the strange situation. She used it to assess how children react under conditions of stress (by separation from the caregiver and the presence of a stranger) and also to a new situation
Ainsworth et al (1978)- The strange situation:
Method:
In a controlled observation, 12-18-month-old infants were left in a room with their mothers. Eight different scenarios occurred, including being approached by a stranger, the infant being left alone, and the mother returning. The infant’s reactions were constantly observed
Results:
About 15% of infants were ‘insecure-avoidant’ (type a)- they ignored their mother and didn’t mind if she left. A stranger could comfort them
About 70% were ‘securely attached’ (type b)- they were content with their mother, upset when she left, and happy when she returned. They also avoided strangers
About 15% were ‘insecure-resistant’ (type c)- they were uneasy around their mother and upset if she left. They resited strangers and were also hard to comfort when their mother returned
Conclusion:
Infants showing different reactions to their carers have different types of attachment
Evaluation:
The research method allowed control of the variables, making the results reliable. However, the laboratory-type situation made the study artificial, reducing the ecological validity. The parents may have changed their behaviour, knowing they were being observed. This could have affected the children’s behaviour. Also, the new situation in the experiment may have affected the children’s behaviour- the study might not accurately represent their behaviour in real life. Another problem is that the mother may have not been the child’s main attachment figure
Similar studies have taken place in different cultures:
Ainsworth et al’s (1978) findings have been shown many times in the USA, but it wasn’t then known whether they could be applied to other cultures. Cross-sectional studies have since taken place:
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonberg (1988)- Cross-cultural studies:
Method:
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonberg carried out a meta-analysis of 32 studies of ‘the strange situation’ in different countries (e.g. Japan, Britain, Sweden, etc.) They were analysed to find any overall patterns
Results:
The percentages of children classified as secure or insecure were similar across the countries tested- there were more differences within the actual countries than between them. Secure attachments were the most common type of attachment in the countries studied. Some differences were found in the distribution of insecure attachments. In Western cultures, the dominant type of insecure attachment was avoidant, with the highest proportion of insecure-avoidant children coming from Germany. However, in non-Western cultures, the dominant type of insecure attachment was resistant. Here, Japan had the highest proportion of insecure resistant children
Conclusion:
There are cross-cultural similarities in raising children, with common reactions to the ‘strange situation’
Evaluation:
Children are brought up in different ways in different cultures. This might result in different types of attachment in different cultures. Because of this, the ‘strange situation’ might not be a suitable method for studying cross-cultural attachment. Using a different type of study may have revealed different patterns or types of attachment in different cultures. Also, the study assumes that different countries are the same thing as different cultures. One problem with the research method is that meta-analyses can hide individual results that show an unusual trend
There are important findings from strange situation research:
Some cultural differences are found. Grossman et al (1985) claimed that more ‘avoidant’ infants may be found in Germany because of the value Germans put on independence- so ‘avoidance’ is seen as good
The cause of different attachment types is detachment. The causes may be the sensitivity of their carers and/or their inborn temperament
The strange situation experiment doesn’t show a characteristic of the child. The experiment only shows the child’s relationship with a specific person, so they might react differently with different carers, or later in life
Attachment type may influence later behaviours. Securely attached children may be more confident in school and form strong, trusting adult relationships. ‘Avoidant’ children may be insecure and attention-seeking in school and, as adults, their strong feelings of dependency may be stressful for partners
