What is attachment theory?
Attachment theory, proposed by the British psychiatrist John Bowlby, explains an infant's drive to stay close to a particular caregiver as an evolved behavioral system that promotes survival. Psychoanalytic and behaviorist accounts of the time tied a baby's bond to feeding, but Bowlby, drawing on ethology, argued that attachment is a basic need in its own right. Harry Harlow's studies of infant monkeys, which preferred a soft cloth surrogate to a wire one that gave milk, supported the idea that contact comfort matters more than food.
- Secure base
- A trusted caregiver to explore from and return to
- Safe haven
- The person sought for comfort when distressed
- Internal working model
- Mental expectations about self and others
Four phases of attachment
- Pre-attachment (birth to about 6 weeks): crying and smiling draw responses from anyone.
- Attachment in the making (about 6 weeks to 6–8 months): the baby responds differently to familiar people.
- Clear-cut attachment (about 6–8 months to 18 months–2 years): the baby seeks a specific caregiver, with separation anxiety and wariness of strangers.
- Formation of a reciprocal relationship (from 18 months–2 years): the child grasps the caregiver's goals and tolerates separation better.
Ainsworth's Strange Situation and attachment patterns
Mary Ainsworth designed the Strange Situation, a laboratory procedure in which a toddler is briefly separated from and reunited with a parent in an unfamiliar room. Reunion behavior defined three patterns; Mary Main and Judith Solomon later added a fourth.
- Secure: upset at separation but easily comforted at reunion, then returns to play.
- Avoidant: shows little distress and tends to ignore or avoid the parent on return.
- Resistant (ambivalent): very distressed, hard to soothe, may mix clinging with anger.
- Disorganized: lacks a coherent strategy, for example approaching and then freezing.
Influence and criticism
Attachment theory changed hospital visiting rules for children and influenced childcare, adoption and parenting programs. Researchers extended it across the lifespan, for example Hazan and Shaver's 1987 work on adult romantic attachment. Critics note that early versions overemphasized mothers, that the distribution of patterns varies across cultures, and that child temperament also plays a role. For tasks across the life course, compare Erikson's psychosocial stages.
References
- Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and Loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. New York: Basic Books.
- Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
- Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation. In M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the Preschool Years. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Harlow, H. F. (1958). The nature of love. American Psychologist, 13(12), 673–685.
- Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(3), 511–524.