John Bowlby's theory of attachment addresses the importance
of the bonds formed between infants and caregivers. It has been thought that
these bonds can be comparable to that of the attachments formed in adult
relationships. In other words, in both types of relationships, the person wants
to be comforted and protected by the partner (or caregiver), and may protest
when there is a change and he or she may become unavailable. Bowlby also said
that people build up certain expectations of attachment figures which are used
to create an internal working model. This model can then guide people in future
relationships and play an important role throughout the lifecycle.
Bowlby's Theory of
Attachment for Infants
The theory of attachment was originally developed by John
Bowlby, a British psychoanalyst who was attempting to understand the intense
distress experienced by infants who had been separated from their parents.
Bowlby observed that separated infants would go to extraordinary lengths (e.g.,
crying, clinging, frantically searching) to prevent separation from their
parents or to reestablish proximity to a missing parent. At the time of
Bowlby's initial writings, psychoanalytic writers held that these expressions
were manifestations of immature defense mechanisms that were operating to
repress emotional pain, but Bowlby noted that such expressions are common to a
wide variety of mammalian species, and speculated that these behaviors may
serve an evolutionary function.
Drawing on ethological theory, Bowlby postulated that these attachment
behaviors, such as crying and searching, were adaptive responses to
separation from with a primary attachment figure--someone who provides
support, protection, and care. Because human infants, like other mammalian
infants, cannot feed or protect themselves, they are dependent upon the care
and protection of "older and wiser" adults. Bowlby argued that, over
the course of evolutionary history, infants who were able to maintain proximity
to an attachment figure via attachment behaviors would be more likely to
survive to a reproductive age. According to Bowlby, a motivational system, what
he called the attachment behavioral system, was gradually "designed"
by natural selection to regulate proximity to an attachment figure.
The attachment behavior system is an important concept in
attachment theory because it provides the conceptual linkage between
ethological models of human development and modern theories on emotion
regulation and personality. According to Bowlby, the attachment system
essentially "asks" the following fundamental question: Is the
attachment figure nearby, accessible, and attentive? If the child perceives the
answer to this question to be "yes," he or she feels loved, secure,
and confident, and, behaviorally, is likely to explore his or her environment,
play with others, and be sociable. If, however, the child perceives the answer
to this question to be "no," the child experiences anxiety and,
behaviorally, is likely to exhibit attachment behaviors ranging from simple
visual searching on the low extreme to active following and vocal signaling on
the other. These behaviors continue until either the child is able to
reestablish a desirable level of physical or psychological proximity to the
attachment figure, or until the child "wears down," as may happen in
the context of a prolonged separation or loss. In such cases, Bowlby believed
that young children experienced profound despair and depression.
Attachment Theory
Applicability for Adults
Although attention has mostly focused on the early relationship
between children and their parents, attachment theory is a theory of the
lifespan development of close relationships. In contrast to the idea that
childhood dependence is ideally replaced by emotional independence in the young
adult, Bowlby asserted that healthy human beings continue to rely on attachment
relationships in times of danger, vulnerability, or illness. Attachment is
defined as an affectional bond to another person, who is irreplaceable by
others although there may be more than one such relationship. Attachment
relationships are characterized by a need to maintain proximity, distress upon
separation, joy upon reunion, and grief at loss. However, what especially
characterizes an attachment relationship in comparison to other close
relationships is the use of the attachment figure as a secure base from
which to explore the world and as a safe haven to flee to in times of
distress.
The tendency to form attachment relationships is thought to
be biologically "wired in" because of the survival value it
represented in human evolution. A hypothesized attachment behavioral system
causes children to become attached to caregivers even if the caregiver does not
provide the security and comfort sought for. If the caregiver is unreliable or
perhaps even maltreating, the child will adjust and modify its attachment behavior
in order to obtain whatever approximation to security is possible in that
particular relationship. Attachment figures in infancy are normally parents or
parent-like figures, but as development progresses, the most important
attachment figures become romantic partners or close friends, and in old age
sometimes one's own children.
The concept of distinctive patterns of attachment
initially arose out of the observational studies by Ainsworth of infant—mother
interaction. In an experimental separation and reunion procedure called the
Strange Situation, Ainsworth identified three main patterns in children's
ability to use the parent as a secure base for exploration. Children labeled B
or secure comfortably use the
parent as a secure base when exploring the environment. They miss their parent
upon separation, seek contact with the parent upon reunion, and can be
comforted by the parent and return to exploration. Children labeled A or
insecure-avoidant explore the
environment without referring back to the parent. They ignore the parent
leaving and returning and are not visibly upset; instead, they turn their
attention to toys. Children labeled C or insecure-ambivalent are focused on the parent and seem
unable to explore. They are very distressed when the parent leaves, but cannot
be comforted by the parent upon reunion, instead they appear angry or passive.
Later a fourth category D or insecure-disorganized
has been added, but children assigned to this category do not show a similar
degree of organized response and are always assigned to one of the three ABC
categories as well.
Attachment patterns in infancy arise out of parent—child
interaction and are regarded as a property of the specific attachment
relationship—thus attachment patterns with mother and father can differ.
However, Bowlby believed that attachment patterns increasingly become a
property of the individual rather than the relationship. This is due to the
gradual formation of mental representations of attachment-related interactions—internal
working models—which guide the individual in future attachment interactions.
In agreement with Bowlby's assertion, most theorists of adult attachment claim
that attachment patterns in adulthood consist of generalized thoughts, feelings
and expectations regulating the way that a given individual engages in close relationships.
Adult attachment patterns are thought to be relatively stable, because new
experience is assimilated to the existing working model, and because the
patterns give rise to self-perpetuating interactional behaviors. Thus, a person
who has experienced warm and sensitive caregiving will have an open and
positive attitude towards close relationships in the future, and this will tend
to elicit a positive response from others, thus confirming the positively colored
working model. Conversely, a person who has experienced repeated rejection will
look for cues of further rejection, and the guarded behavior resulting from
this expectation can actually serve to elicit the feared rejection and confirm
the negatively colored working model.
Attachment, bonding and relationships
You were born preprogrammed to bond with one very
significant person—your primary caregiver, probably your mother. Like all
infants, you were a bundle of emotions—intensely experiencing fear, anger,
sadness, and joy. The emotional attachment that grew between you and your
caregiver was the first interactive relationship of your life, and it depended
upon nonverbal communication. The bonding you experienced determined how you
would relate to other people throughout your life, because it established the
foundation for all verbal and nonverbal communication in your future
relationships.
Individuals who experience confusing, frightening, or broken
emotional communications during their infancy often grow into adults who have
difficulty understanding their own emotions and the feelings of others. This
limits their ability to build or maintain successful relationships.
Attachment—the relationship between infants and their primary caregivers—is
responsible for:
- shaping the success or failure of future intimate relationships
- the ability to maintain emotional balance
- the ability to enjoy being ourselves and to find satisfaction in being with others
- the ability to rebound from disappointment, discouragement, and misfortune
Scientific study of the brain—and the role attachment plays
in shaping it—has given us a new basis for understanding why vast numbers of
people have great difficulty communicating with the most important individuals
in their work and love lives. Once, we could only use guesswork to try and
determine why important relationships never evolved, developed chronic
problems, or fell apart. Now, thanks to new insights into brain development, we
can understand what it takes to help build and nurture productive and
meaningful relationships at home and at work.
Sources and Additional
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