Attachment theory
Attachment is an emotional bonding with another person. In the year 1958, two papers were published, highlighting the attachment theory. The first paper was titled 'Nature Of The Child's Tie To His Mother' and was published by John Mostyn Bowlby, the eminent psychoanalyst. In 1950, he was appointed as the Mental Health Consultant to the World Health Organization or WHO.
The second paper titled 'The Nature of Love' was published by Harry Harlow, a leading American Psychologist and was based on the results of his experiments with infant rhesus monkeys, which proved that they preferred emotional attachment, to food.
John Bowlby is considered as the first attachment theorist. He has described attachment as a ‘lasting psychological connectedness between human beings’. It was Bowlby's firm conviction that the earliest emotional bonds formed between a child and his caregiver has a very powerful and lifelong impact on the child's life. He also believed that such attachment keeps the child close to his mother and in turn, secures the child's chance of survival.
It is observed that when a mother is available to respond to the needs of an infant, the attention establishes a sense of security in the child. The infant believes that the caregiver is dependable. This helps to provide a sense of security that urges the child to explore the world.
According to John Bowlby, there are certain definable characteristics to attachment. One was a ‘safe haven’. This means that whenever the child is afraid or feels threatened, he feels safe with the caregiver, where it seems comfortable and soothing. Another characteristic is the ‘maintenance of proximity’. This can be deduced from the fact that a child makes every effort to remain near the caregiver to feel safe and secure. The third is ‘a secure base’. The caregiver evolves into a dependable and secure base for the child to explore the world. The last characteristic is ‘distress on separation’. This means that on being separated from the caregiver, the child becomes very distressed and upset.
Mary Ainsworth- The Psychologist Who Defined Styles Of Attachment: Bowlby's attachment theory was greatly elaborated upon by psychologist Mary Ainsworth, in 1970. She tried to categorize attachment as secure attachment, ambivalent-insecure attachment and avoidant-insecure attachment.
In her research Mary Ainsworth found that securely attached children exhibit the minimum distress when separated from the caregiver because they know that the caregiver is going to come back. Children, who are ambivalently attached, experience a high degree of distress when the caregiver leaves. This is because of inadequate availability of the caregiver. Due to this, the child learns not to depend on the presence of the caregiver in times of need. Research reveals that such attachment affects approximately seven to fifteen percent of the children in the US.
Children affected by avoidant attachment have a tendency to avoid the caregiver. They display no preference, between a complete stranger and a parent. This is the result of neglect and abuse. A child, when punished for relying on the caregiver, would avoid help in future.
The style of attachment that is apparent in an adult is not necessarily similar to that displayed in infancy. However, it is observed that early attachments do affect adult relationships seriously.
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