Bowlby's Attachment Theory Essay

Bowlby’s attachment theory is built on the idea that every human being is born with a biologically pre-programmed ability to create attachments (McLeod, 2007). He believed that the need to make attachments was derived from threats to our survival, which came from either internal forces or the external world (Belsky, 2016). These threats to a human’s survival produced the “fear of strangers” survival mechanism, which Bowlby claimed every child possessed when he or she is born (McLeod, 2007). It was this survival mechanism that caused children to form a strong attachment to their caregiver.
Psychologist Mary Ainsworth sought to expound on Bowlby’s attachment theory by creating a test designed to observe the behaviors of children in different situations. Ainsworth devised the Strange Situation test, which placed young children in situations where the primary caregiver left and a stranger was introduced (Belsky, 2016). The purpose of the test was to assess the strength and type of attachment to the caregiver (Belsky, 2016). Bowlby and Ainsworth both shared the idea that a child’s degree of secure attachment was based on the sensitivity of the parent, however Ainsworth hypothesized that the level and type of insecure attachment was also founded in the sensitivity of the caregiver
If a child exhibits the anxious-ambivalent insecurity, he or she may be unable to develop healthy relationships with other children, as they are too afraid to play stemming from their high level of separation anxiety (Belksy, 2016). This may affect the caregiver in an equally negative way, as they will not want to leave their child alone or allow him or her to socialize because they feel so bad about the separation. This may prevent the caregiver from developing other healthy relationships or it may negatively affect the existing relationship with their significant