The Attachment Theory: John Bowlby And Mary Ainsworth

In humans, attachment refers to the strong emotional bond that develops between an infant and his or her primary caretaker (Encyclopedia of Social Psychology, 2007). The attachment theory was developed after both individual and joint research by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Bowlby set the foundations for the attachment theory, believing that when we are born, we are biologically programed to form attachments in order to help us survive, as when we are infants we cannot feed or protect ourselves. Mary Ainsworth adopted this theory and expanded it, through her research of ‘strange situation’. In this essay I will discuss a brief overview of the development of the attachment theory as well as further elaborate on the phases within the attachment
theory and Ainsworth types of attachment.

The history of the attachment theory dates back to 1930, Bowlby was intrigued by the impact deprivation or complete absence of parental care has on later personality development. (Bretherton, 1992). The importance of an infant’s relationship with his or her mother for future behavior was further evident in 1946 when Bowlby studied juvenile thieves. After discussing with colleagues from different fields, such as evolutionary biology, ethology, developmental psychology, cognitive science and control systems theory, Bowlby devised the foundations for the attachment theory (Cassidy, 1999).