Bowlby’s Attachment Theory (1969) Essay Example
In Bowlby’s attachment theory he stated 6 clear factors that were integral to the development of attachment from an infant to its primary care giver.
Firstly, Bowlby stated that attachment is “adaptive and innate” meaning through evolution; attachment is a behavioural system that has become crucial to survival and therefore the continuation of the species.
His second factor was the “sensitive period” in which there is a critical window of opportunity for an infant’s innate sense of attachment to develop.
He also stated that care giving is adaptive because the drive to provide care giving is innate. This is because infants are born with “social releasers” which attract care giving such as crying or laughing or even the baby’s face itself which will bring forth a reaction.
Infants must also have a “secure base” from which the infant can be guaranteed safety and a base from which to explore the world and have a “safe haven” to return to when threatened and so therefore it is believed that attachment actually fosters independence rather than dependence.
It was another of Bowlby’s beliefs that infants form a number of attachments but must have a special attachment to one individual, otherwise known as a “primary attachment” or “monotropy” This one special attachment if often to the infant’s mother due to the “sensitive responsiveness” the infant receives. The infant then sees this individual as its “primary attachment figure” which provides the main foundation for emotional development, self-esteem and later relationships with the world at large.
Bowlby also claimed that an infant learns how to act in relationships based on its relationship with its primary caregiver. Gradually the infant will develop a model about emotional relationships. Bowlby called this an “internal working model” This forms the basis of what an individual can expect from any given relationship later in
Firstly, Bowlby stated that attachment is “adaptive and innate” meaning through evolution; attachment is a behavioural system that has become crucial to survival and therefore the continuation of the species.
His second factor was the “sensitive period” in which there is a critical window of opportunity for an infant’s innate sense of attachment to develop.
He also stated that care giving is adaptive because the drive to provide care giving is innate. This is because infants are born with “social releasers” which attract care giving such as crying or laughing or even the baby’s face itself which will bring forth a reaction.
Infants must also have a “secure base” from which the infant can be guaranteed safety and a base from which to explore the world and have a “safe haven” to return to when threatened and so therefore it is believed that attachment actually fosters independence rather than dependence.
It was another of Bowlby’s beliefs that infants form a number of attachments but must have a special attachment to one individual, otherwise known as a “primary attachment” or “monotropy” This one special attachment if often to the infant’s mother due to the “sensitive responsiveness” the infant receives. The infant then sees this individual as its “primary attachment figure” which provides the main foundation for emotional development, self-esteem and later relationships with the world at large.
Bowlby also claimed that an infant learns how to act in relationships based on its relationship with its primary caregiver. Gradually the infant will develop a model about emotional relationships. Bowlby called this an “internal working model” This forms the basis of what an individual can expect from any given relationship later in