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Attachment Behaviors:

Attachment is a lasting emotional bond that connects one person to another, shaping relationships from infancy onward. First relationships provide a model for future connections and influence self-concept development. Rooted in Ethological Attachment Theory by J. Bowlby, attachment behaviors evolved for survival, keeping infants near caregivers to enhance safety. Variations in attachment security, demonstrated through the Strange Situation, include secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant, and insecure-disorganized attachments. Parental behaviors, particularly sensitivity, greatly influence the security of these attachments.

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Attachment Behaviors:

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  1. Attachment: An enduring emotional tie that unites one person to another, over time and across space

  2. Attachment Behaviors: • Behaviors that function to bring the infant/child physically closer to the caregiver • Exs: crying, following, clinging

  3. Why is parent-child attachment important? • First relationship that infants experience • May serve as a model for other relationships • May affect the development of self-concept

  4. Normative Development of Attachment: Ethological Attachment Theory (J. Bowlby) • Attachment behavior evolved because it is adaptive for survival • Keeps infants physically close to caregivers and away from danger • Increases the chances of infant survival and reproductive success

  5. Evidence (Ethological Attachment Theory): • Animals that stray from a group are much more vulnerable to attack • Attachment behavior in animals and humans: • Occurs more frequently in those most vulnerable to predators (e.g., the young) • Increases in frightening situations

  6. Individual Differences in Attachment Security Infancy: Strange Situation • Mother and infant in laboratory playroom • Stranger enters, talks to mothers, engages infant • Mother leaves (stranger stays) • Mother returns (stranger leaves) • Mother leaves (baby alone) • Stranger returns • Mother returns

  7. Secure (B) • About 60-65% of American middle-class samples • May or may not be distressed by separation • Respond positively to parent’s return • If distressed by separation, easily comforted by parent and able to return to play (parent = secure base)

  8. Insecure-Avoidant (A) • 15-20% of American middle-class samples • Usually not distressed by separation from parent • Avoid the parent during reunion (to different degrees)

  9. Insecure-Resistant or Ambivalent (C) • 10-15% of American middle-class samples • Usually distressed by separation • Show a combination of angry, resistant behavior and proximity-seeking behavior during reunion with parent • Have difficulty being comforted by parent and returning to play

  10. Insecure-Disorganized (D) • 10-15% of American middle-class samples • More common in infants who have been maltreated • Infants’ behavior does not reflect an organized strategy for dealing with the stress of separation • Contradictory behaviors • Expressions of fear or disorientation when caregiver returns

  11. Influences on Infant Attachment Security • According to attachment theory, the major influence is parental behavior (especially sensitivity) during infancy • Sensitivity: Consistent, prompt, and appropriate responses to infant signals

  12. Infants’ behavior in the Strange Situation is hypothesized to reflect their past experiences with that parent • Secure infants expect caregiver to be sensitive • Insecure infants expect caregiver to be insensitive

  13. Evidence for Parental Behavior as the Major Influence on Infant Attachment Security: • Parental sensitivity is correlated with infant attachment security, but the correlation is not strong • Disagreement about the importance of parental sensitivity in influencing attachment security • Other factors also affect attachment security

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