bowlby evolutionary theory of attachment Flashcards
what does bowlby suggest ?
attatchment is an innate process that serves an important evolutionary function
what are the key features of bowlby?
adaptive
social releasers
critical period
monotropy
evolutionary
reciprocal
internal working model
innate
survival
monotropy
there is one main attachment figure, only 1 attachment is made
innate
attachment is pre programmed and is not learnt
survival/adaptive
attachment is adaptive and necessary for survival
social releasers
the infant has innate social releasers e.g smiling to unlock the adults caring behaviour
critical period
attachment mus be made by 2 and a half years or there will be life long negative consequences, a person could become emotionally , physically and intelectually stunted if the attachment isnt formed
internal working model
our first monotropic attachment is the blueprint for all future relationships
the model represents a mental view of relationships with the primary figure and acts as a template for all future relationships
evolutionary
attachment is an evolved social behaviour
evaluation of bowlby- shaffer and emmerson
goes against bowlbys idea of monotropy as they say that babys form multiple attachments e.g secondary attachments
this goes agasint monotropy as more than 1 attachment has been made
evaluation of bowlby: harlows monkey
it supports monotropy as the rhesus monkeys became attached with the cloth surrogate mother and stayed with it for 22 hours a day, this supports monotropy as the monkeys formed the attachment with one mother
it supports the critical period - monkeys have a critical period for 90 days
it supports the internal working model as monkeys struggled to form attachments with other monkeys in later life if attachments were not made within 90 days
evaluation of bowlby: lorenz
supports bowlbys idea of attachment being innate, geese imprinted and attached to lorenz immediately so the attachment was innate (natural)
lorenz also supports monotropy as lorenzs geese only formed 1 attachment
supports bowblys idea of critical periods as geese have a critical period (just after hatching)
hazan and shaver
supports bowlbys internal working model
gave a love questionnare which identified peoples attachment style with their parents and attachment style with their partner. they found that many people had the same attachment style with their parents and partners
this shows how a persons first attachment (parent) is the blueprint for all future attachments
bailey et al
through the observation of 99 mothers and the recording of their childs attachment type through the strange situation it was found that poor insecure attachments coincided with the mothers themselves reporting poor attachments with their own parents
this supports the internal working model, the first attachment made is the blueprint for future relationships and can impact the ability of children becoming parents themselves in later life
temperament hypothesis: kagan
kagan noted that innate temperamental characteristics which made infants easy or difficult had a serious impact on the quality of the mother infant relationship and their attachment type
therefore innate characteristics would influence the individual throughout their life and their love relationships
practical applications
hospital practices have since been changed due to bowblys theory e,g 24 hour visiting times for parents,]
the importance of seperation from parents has been recognised from bowlbys theory
socially sensetive research
monotropy can be socially sensetive
although bowlby didnt specify that the primary attachment figure must be the mother, it often is (65% of cases)
this puts pressure on working mothers to delay their work to ensure a child develops a secure attachment
any developmental abnormalities in term of attachment are therefore blamed on the mother
