Bowlby's evolutionary theory Flashcards
Explain from bowlbys perspective (evolutionary theory) why attachments occur
An attachment enhances the infants chances of survival, because in the short term it ensures they are provided with care from an adult.
Whereas in the long term it provides them with the social skills necessary to secure a mate and to pass on social skills to their offspring.
From bowlbys perspective do attachments serve a purpose?
Bowlby believes that attachments do serve a purpose because without an attachment the infants chances of survival will be significantly reduced.
Therefore the quality of their first attachment influences the quality of their future relationships and therefore the successful propogation of genes.
From bowlbys perspective how do attachments occur?
The infant is biologically pre-programmed to form an attachment with an adult care giver to maximise their chances of survival.
Infants are born with social releasers such as cooing, crying and smiling that ensure close proximity of an adult care giver.
Using these social releasers ensures that adults ‘fall in love’ with the infant which will enable their physiological and psychological needs to be met.
What type of theory is Bowlby’s?
NATURE
From bowlbys perspective who will the infant form an attachment to?
The infant is mist likely to form an attachment to the primary care giver who will maximise their chances of survival.
From Bowlby’s perspective does it matter if an attachment doesn’t form?
Bowlby believes that it does matter if an attachment does not form because it will result in poor survival chances as their physiological and psychological needs won’t be met.
Therefore a poor quality first attachment will result in poor quality future relationships and successful propogation of genes.
Evidnece to support the evolutionary theory
HARLOWS STUDY - supports the evolutionary theory as Harlow found that when the monkeys were returned to the group of normally reared monkeys the privated monkeys showed signs of delinquincy and inappropriate behaviour and were also very ineffective at propogating genes because whenever another monkey tried to mate they showed signs of aggression suggesting that they did not possess the necessary social skills.
Also the monkeys who did have offspring showed extreme signs of neglect and whenever the baby monkey tried to make contact the private monkey pushed it away.
This therefore suggests that a good quality first attachment is necessary to gain the appropriate social skills needed to pass on to your offspring.
Additionally, as stated by bowlby, the quslity of your first attachment significantly influences future relationships as demonstrated by Harlow as the monkeys showed aggressive and inappropriate behaviour yo anyone who tried to mate with them.
Evidence to support the evolutionary theory:
Goldfarb - goldfarb found that those raised in institutional care and who experienced a poor quality first attachment presented problems in forming relationships, they were unpopular, appeared restless and had a significantly lower IQ then the fostered group of 72 compared with the fostred group - 95. This therefore supports bowlbys theory as he asserted that if infants do not have a good quality first attachment then they will not possess the correct social skills to secure a mate as demonstrated by Goldfarb.
Evidence to detract from the evolutionary theory
Bowlby states that baby’s display monotropy which is an innate tendency to become attached to one particular adult female. However, Schaffer and Emerson found that attachments are most likely to form with those who respond accurately to the baby’s signals, not the person they spend the most time with. They called this sensitive responsiveness.
In their study they found that half of the 60 children’s main attachment figure at 18 months old was the mother, however for the other half it was the father.
This therefore contradicts bowlby’s theory of monotropy.
Detracts from the evolutionary theory
Bowlbys theory is very pessimistic as it states that if an infant does not form a successful attachment in the future or successfully propogate genes then it is solely the responsibility of the mother, however this is not always true.
