Bowlby's monotropic theory of attachment

Question 1

why attachments form

Answer 1

• attachment between infants + their caregivers is an instinct that has evolved
  = adaptive + increases survival chances + pass on genes successfully

Question 2

how attachments form

Answer 2

• infants have innate drive to become attached to an adult
• critical period = 2 years, to form attachment or they never will
• social releasers are important to ensure attachments develop between caregivers + infants e.g. crying
• argued monotropy = one special emotional bond
• infants also form secondary attachments = provide emotional safety net + important for development

Question 3

consequences of attachment

Answer 3

• improtance of monotropy = infants use this as a mental view of relationships
  = internal working model
• secure relationships ensure a positive internal working model
  = current + future relationships will be secure + positive
• continuity hypothesis = proposes that individuals who are securely attached in infancy, continue to be socially + emotionally competent
  = secure childhood leads to +ve internal working model

Question 4

disads

Answer 4

• multiple attachments
• feminists
• critical period
• unscientific
• caregiver’s sensitivity

Question 5

multiple attachments - disads

Answer 5

• Schaffer + Emerson suggest that multiple attachments are more common in babies than monotropy
• found that by 18 months, only 13% of infants had only 1 person they were attached to

Question 6

feminists - disads

Answer 6

• feminists like Erica Burman have pointed that the idea of monotropu is socially sensitive
• places lot sof responsibility on mothers
• forces them to give up their careers + stay at home
• take the blame if anything goes wrong in their child’s life
• underestimates the role of the father as purely economical
  = outdated + sexist view
• many families view both parents as equal
• many families, the father is primary caregiver

Question 7

critical periods - disads

Answer 7

• Tizard + Hodges found that children who had never formed any attachments before the age of 4 + were then adopted
  = could still form attachemnts to their new adopted parents
• goes against the idea of a critical period before 2 years of age
• where attachments must form or it never will

Question 8

unscientific - disads

Answer 8

• it is impossible to test Bowlby’s argument that attachment has persisted in the same form throughout evolutionary history
  = makign it unscientific

Question 9

caregiver’s sensitivity - disads

Answer 9

• psych disagreed w/ Bowlby about the quality of an infant’s attachment being determined by the caregiver’s sensitivity
• explained that infants’ attachments to their caregivers in terms of their innate temperament
• some infants are better suited to forming attachemnts than others
  = due to innate characteristics