L2 - Stages of Attachment

Question 1

Who decided the stages of attachment and how?

Answer 1

• Shaffer + Emerson (1964) investigated development of attachment in infants using a longitudinal study - followed 60 infants + mothers for 2 yrs
• decided that there were four stages in development of attachment in infants

Question 2

What are the four attachment stages?

Answer 2

Pre-attachment (0-3 months) - from 6 weeks infants become attracted to humans - prefer them over objects + events - demonstrated by smiling at people’s faces

Indiscriminate attachment (3-7 months) - infants begin to discriminte between familair + unfamiliar people,smiling more at people they know however will still alllow strangers to handle them

Discriminate attachment (7 months onwards) - infants develop attachment to primary attachment figure (usually the mother) staying close to that person. Show seperation protest (distress infant shows when primary attachment figure leaves them) + display stranger anxiety (distress infant shows when approached by someone they don’t know) - Shaffer + Emerson noticed that infant’s primary attachment figure was not always person who spends most time with child - concluded that it is quality of relationship not quantity that matters most in formation of attachment

Multiple attachments (7 months onwards) - soon after developing first attachment infants develop strong emotional ties with other major caregivers, such as fathers + grandparents, and non-caregivers such as siblings (secondary attachments). Fear of strangers weakens but their attachment to their primary attachment figure remains the strongest

Question 3

What are the weaknesses of the stages of attachment?

Answer 3

• data by Shaffer + Emerson may be unreliable because based on mother’s reports of their infants. Some mothers might have been less sensitive to their infant’s protests + therefore been less likely to report them
• biased sample because only infants from working- class population + thus findings might not apply to other social groups
• bias because ony included infants from individualistic cultures, infants from collectivist cultures could form attachments in different way
• lacks temporal validity - conducted in 1960s + parents care of children changed drastically since then - more women go out to work and more men stay at home
• stage theories inflexible - do not take into account individual differences, some infants might form multiple attachments first, rather than starting with a single attachment

Question 4

What was the role of the father?

Answer 4

• inconsistency in research into the role of the father + whether he plays a distinct role - some research shows that father provide play + stimulation - complements role of the mother (providing emotional support) - both crucial to child’s wellbeing
• other research shows no distinction - research investigating the effects of growing up in a same sex or single female family which shows there is no effect on development - suggests the role of the father not important
• S+E found that father were far less likely to be the primary attachment figure than mothers - may be because they spend less time with their infants
• also possible that men not as psyhologically equipped to form intense attachment because they lack emotional sensitivity that women have - could be result of biological factors - the female hormone oxytocin underlies caring behaviour so women more orientated to interpersonal goals than men
• alternatively, could be due to societal norms - in some cultures it is feminine to be sensitive to the needs of others

Question 5

What were the findings of the role of the father?

Answer 5

• men do form attachments with their children as S+E found that 75% of infants studies had formed an attachment with their father at 18 months
• fathers can even be their primary attachment figure (Field 1978)
• role of father in a single- parent family is more likely to adopt the traditional maternal role, to be primary caregiver + nuturing attachment figure