L6 - Bowlby's Monotropic Theory

Question 1

Why do attachments form?

Answer 1

• fundamental principle of Bowlby’s theory is that attachment between infants + caregivers is an instinct that has evolved because it increases chances of both babies’ survival and the parents’ passing on their genes - therefore adaptive
• infants attached to caregiver will stay close to them and so are well protected + will survive
• parents who are attached to their children will ensure they are well cared for and so survive meaning that they will have succesfully passed on their genes

Question 2

According to Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory how do attachments form?

Answer 2

• Bowlby argued infants will have one special emotional bond; monotropy. Bond often with biological mother but not always. Infants also form secondary attachments that also provide important emotional safety net + vital for healthy psychological + social development
• infants have innate drive to become attached to adult - innate behaviour must occur during critical period or they never will (critical period = before child is 2) Infants who don’t form attachment during this time will find it difficult to form attachments when they grow up
• Bowlby proposed attachement determined by caregiver’s sensitivity - infants who are more strongly attached tend to have a caregiver who is responsive/ co-operative + more accesible than less closely attached infants
• social releasers important to ensure that attachments develop between caregivers + infants - could include smiling/crying - behaviours that elicit care giving - babies display them to encourage caregivers to look after them

Question 3

Why is monotropy important?

Answer 3

• importance of monotropy is that infants use relationship to form mental view of relationships called internal working model - secure relationships in childhood ensure positive working model + means that current and future relationships would be positive + secure
• continuity hypothesis proposes that individuals who are securely attached in infancy continue to be socially + emotionally competent - because secure childhood leads to positive internal working model

Question 4

What are the weaknesses of Bowlby’s monotropic theory?

Answer 4

• Schaffer + Emerson suggest that multiplr attachments are more common in babies than monotropy - found that by 18 months only 13% of infants had only one person they were attached to
• feminists have pointed out that idea of monotropy is socially sensitive - places terrible burden on mothers, setting them up to take the blame for anything that goes wrong in their child’s life - also puts pressure on mothers to stay at home and give up their careers. Bowlby also underestimated role of the father - saw it as primarily economic - outdated sexist view, in many families view both parents equally responsible for childcare, father can be primary caregiver
• Tizard + Hodges (1989) found that children who never formed any attachments by the age of four, and thenw ere adopted, could still form attachments to their new adoptive parents - goes against the idea of critical period before two years which an attachment must form or it never will
• Unscientific as impossible to test Bowlby’s argument that attachment has persisted in the same form throughout our evolutionary history
• Kegan (1984) disagreed with Bowlby about the quality of an infant’s attachment being determined by the caregiver’s sensistivity - explained infant’s attachments to their caregivers in terms of innate temperament. According to this theory, some infants are better suited to forming attachments then others due to their innate characteristics. Rovine (1987) found that infants who had been judged to have signs of behavioural instability 1-3 days old were later more likely to have an insecure attachment