Outline and evaluate Bowlby’s monotropic theory as an explanation of attachment Flashcards
outline
Bowlby suggested that the ability to form an attachment is innate and has evolved through natural selection as it aids survival e.g. by maintaining proximity an infant is more likely to survive because of the protection provided by the primary attachment figure.
Monotropy suggests infants form multiple attachments but one is more important.
This occurs with the primary care giver and the quality depends on the infants working model.
The internal working model is the part-conscious, part-unconscious set of rules and expectations about relationships, based on the relationship experienced with the primary attachment figure.
The internal working develops during a critical period (2.5 years) which is when an attachment must form.
If it doesn’t form, the infant will experience permanent emotional damage and lasting relationship difficulties into adulthood.
Bowlby viewed this as a sensitive period and if an attachment is not formed during this time, it will be harder to form one later.
limit 1
A limitation of monotropy is that there is evidence for it is mixed.
Schaffer and Emerson found that some babies formed multiple attachments at the same time.
It is unclear whether there is something unique about the first attachment; studies have shown that attachment to the mother is more important in predicting later behaviours
however, this could mean that attachment to the primary attachment figure is stronger than other attachments, but not necessarily different in quality.
strength 1
A strength of the concept of social releasers is that there is evidence to support this from Brazleton et al (1975).
They observed mothers and their babies and told the mother to ignore signals.
The babies initially showed distress but when the PAF continued to ignore the baby, some of them responded by curling up and lying motionless.
This supports Bowlby’s ideas about the importance of social behaviour of infants in eliciting care giving as well as the role of releasers in initiating social interaction.
strength 2
A further strength of Bowlby’s theory is that there is support for the idea of an internal working model.
Bailey et al (2007) tested 99 mothers with one year old babies on the quality of their attachment to their own mothers using a standard interview procedure and the attachment to their babies by observation.
They found that mothers who reported poor attachments to their own parents were more likely to have children classified as poor attachment according to the observations.
This supports the idea that an internal working model of attachment is passed through families.
limit 2
A final limitation is that Bowlby may have overemphasised the role of attachment as, temperament has also been highlighted as being important.
Temperament is the child’s genetically influenced personality and temperament researchers suggest that some babies are more anxious and some are more sociable as a result of their genetic make-up (Kagan, 1982) and it is these differences which explain later social behaviour rather than attachment experiences.
