Different types of attachments

• Secure attachments


  • infant is happy to explore and use mum as a safe base
  • shows stranger anxiety
  • shows separation anxiety
  • shows joy on reunion
  • linked to attentive, sensitive mothers
• Insecure-resistant attachment 


  • not happy to explore, clinging to mum
  • shows stranger anxiety
  • shows extreme separation anxiety
  • resists reunion (in a strop with mum)
  • linked to ambivalent (unpredictable) mothers
• Insecure avoidant attachment


  • happy to explore - doesn't need mum as a safe base
  • doesn't show stranger anxiety
  • doesn't show separation anxiety
  • actively avoids reunion
  • linked to unresponsive mothers who ignore their child
• Why are there different attachment types?

  1. caregiver sensitivity hypothesis
  2. temperment hypothesis
• Caregiver sensitivity hypothesis 


  • Ainsworth believed that the kind of attachment the child develops is entirely due to the mother
  • secure children have mothers who respond appropriately to the child's needs by picking up on signals
  • insecure children have less responsive mothers and the attachments they develop are coping strategies
• Temperment hypothesis 


  • Kagan believed it was down to the personality of the child
  • those children who are naturally good at forming relationships do so in early life ...