Stages of attachment

• Stage 1 - Indiscriminate 


  •From birth until about 2 months, infants produce similar responses to all objects whether they are animate or inanimate
• Stage 2 - Beginnings of attachment


  • Around age of 4 months infants become more social, they prefer human company to inanimate objects and can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people. However they are still easily comforted by anyone and do not yet show signs of anxiety with strangers.
• Stage 3 - Discriminate attachment 


  • By seven months, most infants begin to show a distinctly different sort of protest when one particular person puts them down (separation anxiety) equally they show joy at reunion , they are set to have formed a primary attachment figure
• Stage 4 - Multiple attachment 


  • Soon after main attachment is formed, infant also develops wider circle of multiple attachments depending on how many consistent relationships they have. Schaffer and Emerson found that within one month of first becoming attached, 29% of the infants had multiple attachments. Within 6 months this rose to 78%
• Schaffer and Emerson Study - 1964


  • 60 infants from working - class homes in Glasgow

  • Aged between 5 to 23 Weeks - Studied until the age of 1 year

  • Mothers were visited every 4 months, at each visit mothers reported their infants response to separation in seven everyday situations

  • The mother was asked to describe the intensity of any protests which was then rated on a four Point scale and was asked to say to whom the protest was directed at
• Schaffer and Emerson - Evaluation

  • Biased data - Glasgow, working class, 1960s parental care has changed over the years, if study was done now a days findings may be different. Can’t apply it to all social groups

  • Unreliable data - Mother recored own data so some mums may have different opinions on behaviours which would cause systemetic bias and would challenge the validity
• Evaluation - Cultural variations


  • Important differences between cultures in terms of the way peole relate to each other. In individualist countires each person in society is primarily concerned with their own needs or the needs of immediate family. In contrast collectivist cultures are more focused on the needs of the group rather than individuals - people sharing possessions and childcare. Suggests that the stage model applies specifically to individualist cultures
• Evaluation - stage theories

  • one difficulty is that they suggest development is inflexible. A stage theory proposes that there is fixed order for development, for example it suggests normally single attachments come before multiple attachments, In some situations and cultures multiple attachments may come first. The use of stage theories therefore may be problamatic if they become a standard by which families are judged and classed as abnormal
• Evaluation - challenging monotropy


  • whether all attachment are equivalent or whether one or two have some special significance. Bowlbys view was that an infant forms one special emotional relationship subsidiary to this there are many other secondary attachments which are important as an emotional safety net or to meet other needs. This suggests that bowl by may have been wrong about the idea of hierarchy of attachments
• Role of the father

  • Fathers were less likely to be primary attachments because they spend less time with their infants
  • Most men are not psychologicaly equipped to form intense attachment because they lack the emotional sensitivity that women offer
  • Fathers have role to play as important secondary attachment figures - fathers are more playful, physically active and generally better at providing challenging situations for their children