Schaffer's Stages of Attachment

• Asocial stage

  • birth to 2 months
  • infant shows similar responses to objects and people
  • at the end of this stage the infant displays a preference for faces / eyes
• Indiscriminate attachments stage

  • 2-6 months
  • infant shows a preference for human company over non-human company.
  • can distinguish between people but are comforted indiscriminately and do not show stranger anxiety yet.
• Multiple attachments stage

  • one year onwards
  • attachment behaviours are displayed towards several different people.
  • typically form in the first month after the primary attachment is formed.
  • number of multiple attachments which develop depends on the social circle to whom the infant is exposed.
• Schaffer and Emerson (1964) conducted a study with a sample of 60 babies from working-class families in Glasgow aged 5-23 weeks
• The researchers visited the babies in their homes every month for the first 12 months and again after 18 months
• During the study, the researchers interviewed the mothers and observed the infants in relation to separation and stranger anxiety in a range of everyday activities
• Results of the study provided support for the different stages of forming an attachment:

  • At 25-32 weeks, 50% of infants showed separation anxiety
  • By 40 weeks, 80% of infants had a discriminate attachment
  • 30% of infants had started to form multiple attachments by this stage
• They also found that primary attachments were not always formed with the person who spent the most time with the infant. They observed that intensely attached infants had mothers who responded quickly and sensitively to their 'signals'. Infants who were poorly attached had mothers who failed to interact. Allowed them to conclude it is the quality of interaction and not quantity that matters in attachment.