AO1 - Bowlby's Monotropic Theory

Cards (8)

  • Adaptive - Attachment is an innate system, it is inherited to improve survival so is therefore adaptive, Bowly suggested that infants are 'programmed' to attach, as well as parents
  • Social releasers - infants are born with social releasers, such as crying or smiling and looking 'cute', which trigger a response in a caregiver and ensures interaction takes place
  • Critical period - this is where attachment needs to take place otherwise an infant may not attach at all, this takes place in the first 2.5 years of life
  • Monotropy - Bowlby places great emphasis on a child's attachment to one caregiver, he believed this is the most important attachment in the child's development
    • Bowlby said this is the mother, but it doesn't have to be the biological mother
  • The more time a child spends with the monotropy the better, he put forward two principles
    • The law of continuity: quality of a child's attachment will be better if they receive consistent and predictable care from the monotropic figure
    • The law of accumulated separation: having substantial time apart from the monotropy risks a poor quality attachment
  • Internal working model (IWM):
    • mental representation that the child forms of their relationship with the primary caregiver
    • acts as a template for what relationships are like - the child uses their attachment relationship to the caregiver to build an expectation of what future relationships will be like
    • future relationships mirror childhood attachments
    • Bowlby believes that IWMs are passed on from one generation to the next - people base their parenting on their own experiences of being parented
  • Loving relationship with responsive PCG (secure attachment) -> child feels secure -> positive internal working model -> loving future relationships
  • Poor relationship with unresponsive PCG (insecure attachment) -> child feels unworthy -> negative internal working model -> poor relationships in future