Bowlby’s Theory

• Bowlby’s evolutionary explanation of attachment

  • Attachments serve an important survival function, as remaining close to an adult aids survival 
  • Attachment is an innate system that gives a survival advantage
  • Attachment behaviours have evolved as they serve important survival functions for the infant.
  • Bowlby looked at the work of Lorenz and Harlow for ideas and proposed an evolutionary explanation for attachment.
  • Imprinting and attachment evolved because they ensure young animals stay close to their caregivers – meaning they are protected.
• A = Adaptive

  S = Social Releasers

  C = Critical Period

  M = Monotropy

  I = Internal Working Model
• Adaptive

  • Attachments are Adaptive. This means they give our species an ‘adaptive advantage’, making us more likely to survive. 
  • This is because if an infant has an attachment to a caregiver, they are kept safe, given food, and kept warm.
• Social releasers

  Babies' Innate Behaviours and Adult Care

  • Babies display innate behaviours that unlock adults' innate care tendencies.

  • Social releasers, such as crying and smiling, ensure proximity and contact with the mother.

  • Physical social releasers, like baby face features and body proportions, trigger adult care.

  • Bowlby's theory suggests adults respond to these behaviours, demonstrating RECIPROCITY.
• C= Critical Period

  • Babies have to form the attachment with their caregiver during a critical period.
  • This is between 3-6 months. 
  • Bowlby said that if the child doesn’t form the attachment during the critical period, the child would be damaged for life - socially, emotionally, intellectually, and physically
• M = Monotropy

  • Bowlby believed that infants form one very special attachment with their mother (primary attachment figure).
  • This special, intense attachment is called monotropy. If the mother isn’t available, the infant could bond with another ever-present, adult, mother-substitute.
• Internal Working Model in Infants

  • Forms through monotropic attachment.
  •  Serves as template for future adult relationships.
  •  Expectations based on mother's relationship.
  •  First loving relationships influence future relationships.
  •  Poor treatment in first relationships leads to further poor relationships.
  •  Influences child's parenting behavior based on parent's experience.
• continuity hypothesis

  • The continuity hypothesis proposes that individuals who are strongly attached in infancy continue to be socially and emotionally competent whereas infants who are not strongly attached have more social and emotional difficulties in childhood and adulthood. 
  • In other words, there is continuity from infancy to adulthood in terms of emotional type.
• • One limitation of Bowlby’s theory is that attachment may not be adaptive.
  • Bowlby suggests that attachment has evolved as an innate system to give a survival advantage. 
  • Bowlby suggests attachments develop when the infant is older than 3 months.
  • This is very late as a mechanism to protect infants – suggesting attachment has not evolved to ensure survival.
  • However, it could be argued that infants start crawling from 6 months and that is when attachment is vital. 
  • So perhaps attachment is adaptive.
• Criticism of Bowlby's Theory

  • Criticizes Bowlby's theory of attachment being impossible after 3-6 months.

  • Rutter et al. (2010) found attachment formation difficult for orphans if they failed before 6 months.

  • Post-critical period may be a'sensitive' period, with infants more likely to form attachments.
• Continuity hypothesis

  • Support for Bowlby’s theory comes from the Minnesota parent-child study
  • Sroufe et al. (2005) followed participants from infancy to late adolescence and found continuity between early attachments and later emotional/social development
  • Individuals who were classified as securely attached in infancy were rated highly for social competence later in childhood
  • This supports Bowlby’s continuity hypothesis because it demonstrates a clear link between early and later attachments
• Bowlby's Theory and Czech Twins' Case Study

  • Bowlby's theory may not predict future relationships due to its internal working model.

  • Czech twins showed normal social and intellectual functioning by age 14.

  • Critical period component of Bowlby's theory contradicts this.

  • Poor first relationships often result from poor treatment.