Explanations of attachment: Bowlby's theory

• what is bowlby's theory?

  the monotropic theory of attachment.
• attachment is innate, like imprinting

  bowl by gave an evolutionary explanation: that attachment is an innate system that gives a survival advantage.

  imprinting and attachment evolved because they ensure young animals stay close to their caregivers and this protects them from hazards.
• monotropic= a primary attachment figure

  bowlby's theory is described as mono tropic because of the emphasis on the child's attachment to one caregiver.

  this attachment is different from others and more important.
• more time spent with the mother figure is beneficial

  bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this primary attachment figure/mother-figure (not necessarily the biological mother) the better. there are two main reasons:

  1. law of continuity: the more constant a child's care, the better the quality of attachment
  2. law of accumulated separation: the effects of every separation add up. so, 'the safest dose is therefore a zero dose'.
• what is the law of continuity?


  the more constant a child's care, the better the quality of attachment.
• what is the law of accumulated separation?

  the effects of every separation odd up. so, 'the safest dose is therefore a zero dose'.
• babies are born with social releasers

  bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate 'cute' behaviours (e.g. smiling, cooing, gripping) that encourage attention from adults.

  the purpose of these social releasers is to activate the adult attachment system (i.e. make an adult feel love towards the baby); bowlby recognised that attachment is a reciprocal system.
• there is a critical period

  bowlby proposed that there is a critical period of about two years when the infant attachment system is active. in fact, he viewed this as more of a sensitive period.

  a child is maximally sensitive up to the age of two years. if an attachment has not formed in this time, he or she will find it much harder to form one later.
• bowlby argued that the child forms a mental representation (internal working model) of the relationship with their primary attachment figure. this internal working model serves as a 'template' for what relationships are like.
• a child whose first experience is a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are loving and reliable. However, a child whose first relationship involves poor treatment may expect such treatment from others.

  the internal working model may also affect the child's later ability to be a parent themselves.
• strength: evidence to support existence and value of social releasers

  brazleton et al instructed primary attachment figures to ignore their babies' social releasers (cute infant behaviours). babies (who were previously shown to be normally responsive) initially showed some distress, but eventually some curled up and lay motionless. this supports bowlby's ideas about the significance of infant social behaviour eliciting caregiving from adults and the role of releasers in initiating social interaction.
• strength: support for idea of an internal working model

  the idea of internal working models predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next. Bailey et al. studied 99 mothers; those with poor attachment to own parents were more likely to have one-year-olds who were poorly attached. this supports bowlby's idea of an internal working model of attachment as it is being passed through families.
• limitation: monotropy is socially sensitive

  the law of accumulated separation states that having substantial time apart from a primary attachment figure risks a poor quality attachment that will disadvantage the child in a range of ways. feminists (e.g. Burman) argue that mothers are blamed for anything that goes wrong in a child's life and pushes mothers into making lifestyle choices, e.g. not returning to work when a child is born. however, this was not bowlby's intention. he saw himself as boosting the status of mothers by emphasising the importance of their role.
• limitation: evidence for monotropy is mixed

  Schaffer and Emerson found that most babies did attach to one person at first, but a significant minority formed multiple attachments at the same time. this contradicts bowlby's assertion that babies form one attachment to a primary caregiver and that this attachment is unique. attachment to mothers (not fathers) better predicts later behaviour, but this may be because mother is the primary attachment, not the different attachment quality.