Explanations of Attachment: Bowlby's Monotropic Theory

• Define 'monotropy'

  A term used to describe Bowlby's theory. 'Mono' means one and 'tropy' means leaning towards. Bowlby theorised that one particular attachment is different from all the others and of central importance to a child's development.
• Define 'critical period'

  This is the time in which an attachment must be formed if it is to form at all. Bowlby extended Lorenz and Harlow's ideas about the critical period in animals to humans, proposing that babies have a sensitive period after which it will be much more difficult to form an attachment.
• Define 'internal working model'

  A mental template of all our relationships to attachment figures. This template provides a basis for our future relationships as it carries our perceptions of what relationships are like.
• Bowlby's monotropic theory

  - Bowlby (1988) rejected the learning theory, and instead built on the work of Lorenz and Harlow by taking an evolutionary approach to explaining attachment.

  - He suggested that attachment was an innate mechanism that provided a survival advantage.

  - Therefore, like imprinting, attachment evolved as a mechanism to keep young animals safe by ensuring they stay in close proximity to adult caregivers.
• Monotropy

  - Bowlby's theory (1958, 1969) is described as monotropic as he places the most emphasis on a child's attachment to one specific attachment figure, which he believed to be different and more important than others.

  - Bowlby said that this attachment figure was the mother, although this didn't have to be the biological mother (we also now know that it doesn't have to be a woman).

  - Bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with the mother figure, the stronger the attachment. He proposed two principles to clarify this:

  - Law of continuity - the more constant and predictable a child's care, the better the quality of attachment.

  - Law of accumulated separation - the effects of every separation from the mother add up 'and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose' (Bowlby (1975)).
• Social releasers and the critical period

  - Bowlby suggested that babies are born with innate cute behaviours such as smiling and cooing, both of which encourage attention from adults. He referred to these as social releasers that activate adult interaction and so make an adult interact and attach to the baby.

  - Bowlby as recognised that attachment is a reciprocal process; the mother and the baby are both hard-wired to attach.

  - The interplay between the baby and adult attachment systems gradually builds the relationship between baby and caregiver.

  - Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period around 6 months when the infant attachment system is active, however, Bowlby referred to this as a sensitive period.

  - A child is maximally sensitive at 6 months, and this could extend to the age of 2. As suggested by Lorenz and Harlow, if an attachment isn't formed in this time, the child will find it very difficult to form one later.
• Internal working model

  - Bowlby also proposed that a child forms a mental template or representation of their relationship with the primary attachment figure. This is known as the internal working model.

  - A child whose first experience is a loving relationship with their caregiver will form the expectation that all relationships are as loving and reliable, and will bring these qualities to future relationships.

  - However, a child whose first relationship involved poor treatment and neglect will tend to form more poor relationships in which they expect such treatment from others and/or treat others in the same way.

  - The internal working model also acts as a template for someone's ability to be a parent themselves as many people base their behaviour on their own experiences of being parented.
• Evaluating Bowlby's monotropic theory: Validity of monotropy challenged

  - A limitation of Bowlby's theory is that his idea of monotropy lacks validity.

  - Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that, while most babies did attach to one baby first, a significant minority formed multiple attachments at the same time.

  - Additionally, while the first attachment does appear to have a particularly strong influence on later behaviour, this may simply mean that it is stronger rather than different in quality from the child's other attachments.

  - This means that Bowlby may be incorrect in assuming that there is a unique quality and importance to a child's primary attachment.
• Evaluating Bowlby's monotropic theory: Support for social releasers


  - A strength of Bowlby's theory is that there is evidence supporting the role of social releasers.

  - Brazelton et al. (1975) observed babies trigger an adult's attention via social releasers. The researchers then instructed the babies' primary attachment figures to ignore their baby's social releasers.

  - Babies who were normally very responsive, became increasingly distressed.

  - This illustrates that social releasers are important in emotional development, therefore suggesting that they are important in developing an attachment.
• Evaluating Bowlby's monotropic theory: Support for internal working model (with counterpoint)


  - Another strength of Bowlby's theory is that there is evidence supporting the existence and role of the internal working model.

  - Bailey et al. (2007) assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their 1-year-old babies. The researchers assessed the mothers' attachment to their own primary attachment figures, and assessed the quality of the babies' attachment also.

  - They found that mothers who had a poor attachment with their PAF were more likely to have more poorly attached babies.

  - This supports Bowlby's notion that mothers' ability to form an attachment is based off of their early attachments.

  
  

  - Counterpoint: There are most likely other important influences on social development.

  - For example, some psychologists believe that genetic differences in anxiety and sociability affect social behaviour in both babies and adults. These differences could also impact on their parenting ability - Kornienko (2016).

  - This means that Bowlby may have overstated the importance of the internal working model in social behaviour and parenting at the expense of other factors.
• Evaluating Bowlby's monotropic theory: Feminist concerns


  - The two laws of continuity and accumulated separation suggest that mothers who work may negatively affect their child's development.

  - However, feminists like Erica Burman (1994) point out that this belief sets up mothers to blame for anything that goes wrong for the child in the future. It also gives an excuse to restrict mothers' personal activities such as going to work.

  - Conversely, prior to Bowlby's time, people didn't think that the mother's role was very important. In fact, many custody disputes were settled in favour of the father as mothers weren't regarded as necessary.

  - Moreover, Bowlby's ideas have many real-world applications, such as key workers in day-care who build an attachment with particular babies.