Infancy and Adult Attachment

John Bowlby developed the theory of attachment. The theory addressed a child’s tie to their parent that examined biological function and their behavioral response when the infant is separated from their primary caretaker(s) (Ainsworth, 1979). Infants develop an attachment with their primary caretaker(s). Secure, insecure (anxious/avoidant), and insecure (avoidant) are the attachment styles developed at infancy attachments style developed during infancy progresses dismissing (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Overtime, I have been able to observe children’s attachment with their parent(s). When I first met my friend’s child, he was about a year old at the time, every time his mother left the room; he began to cry and looked at the door, waiting for her to appear. He had developed a secure attachment with his mother.

When an infant has a secure attachment with a parent or caretaker, the infant tends to become unhappy, but immediately after their return, they became calm. Additionally, the infant associated gratification and satisfaction with one or two specific individuals (e.g. mother and father) (Schneider, Gruman, &Coutts, 2012). Also, I was able to observe a secure attachment between my nephew when he was an infant and his mother. Aside from becoming unhappy while his mother was away, he had difficulties in being around unfamiliar people. It’s important to mention attachment styles develop from biological and social learning. Inherited trait is an example of biological factor. Considering my siblings and I had secure attachments to our parents, I believe biological traits play a major factor within my nephew. Social learning included the responsiveness of the attachment figure plays a role in attachment style. For example, a calm child with an unstressed parent would receive adequate attention (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts). The infant attachment styles appear in adulthood. An infant that developed a secure attachment develop into secure adults. Therefore, my friend’s child and nephew will have a great likelihood of developing into a secure adult.

There are four adult classifications of attachment style and differ from infancy. Secure attachment can be defined as trusting of, comfortable with close less and interdependent A preoccupied adult yearns for closeness and tends to worry about abandonment. An individual that fears rejection, feels shy in social situations, and has difficulty trusting others is a fearful adult. Lastly, a dismissing adult does not want or need close relationships and relies on their self (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). As a secure adult, individuals have the potential of experiencing separation distress. Since secure adults develop intimate relationships and gain trust in others, if the relationship ends, distress can occur. This is a normal tendency because of the relationship develop. Separation distress can be applied to death; individuals focus on the loss and feel extreme anxiety (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012).

It’s important to develop a secure attachment with the primary caretaker(s) and I believe it is important for parents to develop this particular relationship with their child. As an adult now, it is easy to confide and talk to my parents about situation I may have. This is due to the secure attachment I have developed with them during infancy. I have recognize infant attachment styles can greatly affect an infant and ultimately in adulthood.

References:

Ainsworth, M. S. (1979). Infant–mother attachment. American psychologist,34(10), 932.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1412976381

1 comment

  1. Keli Elaine Barnes

    I found this very interesting and it brought a very different outlook for me into infants development that effects adulthood. I currently am a mother of a three year old and I will be having another baby in about two months. What I have learnt from watching my daughter and my nieces and nephews is that they are all secure which I do think is biological because all of my brothers and sisters were when they were you but they also still currently are. We are all married now and have kids which show the same type of reactions when people close to them leave and when they are put around strangers. We all also showed separation distress in similar ways when my father died which leads me to say we are all secure.
    My daughter is really attached to me, my sister, her husband, my mother, and my mothers boyfriend because that was who she was around all the time for about the first two years of her life. Anytime she has to leave on of us to go with my husband whom she has been around for about 1 1/2 years she gets upset. I think this has a lot to do with social learning too because she never had a father figure so it is something she has to get used to. Whenever he has her by himself after she settles down and then acts that way with him if someone she did not know were to come around and she was with him.
    I personally believe it is a combination of biological and social, however I personally think that it is more social. Kids get attached to people because of the bonds they make with them and they tend to be shy with people they do not know. After they get to know someone they then start to open up with that person. And although that could be because a biological because they are trusting, I think they are just learning about the person and if they feel like they like them then they are going to start an attachment with them. For example, a child can be attached to their parents and freak out for the first few times that they go to a babysitter but after they get comfortable with that babysitter they can start to become attached to the babysitter and get upset when leaving them. I do see how in every situation both social and biological takes effects though.

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