Attachment Theory:
● One of the most influential theories of socio-emotional development.
● Enormous impact on practice
○ Education
○ Counselling
○ Custodial decisions
● Core theory for many interventions (including UNICEF and WHO) and polices.
Freud: Cupboard theory (drive-reduction explanation) - Need for the mother is primary.
Erikson: Psychosocial explanation - Infants bond to people with whom they develop trust.
Bowlby: Attachment theory - Evolutionary explanation; Innate tendency to seek contact with
caregiver; protection from predators.
● An enduring emotional bond between baby and specific, significant other.
● Secure base behaviours: Infants seek proximity, are distressed in absence, happy
when reunited, and orient action and attention to the attachment figure.
● When?
○ 3 months - Emotional bond established
○ 7-9 months - Can differentiate mother from stranger, showing preference for
the mother and wariness of stranger
○ 12 months - Independent locomotion occurs
● Measured with the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) to derive classifications
(normativity assumption)
Type Play Separation effect Reunion effect
Secure Explore Distress Greet and settle
Insecure avoidant Aloof Mild distress Ignore mother
Insecure resistant Preoccupied with Panic Ambivalent and
mother unsettled
Disorganised Lack of an organised response to SSP
Cultural variation of SSP:
● Germany - Value early independence so there are more avoidant attachments.
● Japan - Value more dependence so there are no avoidant attachments, and more
resistance attachments.
● USA and Japan - Mostly secure.
→ It is not acknowledged that many cultures do not value autonomy and that the SSP is not
a valid measure of attachment networks.
Psychological autonomy:
● WIRED societies
○ Individuality and uniqueness
● One of the most influential theories of socio-emotional development.
● Enormous impact on practice
○ Education
○ Counselling
○ Custodial decisions
● Core theory for many interventions (including UNICEF and WHO) and polices.
Freud: Cupboard theory (drive-reduction explanation) - Need for the mother is primary.
Erikson: Psychosocial explanation - Infants bond to people with whom they develop trust.
Bowlby: Attachment theory - Evolutionary explanation; Innate tendency to seek contact with
caregiver; protection from predators.
● An enduring emotional bond between baby and specific, significant other.
● Secure base behaviours: Infants seek proximity, are distressed in absence, happy
when reunited, and orient action and attention to the attachment figure.
● When?
○ 3 months - Emotional bond established
○ 7-9 months - Can differentiate mother from stranger, showing preference for
the mother and wariness of stranger
○ 12 months - Independent locomotion occurs
● Measured with the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) to derive classifications
(normativity assumption)
Type Play Separation effect Reunion effect
Secure Explore Distress Greet and settle
Insecure avoidant Aloof Mild distress Ignore mother
Insecure resistant Preoccupied with Panic Ambivalent and
mother unsettled
Disorganised Lack of an organised response to SSP
Cultural variation of SSP:
● Germany - Value early independence so there are more avoidant attachments.
● Japan - Value more dependence so there are no avoidant attachments, and more
resistance attachments.
● USA and Japan - Mostly secure.
→ It is not acknowledged that many cultures do not value autonomy and that the SSP is not
a valid measure of attachment networks.
Psychological autonomy:
● WIRED societies
○ Individuality and uniqueness
