Presentation on Child and Adult Attachment Theory. Also includes result of a small survey done with my friends. Part of the 'Personality and Development' course at IIT Delhi

1. ATTACHMENT Kangkan Boro
2010CS10221

2. Definition
• John Bowlby (the first attachment theorist) :
“To say of a child (or older person) that he is
attached to, or has an attachment to, someone
means that he is strongly disposed to seek
proximity to and contact with the that individual
and to do so especially in certain specified
conditions.”

3. Theory Origin
• John Bowlby first formulated the attachment theory
after he wrote a pamphlet on the homeless and
orphaned children of WW2.
• During the 1970’s, Mary Ainsworth expanded greatly
upon Bowlby’s work.
• Ideas now guiding attachment theory joint work of
Bowlby and Ainsworth (Ainsworth and Bowlby, 1991)
• Both (directly or indirectly) were influenced by Freud
and other psychoanalytic thinkers.

4. John Bowlby
• Bowlby’s first formal statement of attachment theory
was published in: The Nature of the Child’s Tie to His
Mother (1958)
• According to him, maternal separation in kids can be
seen through 3 phases. These are:
– Protest
– Despair
– Detachment

5. John Bowlby
• Protest involves demonstration of distress at
separation and attempts to regain her by crying loudly,
throwing oneself around etc.
• Despair is the “quiet” stage in which the child is in a
state of mourning and is withdrawn and undermining.
Intermittent or monotonous crying may occur.
• Detachment is considered a sign of recovery as the
child shows more interested in the environment. When
the mother visits, the child shows no interest in her and
may turn away.

6. Attachment Theory
• Child's first relationship is a love relationship that will
have profound long-lasting effects on an individual's
subsequent development.
• Mothers(Caregivers) who are available and responsive
to their infant's needs establish a sense of security in
their children. Infant knows that the caregiver is
dependable, which creates a secure base for the child to
then explore the world.
• Attachments should lay a good foundation for being
able to form other secure relationships

7. Components of Attachment
• Safe Haven: When the child feel threatened or afraid,
he or she can return to the caregiver for comfort and
soothing.
• Secure Base: The caregiver provides a secure and
dependable base for the child to explore the world.
• Proximity Maintenance: The child strives to stay near
the caregiver, thus keeping the child safe.
• Separation Distress: When separated from the
caregiver, the child will become upset and distressed.

8. Mary Ainsworth
• Ainsworth described three major styles of attachment in
children:
– Secure Attachment: Exhibit distress when separated from
caregivers. Feel secure and able to depend on their adult caregivers.
When frightened, securely attached children will seek comfort from
caregivers.
– Ambivalent Attachment: Usually become very distressed when a
parent leaves. Relatively uncommon style. Cannot depend on their
mother (or caregiver) to be there when in need.
– Avoidant Attachment: Tend to avoid parents or caregivers.
When offered a choice, will show no preference between a
caregiver and a complete stranger.

9. Attachment in Adults
• Attachment theory was extended to
adult relationships in the late 1980s by Cindy
Hazan and Phillip Shaver
• Roughly correspond to infant classifications:
– Secure
– Insecure Avoidant
– Insecure Ambivalent

10. Survey
• Secure : I find it relatively easy to get close to others and am
comfortable depending on them and having them depend on
me. I don't often worry about being abandoned or about
someone getting too friendly to me.
• Insecure Ambivalent : I find that others are reluctant to get as
close as I would like. I want to get involved completely with
another person, and this thought sometimes scares people away.
• Insecure Avoidant : I am somewhat uncomfortable being close
to others; I find it difficult to trust them, difficult to allow myself
to depend on them. I am nervous when anyone gets too close.

11. Survey Results
• 50 students were asked to point out the category they
would fall in. These were the results:
38.46%
46.15% Secure
Ambivalent
15.38% Avoidant

12. Parental and Peer Attachment
Study
• Paper: A cross cultural comparison of parental and peer attachment
styles among adult children from the United states, Puerto Rico, and
India (Pearson and Child, 2007).
– Investigates parental and peer attachment among people from the
USA, Puerto Rico and India
– 50 participants from the USA(avg. age-23), 36 from Puerto
Rico(avg. age-29.7) and 96 from India(avg. age-20.3)
– Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment(IPPA) (Armsden
and Greenberg, 1987) used to measure mother, father and
peer attachment.

13. Study Results
• Puerto Rican participants reflected a significantly
weaker overall attachment to their mothers in
comparison to both US and Indian participants
• Participants from India reflected a significantly stronger
attachment to their fathers in comparison to Puerto
Rican and US participants.
• US participants maintained stronger attachment to their
peers in comparison to participants from India.

14. Study Analysis
• Investigation suggests tenets of attachment theory not
culturally universal
• College students revealed different attachment patterns
based on different countries of origin.
• Differences may be linked to cultural divergence
(collectivism versus individualism)

15. Study Analysis
• Less attachment of Puerto Rican participants to their
mothers is ascribed to their macho culture where men are
viewed superior to women
• Indian participants were more strongly attached to their
fathers because they tend to be patriarchal. Father seen as
head of family. Moreover, both Hindu and Muslim religions
have strong masculinist leanings
• Participants from the United States were more attached to
their peers because of its individualistic culture in which
relationships with peers is favoured over family members as
compared to collectivistic culture of India.

16. Attachment and Self-Image
• Attachment to parents has stronger impact on
adolescent’s self-esteem than peer attachment
(Armsden and Greenberg, 1987)
• Hay and Ashman (2003) found the relationship with
parents and same-sex peer relationships had significant
influence on the formation of the self-concept of males
but not of females.

17. Attachment and Academic
Performance
• Parental and Peer support had a positive relationship
with academic performance. (Fass and Tubman, 2002)
• Parental attachment plays an important role in the
transition from adolescence to young adulthood
• But low attachment to both parents and peers did not
automatically place students at risk for academic failure
or social incompetence. There are other factors too.

18. Applications
• Attachment theory has implications and applications
mainly for the welfare and care of children
• Child Care Policies:
– Driving force of Bowlby’s development of attachment
theory: the care of children
– Significant policy implications for hospitalised or
institutionalised children
– Applications when foster parents adopt foster children
– Can inform decisions made in social work and court
processes about foster care

19. Applications
• Clinical practice in children:
– Increase the responsiveness and sensitivity of the caregiver
for better attachment, and if possible change the
caregiver.
– Introduction to affectionate and sensitive caregiver can be
helpful for insecurely attached infant in his/her development.

20. Sources
• Bretherton, I(1992). The origins of Attachment Theory: John Bowlby and Mary
Ainsworth.
• Judy Pearson and Jeffrey Child(2007). A Cross Cultural Comparison of
Parental and Peer Attachment Styles among Adult Children from the United
States, Puerto Rico, and India
• http://psychology.about.com/od/loveandattraction/a/attachment01.
htm
• Rutter M (2008). "Implications of Attachment Theory and Research
for Child Care Policies". In Cassidy J, Shaver PR. Handbook of
Attachment: Theory, Research and Clinical Applications. New York and
London: Guilford Press. pp. 958–74

21. Questions