SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT: INFANCY
Infant-Mother Attachment
Attachment Defined
Attachment Theory: Overview
Why do attachments develop?
How do attachments develop?
Three Propositions of Attachment Theory
Conclusion
Infant-Mother Attachment
This lesson will consider social and emotional development during infancy with special attention to infant-mother attachment. If you’ve ever considered that your relationships with your parents are very important in your life and have played a significant role in shaping the person you are today, this topic will be of special interest to you. My presentation will not go into detail about infant social and emotional development beyond the topic of development. (For additional information, you may link here to an outline of this development. The information presented in the outline is for your interest only.)
Attachment Defined
An attachment is a discriminating and specific affectionate relationship that is formed between one person and another. The behavioral marker of an attachment relationship is a striving to achieve and maintain physical closeness to the relationship partner. In more common terms, then, an attachment is a love relationship, and such relationships may occur between people of all ages. But from a scientific or psychological perspective, consideration of attachments began with an interest in the nature and potential importance of the very first such relationship each of us forms--that between the infant and primary caregiver, who traditionally and historically has been the mother. As this first relationship was studied and better understood, its importance for development beyond infancy became apparent, and with this came attention to a full variety of attachment relationships, including those between older children and their parents, and between adults, as in marriage. And what this work has revealed is that Sigmund Freud really did know what he was talking about when he suggested that the mother, as the first person the infant loves, is “unique, without parallel, established unalterably for a whole lifetime as the first and strongest love-object and as the prototype of all later love-relations” (Freud, An Outline of Psychoanalysis, 1949/1969, p. 70). For what the research has taught us is not only how attachment relationships develop between infants and caregivers, but also that the nature of these relationships will have significant implications for development throughout a lifetime. That what the young child learns from mother about his capacity for being loved and loving, the likelihood of having his most basic and most intense desires met, the value of expressing his feelings and voicing his needs–all of this and more will be carried forward to impact the close relationships he will experience beyond infancy.
This lesson will provide an explanation of attachment in the form of an overview of attachment theory. While I understand that we are studying infancy at this time, it is necessary that this presentation go beyond this first stage of life in order to present the full story of the importance of the development of attachment during infancy.
Attachment Theory: A Brief Overview
Two of the major issues addressed by attachment theorists concern why and how attachment relationships develop. Both are important to a full consideration of attachment.
Why do attachments develop? At a general level, attachment theory describes the development of the infant-mother relationship as a species-characteristic phenomenon that promotes the protection, survival, and felt-security of the infant who, though helpless in terms of assuring its own survival, is nevertheless endowed from birth with a repertoire of instinctive behaviors (e.g., sucking, clinging, gazing, crying) believed to contribute to the development of attachments. Reciprocally, adults are predisposed to respond to these attachment behaviors by initiating and/or maintaining closeness to the infant, providing necessary care, and thereby promoting the infant's safety and survival.
All of this is to say that infants develop relationships with a caregiver because they must. It is a matter of survival, a matter of connecting with another person–physically and emotionally--on the way to becoming the kind of social creature that defines our very humanness. The inborn need for such a relationship is as strong as, or perhaps stronger than the need for food and shelter. There is a long and tragic history of infants deprived of social and emotional contact with a caregiver suffering serious mental and physical retardation, and even death, despite having their needs for food and shelter met. We also know that infants who are neglected and/or seriously physically abused by their caregivers nevertheless will become attached to these caregivers. The inborn drive to develop this intimate relationship is that strong. The human infant is ready, able, willing, eager, and even desperate to become attached to someone, and given even the slightest opportunity of consistent contact with another, will do so. (Though this is to say nothing, of course, of the particular nature of the relationship that might result from any of the extreme scenarios suggested.) Attachments are not incidental occurrences. They are an absolutely essential ingredient of being human.
How do attachments develop? So how do attachment relationships come about? The theoretical position regarding the process by which attachments develop recognizes that the very young infant's attachment behaviors are independently and indiscriminantly exhibited. That is, at the outset, behaviors are not coordinated in any sophisticated way and the infant doesn’t ‘care’ about who might be on the receiving end of his/her various signals. Over time, however, infant behaviors become organized in more complex ways and, more importantly as concerns attachment, infants become more particular about the person or persons toward whom they prefer to direct these behaviors. In fact, it is only when the infant's attachment behaviors are integrated into a coherent behavioral-motivational system, and organized around a particular figure or figures who provide care, comfort, and safety, that the term attachment is properly applied. A somewhat detailed accounting of this process has been provided by attachment theorists' delineation of four phases through which the development of attachments proceeds. I will review these phases here (though you will not be tested on this information about phases).
In the "Initial Preattachment Phase" (birth-12 weeks), the young infant exhibits species-characteristic behaviors (e.g., visual orientation toward people, reaching, smiling) likely to evoke proximity to, and caretaking from, adults, but the infant does not effectively discriminate among these adults. The hallmark of the second phase, that of "Attachment in the Making" (12 weeks-6 months), is the infant's ability to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar figures. Also during this period, the infant typically demonstrates a preference for a particular figure, typically mother, by being more likely to direct attachment behaviors (such as smiles) toward her and appearing more content when mother is the person responding to those behaviors. During phase three, the "Phase of Clear-Cut Attachment" (7 mos-3 years), the child becomes much more active in promoting and maintaining closeness to, and contact with, the preferred attachment figure, while also becoming more active in exploring the environment. Perhaps most important, however, is that the behavior of the infant becomes organized on a goal-corrected basis, which is to say that the infant's behaviors toward mother may now be viewed as directed by specific plans for the purpose of accomplishing particular attachment-oriented goals (you should recall what Piaget had to say about these kinds of behaviors). For example, whereas the younger infant might cry when frightened and mother might respond by picking up and comforting her infant, the infant in phase 3 might respond to fear by crawling toward mother and clambering up into her lap with the intention of seeking comfort. The onset of such goal-directed attachment behaviors (typically 6-9 months) may be viewed as an appropriate criterion for the onset of attachment. Finally, in the fourth phase, that of a “Goal-Corrected Partnership” (beyond 3 years and thus beyond infancy), the attachment relationship takes on a more mature quality as the child becomes capable of viewing things from the caregiver’s point of view. With this comes the ability to infer the feelings, motives, and plans that might influence the caregiver’s behaviors, along with the capacity for a more complex, reciprocal partnership. It is during this phase, for example, that the child would be capable of causing mother to accommodate her plans to him, adapting his plans to accommodate mother, or bringing about a compromise between the two
Three Propositions of Attachment Theory
Attachment theory may be explained in terms of three propositions, which will be summarized here for the sake of explaining how individual differences in attachment come about, and how these differences can (and likely will) affect us for a lifetime.
Proposition one: Interaction and attachment quality. Mary Ainsworth was the first to study infant-mother attachment and among her first reported findings was that all attachments are not created equally. In view of these findings, it became necessary for attachment theory to explain why attachment relationships would differ from one dyad to another. Accordingly, the first proposition of attachment theory holds that attachment relationships develop in the context of, and thus are directly influenced by, interactions between mother and infant during the first year of life. In other words, if the quality of the relationship is a result of the specific patterns of interaction characteristic of the mother-infant pair, it would make sense that this relationship would be unique to that pair, and different from the specific relationships developed between other infants and their mothers.
Identified as a most important element of interaction between infant and mother (or primary caregiver) is sensitivity, the ability of the caregiver to attend to, accurately interpret, and respond in a prompt, appropriate, and consistent manner to infant’s signals. When a hungry infant cries and mother immediately goes to her baby, picks him up, and speaks to him in a soothing tone as she begins to nurse him, she has behaved sensitively. When the young infant vocalizes and mother responds, enthusiastically, as if the vocalization had a particular meaning, this, too, is sensitive maternal behavior. And when this type of sensitivity characterizes interactions between a mother and her infant, it is likely the infant will develop a secure relationship with her. (See below for a brief description of the research procedure used to ‘measure’ attachment quality.) Such a relationship is born of the infant’s confidence in mother’s availability, and her ability to meet his/her needs in a prompt and rewarding manner. The infant learns to trust that mother will be there for him as his needs dictate, and that she can be counted on to do for him/her that which is most necessary and desired. In this process, the infant also develops the confidence necessary to move away from mother for the purpose of exploring the world, with full knowledge that safety is only as far away as the distance he puts between them. (This is the phenomenon which Ainsworth referred to as the secure base.)
Insensitive caregiving represents the flip side of sensitivity. And while there are many ways in which insensitivity may be manifested, at root it may be viewed as mother’s tendency to ignore her infant’s signals and/or respond to those signals in an inappropriate or untimely manner. Failing to respond, or talking angrily, to a crying infant; feeding an infant who is not hungry; stimulating an infant who already is overstimulated as by throwing a crying baby into the air--all are examples of insensitive caregiving. When insensitivity characterizes interactions between mother and infant, it is likely that an insecure relationship will develop. (See below for a brief description of the research procedure used to ‘measure’ attachment quality.) In essence, insecure relationships are characterized by the infant’s lack of confidence in, and trust regarding, mother’s ability and willingness to successfully meet his needs. The insecurely attached infant thus has a tendency to fear moving away from mother for the sake of exploration, given his uncertainty that she will be either available or accessible should any need arise.
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How Attachment is Measured
The Strange Situation was developed by Mary Ainsworth for the purpose of measuring the quality of infant-mother attachment. The Strange Situation consists of seven episodes, each 3 minutes long. It is used with infants between 12 and 18 months of age, and involves the infant, mother, and unfamiliar female adult. The purpose of the Strange Situation is to put the infant into a situation in which s/he experiences increasing levels of stress. Researchers want to see how the infant relies on the mother and his/her relationship with mother to deal with the stress. It is assumed that the infant’s behavior in the Strange Situation are not haphazard, but rather that they are based in the infant’s experiences in interaction with mother and thus will serve to provide a window on the relationship that has developed between infant and mother.
In Episode 1, the infant and mother enter a room with a small set of toys on the floor and two chairs. Mother is instructed to sit her child in front of the toys and then to sit in one of the chairs. During Episode 2, the Stranger (unfamiliar female) enters the room. For the first minute, the Stranger sits quietly. For the second minute, the Stranger converses with the mother. During the third minute, Stranger attempts to interact with the infant. Episode 3 begins with the mother’s departure from the room (infant and Stranger remain in the room). Episode 4 is a reunion episode during which mother returns to the room and Stranger exits. Episode 5 begins when mother leaves the room for the second time, leaving the infant alone. During Episode 6 the Stranger returns to the room. Mother returns to the room for the second reunion during Episode 7.
It is during the two reunion episodes that researchers carefully observe infant’s behaviors. The particular way in which infant organizes behavior around mother during the reunions reveals the quality of the attachment relationship shared with the mother. ‘
Securely attached infants greet mother during reunions and usually show positive affect, indicating that they are happy mother has returned. If these infants are upset when mother leaves the room, then they will seek contact with mother upon her return. This contact will comfort the infant and s/he eventually will be willing to go back to playing with the toys while mother sits in her chair. If secure infants are not crying when mother leaves the room, then they are not likely to need contact with mother upon her return. Instead, these secure infants will be content to interact with mother across a distance.
Two types of Insecurely attached relationships also have been identified. Insecure-avoidant infants typically do not greet their mother upon her return to the room. These infants usually do not cry when mother leaves the room, and in fact provide little evidence that they even have noticed her departure. Striking though is that they act is if they don’t notice her return either. If mother attempts to initiate interaction with her infant, the avoidant infant will work to prevent this from happening, such as by ignoring mother’s verbal bids and/or turning his/her back on mother if she comes over to interact more directly.
Insecure-resistant infants usually are quite upset when their mother leaves the room. When mother returns, these infants seek contact, but when mother provides contact these infants are not comforted and instead resist their mother’s efforts such as by continuing to cry, pushing mother away, arching their backs and kicking their legs. As the interaction proceeds, insecure resistant infants become more angry and usually direct angry behaviors toward their mothers.
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Proposition two: Representational models. The second proposition central to attachment theory maintains that in the course of his development over the first year, and in the context of interactions with mother, the infant eventually comes to represent the attachment relationship in the form of an internal (or representational) working model. This representational model is comprised of two components: a notion of the acceptability of self in the eyes of the attachment figure, and a complementary notion of the accessibility and emotional supportiveness of that figure. In addition, it is expected that once the infant is capable of the representation necessary to form an internal model of the relationship, his choice of behaviors in interaction with mother will be guided by this model (as discussed in the description of Phase Three, above).
In effect, then, this proposition posits a mechanism by which the child symbolizes generalizations drawn from his cumulative experiences in interaction with mother over the first year of life. This generalized ‘record’ of interactional history not only represents the child’s attachment relationship with mother, but also serves to guide the infant’s behaviors as he draws upon previous experience in making decisions about how to act in any given situation. And research has supported these claims. In circumstances believed to heighten one-year-olds’ attachment-relevant needs, securely attached infants have manifested their high levels of trust and confidence in mother in characteristic ways. These infants signal their needs to mother in an efficient and age-appropriate manner. For example, secure infants who are upset when their mother leaves them briefly tend to cry to signal their distress and, upon mother’s return, move and reach toward her to signal their desire for contact. Secure infants also experience comfort as a product of their mothers’ ministrations, calm quickly, and before long are comfortable leaving mother’s side in order to explore their surroundings (secure base behavior). Insecure infants also behave in characteristic ways, which serve as exhibitions of their low levels of trust and confidence in their mothers. These infants often vigilantly monitor their mothers’ location and activity at the expense of their exploration. They may signal their distress at mother’s brief departure, and even approach mother upon her return, but insecure infants often fail to be comforted by mother despite her apparent attempts toward this end, and may become quite angry and hostile toward mother. In addition, some insecure infants fail to exhibit their distress in an outwardly observable manner, and/or exhibit a variety of disorganized behaviors with no logical motivation other than to avoid any greater discomfort than the given situation might arouse in them.
In essence, then, there is ample reason to believe, first, that infants’ experiences in interaction with their mothers will influence the quality of the attachment relationship formed with her, and, second, that these experiences and the resulting relationship are represented within the infant in the form of an internal working (representational) model with components related to both the self and the caregiver. Once this model has formed, the infant’s behavior will become organized in accordance with it, which highlights the central importance to the child’s development of his attachment model.
Proposition three: Generalized representational model. The third proposition from attachment theory, and perhaps the most important for considerations of attachment beyond infancy, holds that as the child grows older and moves into a broader social context, his model of his relationship with mother will be transformed into a generalized model of self in relation to all others. Furthermore, this generalized (and modifiable) representational model is expected to influence subsequent development through its impact upon the individual's selection of, behaviors in, and interpretations of, interactions with others. Here again, quite simply, the suggestion is that what is learned in the first and earliest intimate relationship between the infant and primary caregiver will serve as a template for all relationships to come. The individual of any age must make decisions about when, where, with whom, and how to behave. These decisions will influence not only the individual’s behavior, but also, to some extent at least, the response of the environment to the individual. Finally, these responses and the entire interactional experience must be interpreted by the individual. Attachment theory suggests that all of this will be influenced by the representational model, thus again reinforcing the central role of the model in development, while at the same time providing some indication of the processes by which such models, to the extent they are reinforced by ongoing experiences, are likely to remain fairly stable over time. At the same time, attachment theory recognizes that representational models are open to revision, such that experiences counter to the expectations which define a particular model could lead to changes–either minor or dramatic–in that model.
It is with regard to this third proposition that the most diverse and largest body of research exists. A brief summary follows, primarily for the purpose of demonstrating the importance of the development of attachment during infancy:
Security, an outgrowth of sensitively responsive caregiving during infancy, has proven an optimal component of individual development. During toddlerhood (2-3 years of age), secure children are more autonomous, flexible, resourceful, cheerful, enthusiastic, capable of using their mothers to assist them without being overly dependent upon them, and cooperative despite their willingness to freely express and exert their independent will, than are their insecure agemates. As preschoolers, secure children, as compared to insecure counterparts, are more ego resilient and independent, have higher levels of self-esteem, more positive social skills, more friends, and more empathy toward their peers. Insecure preschoolers tend to be aggressive, victimized, unpredictable, disruptive, and unpopular in the eyes of their peers.
During middle childhood (7-12 years), differences between secure and insecure children are apparent largely in the context of social relationships. Secure children are very adept at forming and maintaining close friendships characterized by mutual caring, respect, and, when necessary, effective conflict resolution. Insecure children have difficulties forming such friendships, and relationships with peers that are formed may be characterized by over-dependence and jealousy. Also during this stage, insecure children, particularly boys, tend to be characterized by a variety of problem behaviors such as hostility, noncompliance, hyperactivity, nervous habits, or unhappiness.
During adolescence, secure teens are capable of speaking coherently and thoughtfully about their close relationships, particularly those with their parents. As compared to their insecure counterparts, secure adolescents are better able to handle conflicts with their parents, more adept at transitioning to college, and more capable of finding an optimal balance between numerous and varied age-appropriate demands (e.g., coping with stress, studying, and enjoying themselves). Insecure teens are much more limited in their abilities to access and express their thoughts and/or feelings associated with close relationships, and tend to be more hostile, condescending, and/or anxious in interactions with peers than are secure adolescents.
Many facets of adulthood also are affected by attachment, including marriage, parenting, and even the experience of pregnancy. Marriage represents an important attachment relationship, and the steadily growing rate of divorce in our country serves as testament to the fact that not all marriages are successful. From an attachment perspective, a good marriage epitomizes all that is necessary and important in establishing healthy, mature relationships. For individuals who are secure in their sense of having been loved, and confident in their ability to both give and get love, there also is a confidence in seeking a partner who can and will fulfill their attachment needs. And indeed there is some evidence that secure adults tend to seek out and marry secure partners. Additionally, such couples (secure-secure) are more satisfied with their marriages, and these relationships last longer than do marriages involving either one or both insecure partners.
Consideration of pregnancy and parenting serves to demonstrate the importance both of being capable of relying on someone, and of having someone to rely on, as factors which contribute to successful coping in the face of immense demands. Women who display secure characteristics of being able to directly seek support and assistance from appropriate persons are likely to fare well during pregnancy, experiencing fewer complications during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. These women also are likely to have a satisfying relationship with their husbands, (as explained above) which itself serves as a primary source of support. Conversely, when women are not confident that support will be available to them, and thus have difficulty seeking such support or do so in a negative (e.g., aggressive, demanding) manner, emotional difficulties during pregnancy are more likely. It is not surprising based on this information that problems associated with insecurity would continue to show themselves beyond the birth of the child. Mothers who themselves are insecure and thus are likely to be in a marital relationship that is not viewed by them as satisfying, are likely to behave toward their infants in an insensitive manner, thus fostering an insecure attachment. Secure mothers, on the other hand, would be likely to enjoy a satisfying and supportive marital relationship, and to foster security with their infants via their willingness and ability to meet infants’ needs in a sensitively responsive manner.
Conclusion
In bringing this presentation full circle, that is, beginning and ending with the mother and her infant, the intention has been to emphasize the central role of attachment in development across the lifespan. When a person experiences early secure attachment, there is fostered in that individual a strong sense of being loved, ultimate confidence in their ability to give love in return, and the capacity for seeking and accepting the care and support of others as circumstances dictate. This confidence and belief in a secure base which characterize secure attachment appear to serve as necessary and sufficient building blocks for a wide assortment of developmental accomplishments which from any perspective must be viewed as optimal. In the absence of security and the certainty of love and attending faith in its attainability which accompany it, trust and confidence prove difficult. In their place lie uncertainty, self doubt, fear, anger, resentment, and almost assuredly, disappointment.
Change is possible, though experiences in the context of close relationships, and significant and repeated experiences at that, likely would be necessary to lead to alterations in an individual’s model of attachment. Models gain momentum, and the longer they are strengthened by experiences which validate their core assumptions, the more resistant to change they are likely to become. Every one of us begins our lives striving for attachment. Initially, it is a matter of survival, but ultimately, it is a matter of how we will approach relationships for the rest of our lives. Our best bet, or so it appears, is security. This isn’t our only chance for setting off on an optimal path through life, and getting off to a good start is no guarantee of continued success. Nevertheless, as birthrights go, secure attachment might serve us rather well.