John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth conducted research on the ways in which infants f

Question

John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth conducted research on the ways in which infants forms connections with their primary caregivers. Later research suggests that the attachment styles infants develop with their parents are indicative of the relationships that have in adulthood. Describe how couplings of the various attachment styles might work. In your response, consider how might a male or female of one particular attachment style and a male or female of another particular attachment style relate to each other in a relationship? Discuss two different pairings in your response.

Explanation / Answer

Attachment theory is a popular model that aims to explain the dynamics of short term and long term relationships between humans. Essentially all infants are innately capable of forming attachments of various kinds with caregivers depending on the quality of relationship formed. In this stage of life, i.e. during infancy, the attachment style facilitates a child to seek attention when a need arises. This is done with an expectation of care and emotional support from the caregiver. According to Bowlby, this has an evolutionary perspective to it and it is due to the survival instinct that a child innately possesses this capacity. Regulation of one’s feelings and forming later relationships are seen to be highly associated with early attachment styles in various researches. Ainsworth further provided evidence that early attachment style vary depending on the kind of care giving and support system is provided to an infant in his immediate environment. Four different attachment classifications have been identified in children: secure attachment, anxious-ambivalent attachment, anxious-avoidant attachment, and disorganized attachment. Secure attachment is when children feel they can rely on their caregivers to attend to their needs of proximity, emotional support and protection. It is considered to be the best attachment style. Anxious-ambivalent attachment is when the infant feels separation anxiety when separated from the caregiver and does not feel reassured when the caregiver returns to the infant. Anxious-avoidant attachment is when the infant avoids their parents. Disorganized attachment is when there is a lack of attachment behavior. Furthermore, later when this research was extended to adults, it was found that later relationships including romantic ones and even friendships are influenced by the attachment styles that we form in our early years of life. Securely attached adults tend to have positive views of themselves, their partners and their relationships. They feel comfortable with intimacy and independence, balancing the two. Anxious-preoccupied adults seek high levels of intimacy, approval and responsiveness from partners, becoming overly dependent. They tend to be less trusting, have less positive views about themselves and their partners, and may exhibit high levels of emotional expressiveness, worry and impulsiveness in their relationships. Dismissive-avoidant adults desire a high level of independence, often appearing to avoid attachment altogether. They view themselves as self-sufficient, invulnerable to attachment feelings and not needing close relationships. They tend to suppress their feelings, dealing with rejection by distancing themselves from partners of whom they often have a poor opinion. Fearful-avoidant adults have mixed feelings about close relationships, both desiring and feeling uncomfortable with emotional closeness. They tend to mistrust their partners and view themselves as unworthy. Like dismissive-avoidant adults, fearful-avoidant adults tend to seek less intimacy, suppressing their feelings. Factors like maternal deprivation in early years has been often linked with poor social relationships in later life as well as development of ‘at risk’ behaviour including delinquency and criminal records. In such cases, for instance a securely attached adult shares a long term romantic relationship with an adult who possesses an anxious preoccupied adult. This would mean that one partner creates a balance between various aspects of his life, giving their relationship the time and space it needs whereas another partner is mostly distrustful, suspicious and anxious or over dependent on the other. Implicit differences and eventual pitfalls are likely to arise in a relationship of this sort due to the sensitivity the latter may portray towards the slightest actions of the former. Similarly in relationships whereby the partners possess contradictory attachment styles, there are likely to be differences, given that they may have a different lens with which they approach their relationship. Moreover, the longevity would depend on their level of alignment and capacity to bounce back from such pitfalls.

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