Attachment Theory in Human Development

Attachment Theory in Human Development

Lacey Desper

Johnson County Community College

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Abstract

The point of this paper is to discuss Attachment Theory as it relates to Human Development;

taking care to look specifically at Adult Attachment Issues and their relationship to childhood

development theories. Looking, at Case Studies that have been completed to empirically prove

that Attachment Theory is a valid source for concern in the development of a child.

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Attachment Theory in Human Development

I would like to take some time to discuss attachment and how our treatment as a child

affects us as adults; this is a field of study in Human Development. I would like to explore why it

is important for us to understand the correlations. I will discuss two articles with studies on adult

attachment and the correlations found with childhood development; comparing the two articles

for accuracy’s and discrepancies in their research. I will then correlate the information given in

the articles to general theories of Human Development. I will explain correlations and placement

into the Life Span perspective, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model, The Social-Cultural

Context, and lastly the nature vs. nurture debate; to get a broad range of views into attachment

theory.

We have many relationships that all have their own unique relationships. Though, could

Freud of been on the right track when he started looking into parental relationships. According,

to Attachment Theory the interactions you have with your primary caregiver “special interest to

mothers” has been gathering ground and empirical evidence to support these claims. Evidence,

has gathered to support that these early relationships affect your adult attachment.

According, to Bowlby there are three styles of attachment that exist secure,

anxious/avoidant, anxious ambivalent. They are all specifically linked to the warmth and

responses from their caregivers. Essentially, a bond develops between the caregiver and the child

and the consequences of that relationship emerge in the adult because of the way the child

develops their social world. These interactions create an internal working model that contains a

person’s self-worth and personal responsiveness. This is all created by the caregiver child bond.

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Attachment Theory has been picking up ground in modern research because, empirical

evidence now shows that social, personal and emotional development are linked; and the

attachment style a child has obtained is a large predicator of behavior starting as early as

elementary school. Bowlby himself argued that the nature of relationships as children were

predicators on social relationships as an adult. That it was influence by a person’s beliefs of

themselves, which originally one solely influences by the primary caregiver.

The first study I am going to discuss is Roots of Adult Attachment: Maternal Caregiving

at 18 Months Predicts Adult Peer and Partner Attachment by Zayas, V., Mischel, W., Shoda,

Y., & Aber, J. L. (2011). The article first sums up the Attachment Theory explaining “to date

there have been no longitudinal empirical evidence for the hypothesis that early maternal

caregiving predicts adult attachment Zayas, Mischel, Shoda, & Aber, (2011).” Explaining,

that present studies show that quality of care given to an 18 month old predicts the extent

to which almost 20 years later where considered avoidant with peers and partners. Stating,

that it had not only proven current Attachment Theory but shows more than your first

attachment is affected but in others f not all attachment relationships, The direct point of

this study was to link the two fields of attachment that have seemingly split. Focus-

caregivers vs. adult attachment, Methodologies- behavioral and interview methodologies

vs. self-report measures, and lastly Level of Analysis- coherence of representations vs.

affective, cognitive and behavioral dynamics. The attempt was to find a coherent

comprehensive study on Attachment Theory in Human Development.

The results of this study found a few different sets of information to be true. 1)

Greater maternal sensitivity during the first 18 months predicted lower avoidance in adult

behavior relationships. 2) Greater maternal control predicted greater avoidant behavior in

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adult behavior relationships. 3) Less anxiety and avoidance with partners in adults with

sensitive mothers; and the opposite with maternal control.

They found no other statistically relevant correlations in Attachment Theory. They

tested and retest the correlations using different subsets of data to determine the statistical

significance of the correlations. The results indicated that it was extremely unlikely to be a

result of chance. The results statistically proved the theoretical expectations that maternal

care at 18 months meaningfully predicts Adult Attachment with partners and peers at 22

years of age. This study is the first with empirical support for Adult Attachment in

correlation to both romantic partners and peers; with special significance to anxiety and

avoidance with in adult relationships.

The article did mention a larger study with a larger sample was necessary; stating that

a more diverse sample is necessary to further develop the theory. It further mentioned

that from an Ecological perspective a different study group would yield different results. If

for instance the study group was taken for a low socioeconomic status they predict the

margins would have more extreme attachment and stressors. The results of the study

would be different, but they predict the results would inevitably be the same.

The second study I would like to look at is Adult attachment, working models, and

relationship quality in dating couples by Collins, N. L. (1992). This study set out to divulge

into attachment and its effects on dating adults; conducting a total of 3 studies. 1) a 18-item

scale measuring attachment dimensions based on Hazan and Shavers(1987) categorical

measure. 2) Explore relationships between dimensions of working models of self and

others; relating attachment in self-esteem, expressiveness, trust, belief about nature, and

styles of loving. 3) explore and expand attachment styles in the areas of ongoing dating

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relationships, for example partner matching to determine the relationship quality with

attachment issues with both members of a couple. To determine with women what extent

they were comfortable with closeness appeared to be the best predicator of a relationships

quality. For men the best predictor area was the extent to which their partner was anxious

about being abandoned or unloved.

The first study determined that the dimension scale was reliable as a source to

determine what strongly determined the component of an attachment. Concluding, that the

Adult Attachment scale allows the ability to asses dimensions and underlying attachment

styles, without losing framework that ties them together.

The second study showed evidence those differences in attachment linked patterns of

belief about self and others. Inevitably it provided more support for the Adult Attachment

Scale and this study was done simply to support study 3. Believing that analysis of the

dimensions provided was useful information for analyzing the dimensions.

The third study found that dimensions of an individual’s attachment style predicted

their partner’s evaluation of the individual themselves. Reasonable evidence was obtained

to provide the impact of the Adult Attachment Style. In regards, to the three aspects of an

ongoing relationship. Proving that people seeking relationships with their attachment was

readily responded to; demonstrating the importance of measures with dimensions sale to

understand relations to variables. This study suggests that attachment is not just “physical

proximity but it should maintain “felt security.” They initially followed in the footsteps of

Hazan and Shavers; using their terms f secure, anxious and avoidant to categorize the adult

relationships. They looked at examples siting, secure as happy, trusting, and friendship and

anxious as emotional highs and lows, jealousy, and obsessive preoccupation.

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The specific point of these studies according to Collins, N. L. (1992) is “If attachment

styles have important implications for behavior in relationship, they should have a role in

ones choice of love partners and in the quality of one’s romantic relationships.” Study 1

concluded that the evaluative scales used to measure dimensions was underlying in

attachment styles. Study 2 showed that to explore aspects of working models by assessing

beliefs about self, social world and romantic love the dimensions must be supported and

proven. Study 3 explored relationships among attachment style dimensions, partner choice

and relationship quality.

These two separate studies could not be any more separate from each other. The

study done by Zayas, Mischel, Shoda, & Aber, (2011) set out to work beyond the research

done by Collins, N. L. (1992). The study done by Zayas set out to use correlations and

longitudinal studies to give empirical evidence of Attachment Theory. The study done by

Collins set out to prove the scales and attachment types were correct. One set out to prove

a theory and did actual case study work. The other set out to prove that scales and

measurements could accurately be used. While the Collins study is necessary for the Zayas

study to be done inevitably it is Zayas study that gives us the empirical data. The two

studies support each other in the form of Collins study I believe was necessary to complete

Zayas study.

Now, to discuss Attachment Theory in correlation to the rest of Human Development;

and how this attachment falls within the broader schemes of Human Development. First I

would like to discuss the Lifespan Perspective. The Lifespan perspective is used to

categorize and conceptualize the age-related changes throughout life and divides them into

more manageable periods of time. The Lifespan Perspective categorizes the life states into

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these sections prenatal, infancy, toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood,

Adolescence, and early, middle and late adulthood. The Lifespan perspective generally is a

consideration for “average” people and does not take into account special circumstances.

This theory is a broad range of life and easily fits within Attachment Theory which is

looking into the effects of caregivers on kids at the age of 18 months; which would be

considered toddlerhood in the Lifespan Perspective and how it affects us growing up the

Zayas, Mischel, Shoda, & Aber, (2011) was specifically looking at the early adulthood stage

of the Lifespan. The Lifespan Perspective takes specific interest in categorizing physical and

cognitive developments within the lifespan; Attachment Theory fits within this category

because the difference in childhood attachment affects a child’s cognitive development.

Generally, the anxious/avoidant and anxious ambivalent areas of Attachment are considered to

have negative impacts on cognitive development and could easily knock somebody off the

“normal” cycle and off the Lifespan Perspective list.

The next theory of Human Development I would like to relate to Attachment Theory is

Bronfenbrenners Ecological Model. The Bronfenbrenners model explained life as Microsystems,

Mesosystem, Exosystem and Macrosystem. The Microsystem is yourself or the individual.

Mesosystem is your Immediate Family, Schools and Neighborhood. Ecosystems are considered

health care, work, extended family, and friends. Macrosystem is your values, laws and customs.

Lastly, there is a system called Chronosystem that is a system of changing nature in an

individual’s environment internally and externally and they illustrate themselves in the biological

and social interactions’ with other individuals.

It is easy to see how Attachment Theory falls within the Bronfenbrenners theory. The

Caregiver or Mesosystem affects the Microsystem which in turn affects the Exosystem and helps

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to create the Chronosystem. The study by Zayas, Mischel, Shoda, & Aber, (2011) eve

mentioned ecological systems in context of attachment theory. They mentioned that if they

had used a spate Ecological system the results of the study would be difference; which is

what you would expect the case to be.

The next theory that exists in the categories of Human Development is the Social -

Cultural Context. The Social-Cultural Context is a theory that explains events that are

strongly related to age and are predictable. These are called Age-Graded Influences. This is

an expectation of what should happen at what age and is looking at the norms of behavior

at an age. Age-Graded Influences are considered most prevalent during the early childhood

ages.

If you look at Attachment Theory it is easy to notice what the norms for development

is considered to be. The norm would be having a sensitive and generous caregiver which

would allow for healthy attachment as an adult. You would deviate from these norms when

incorrect caregiving is received. Once, again if a child is diagnosed as having an

anxious/avoidant and anxious ambivalent relationship with their caregiver it would be considered

that the child has deviated off the path of norms in relation to Attachment Theory. These types of

attachment would affect the decisions and the age-graded influences in how the individual reacts

or responds.

These norms become Nonnormative Events in the Lifespan View of Development. These

nonnormative events are what most research in the field of Human Development are looking into

especially within the case of Attachment Theory. They are looking at the multidirectionality or

multidimensionality of the factors. Multidirectionality shows the incline and decline of growth

through at lifespan and the divergence from the norms. Which leads to many branches or paths

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that a lifespan can take; it is these branches that become hard to observe and predict. Attachment

theory is one of these branches of multidirectionality caused by the relationship with the

caregiver. Multidimensionality I think would be the affect the caregiver has on the individual’s

ability to create attachment. After reading these theories in Human Development I hope that you

see that even the theories of Human Development are multidimensional and multidirectional.

One theory can fall into or be affect by many other aspects of development. Case studies can

easily be divergent and follow more than a few paths; which would lead one to understand the

multi-case study done by Collins, N. L. (1992). To show empirical proof that the scales and

dimensions he would be using in his case study cannot be debunked.

The last field of study I would like to discuss within Human Development in relation

to Attachment Theory is the Nature vs. Nurture debate. It is a big divider within both

sociology and psychology. It has essential split both fields of study into sides. Though there

are also scientists that conclude that they feed of each other and exist simultaneously.

The Nature side of the debate looks closely at natural, genetic or environmental

influences that affect behavior and issues within a lifespan. The Nurture debate looks

further into the caregivers or school systems for effects on individuals. The Attachment

Theory seems to fall in line more with the Nurture debate. Considering the nature of

caregivers they could also be considered nature because the caregiver is part of the child’s

environment, the child is inability to change the caregiver at a young age.

I hope this paper sheds light on attachment theory and how important the role of

caregiver is on a child’s life. Not only are their immediate ramifications for environment.

There are social, cognitive and emotional consequences for the way we interact with our

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children. Human Development is just scratching the surface on how our childhood affects

our development as adults. I am sure there is much more to come.

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Bibliography

Berk, L. E. (). Development through the lifespan (Sixth ed.). : .

Collins, N. L. (1992). Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(4), 644 - 663. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from the Billington Library database.

Zayas, V., Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Aber, J. L. (2011). t Roots of Adult Attachment : Maternal Caregiving at 18 Months Predicts Adult Peer and Partner Attachment. Social psychological and personality science, 2(3), 289-297.

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