Mary Ainsworth Attachment Psychology

Mary Ainsworth (1978) The Strange Situation

Like all relationships, attachment relationships vary – they are not all the same.

Much research has focused on how forms of attachment differ between infants. For example, Schaffer and Emerson (1964) discovered what appeared to be innate differences in sociability in babies; some babies preferred cuddling more than others, from very early on, before much interaction had occurred to cause such differences.

However, it was probably Ainsworth (1978) who provided the most famous body of research offering explanations of individual differences in attachment.

Her set of observational studies using the ‘Strange Situation’ paradigm (see below) revealed three distinct forms of attachment (‘attachment styles’).

Caregivers and infant pairs displayed one of the following three attachment styles.

• Secure attachment. Just as it sounds! The infant seeks interaction with the caregiver, is temporarily anxious upon separation, but is comforted quickly and easily and is content upon the return of the caregiver. Infants behave as if they are confident that they can depend upon their caregiver.
  

• Resistant attachment (or ‘anxious-resistant’). An insecure form of attachment with some degree of tension in the interactive style. The infant stays close to the caregiver before departure, but is overly anxious when they depart, and shows both approach and avoidance behaviours upon their return. They take longer to comfort upon return, and sometimes actively resist the comfort offered by the caregiver. They behave as if they are not certain that they can rely upon the caregiver, and show some resentment to being abandoned.
  

• Avoidant attachment (or ‘anxious-avoidant’). A second form of insecure attachment. Such infants are independent to an extreme degree. They do not cry upon the departure of their caregiver, and ignore or avoid them upon return. They tend not to cling or cuddle when handled.

It’s easy enough to know when you are attached to someone because you know how you feel when you are apart from that person, and, being an adult, you can put your feelings into words and describe how it feels. However, most attachment research is carried out using infants and young children, so psychologists have to devise subtle ways of researching attachment, using involving the observational method.

The security of attachment in one- to two-year-olds was investigated by Mary Ainsworth and her colleagues (1978) in the 'strange situation' study, in order to determine the nature of attachment behaviours and types of attachment.

Ainsworth (1978) developed an experimental procedure in order to observe the variety of attachment forms exhibited between caregivers and infants. The procedure, known as the ‘Strange Situation’, was conducted by observing the behaviour of the caregiver and the infant in a series of seven 3-minute episodes, as follows:

(1) Parent and infant alone.

(2) Stranger joins parent and infant.

(3) Parent leaves infant and stranger alone.

(4) Parent returns and stranger leaves.

(5) Parent leaves; infant left completely alone.

(6) Stranger returns.

(7) Parent returns and stranger leaves.

Video of The Strange Situation

The pattern of behaviour exhibited, particularly when the parent left and returned, provided the measure of which attachment style was in place (as detailed in the text above).

Ainsworth (1978) found that in the British culture, secure attachments were most prevalent (70%). Insecure attachments were less common, with 20% exhibiting resistant attachment, and 10% exhibiting avoidant attachment. However, other researchers into attachment styles in other cultures have found differing distributions of the attachment styles. For example, one study revealed a high proportion of resistant attachments; a German study revealed that 40% (compared with 10% in the Ainsworth study) of attachments were of the avoidant type; and a Japanese study revealed that 35% (compared with 20% in the Ainsworth study) of attachments were of the resistant type.

However, Ainsworth's conclusion that the strange situation can be used to identify the child's type of attachment has been criticised on the grounds that it identifies only the type of attachment to the mother. The child may have a different type of attachment to the father or grandmother, for example. In addition, some research has shown that the same child may show different attachment behaviours on different occasions. Children's attachments may change, perhaps because of changes in the child's circumstances, so a securely attached child may appear insecurely attached if the mother becomes ill or the family circumstances change.

Attachment Theory PDF Downloads