4.1.3 BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY Flashcards
what did Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment suggest?
- attachment is important for a child’s survival
- attachment behaviours in both babies and their caregivers have evolved through natural selection
- meaning infants are biologically programmed to attach as it’s vital to our survival
- this need to form one main attachment is known as monotropy
what is the critical period?
- also suggest that there’s a critical period for developing at attachment (about 0 - 2.5 years)
- suggests we must form an attachment within
- if an attachment hasn’t developed during this time period then it’ll never form one
- and will lead to long-lasting psychological and even physical
- based on the biological idea of time scales in the physiological development of the foetus
- Bowlby believed the same could be true for psychological development, hence the critical period
what are the issues with the critical period?
- Rutter found in his study of Romanian orphans that the children had been kept in horrendous conditions, with minimal contact with adults
- their ability to form attachments had been limited as a result
- when they were adopted into stable homes, attachment began to form even though some of the children were much older than 2.5yrs Bowlby discussed
- Rutter admitted it took time and was more difficult the older the child was, but attachments were still made with children as old as 7 / 8 yrs
- Bowlby’s theory of the critical period was therefore severely challenged
what is the sensitive period?
- Rutter found that children in the Romanian orphanage study were able to attach at ages well above 3
- controversies as well research, indicated that critical was too strong a concept
- therefore the term changed to sensitive period
- means it’s ideal to attach in the first 2.5yrs but it’s not essential
- is possible to attach later , as demonstrated by Rutter
what is monotropy?
- child has an innate need to attach to one main attachment figure
- suggests that there’s one relationship which is more important than all the rest
- although Bowlby didn’t rule out the possibility of other attachment figures for a child, he believed that there should be a primary bond which was much more important than any other (usually the mother)
- other attachments may develop in a hierarchy below this
- an infant may therefore have a primary monotropy attachment to its mother, below the hierarchy of attachments may include father / siblings / grandparents etc
what are the assumptions of the internal working model?
- child’s relationship with a PCG provides an internal working model which influences later relationships
- is a cognitive framework (schema) compromising of mental representations for understanding the world, self and others
- a person’s interaction with others is guided by memories and expectations from their internal model
- will influence and help evaluate their contact with others
what are the three main features of the internal working model?
1) model of others as being trustworthy
2) model of the self as valuable
3) model of the self as effective when interacting with others
- around 3yrs old these seem to become part of a child’s personality and affect their understanding of the world and future interactions with others
what are social releasers?
- behaviours that the infant will perform to attract attention
- examples include laughing, crying, giggling etc
- similar to the learning theory idea of reinforced behaviour, Bowlby believes that social releasers are innate
what is the law of continuity?
- idea that the attachment you have in your infancy will impact later relationships
- attachment Type B’s tend to have the more secure and stable relationships
- Type A tends to be aloof
- Type C clingy, leading to problems in romantic relationships and friendships
- securely attached children tend to grow up to have more stable relationships
- has face validity as it seems to make logical sense
evaluate positives of Bowlby’s monotropic theory
KONRAD LORENZ (1935) supports the theory as the attachment process of imprinting is an innate process which has a critical period
- the geese also attached to a single person/animal or object
- showing monotropic behaviour
monotropy and hierarchy is supported by research into attachments formed by the Efe tribe of Congo
- Efe women share the care of infants in the tribe and take turns to breast feed them
- the infants return to their natural mother at night and form a stable bond with the mother
the strange situation provides evidence for the existence of the internal working model
- secure child will develop a positive internal working model of itself because it has a received sensitive emotional care from its PCG
- insecure-avoidant child will develop an internal model in which it sees itself as unworthy
- because its PCG has reacted negatively during the sensitive period for attachment formation
evaluate the negatives of the monotropic theory?
- Rutter’s Romanian Orphan Study showed that attachments can form after the critical period
- Schaffer and Emerson’s findings support multiple attachments not monotropy
- implications (including economic) of monotropy theory
eg) role of fathers / mothers returning to employment / use of daycare etc - importance of monotropy is overemphasised
-> Thomas questions the benefits of monotropy and
suggests having a network of attachments to support
infants and their needs
-> Van Ijzendoorn argued that a stable network of adults
can provide better care than one mother
-> the theory lacks value and may require adjustment
how do securely attached infants grow up and react in later life?
- they grow up feeling loved by their PCG and knowing they are worthy of love
- their internal working model will be positive and tells them they have worth and are loveable
- in later life they expect people to treat them well as this is what they experienced as an infant
- if someone treats them badly, they find it easier to cope with this as they can accept it may not be their fault
- if someone rejects them they can accept it and see it may not be due to them, they can move on
how do insecure avoidant attached infants grow up and react in later life?
- they’ll feel ignored by their caregiver
- so will ignore them back as a means to protect themselves from getting hurt
- continues into adulthood
- their internal working model leads them to expect they’ll be rejected by others
- they have little self-worth
- to protect others from hurt, they remain aloof and not really able to get close to others
- if they feel they are going to be rejected by someone, they’ll probably end the relationship first so they can deal with the loss more easily
- internal working model makes it hard for them to have a fulfilling relationships with others
how do insecure resistant attached infants grow up and react in later life?
- they’ll have grown up believing they had to make a fuss to get attention
- they had a PCG that was ambivalent, one day loving the next cold
- they learned that crying and making a fuss was a good way to gain attention
- internal working model will form so they believe this is how they must be in later relationships
-> clingy and possessive to keep the person interested - makes later relationships problematic as they’ll be too clingy and possessive and likely drive people away
- when they’re ‘rejected’ their internal working model will make them believe that they need to try harder to ‘win’ the person back
-> but this will probably make things worse
