Ainsworth’s maternal sensitivity hypothesis argues that a child’s attachment style is dependent on the behavior their mother shows towards them. ‘Sensitive’ mothers are responsive to the child’s needs and respond to their moods and feelings correctly.
What are Ainsworth’s 4 attachment styles?
Based on these observations, Ainsworth concluded that there were three major styles of attachment: secure attachment, ambivalent-insecure attachment, and avoidant-insecure attachment. Researchers Main and Solomon added a fourth attachment style known as disorganized-insecure attachment.
What did Ainsworth do for psychology?
Mary Ainsworth is an American-Canadian developmental psychologist, feminist, and army veteran who specialized in child psychology. Ainsworth devised an experiment called the “Strange Situation” in reaction to John Bowlby’s initial finding that infants form an emotional bond to its caregiver.
What are the 3 attachment styles originally identified by Ainsworth?
From the observational study, Ainsworth (1970) identified three attachment styles; secure (type B), insecure-avoidant (type A) and insecure-ambivalent/resistant (type C).
What is Ainsworth’s theory of attachment? – Related Questions
Why is Mary Ainsworth theory important?
Mary Ainsworth’s work on attachment theory emphasized the importance of early relationships. Her research showed that early attachments critically impact a child’s development and well-being.
What is Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?
The Strange Situation is a semi-structured laboratory procedure that allows us to identify, without lengthy home observation, infants who effectively use a primary caregiver as a secure base.
What are the 3 characteristics of attachment?
1) Proximity Maintenance – The desire to be near the people we are attached to. 2) Safe Haven – Returning to the attachment figure for comfort and safety in the face of a fear or threat. 3) Secure Base – The attachment figure acts as a base of security from which the child can explore the surrounding environment.
What are the 3 insecure attachment styles?
Based on his theory, three insecure attachment styles were identified: 1. anxious-preoccupied, 2. avoidant-dismissive and 3. disorganized / fearful-avoidant.
Who created the 3 attachment styles?
Research by developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth in the 1960s and 70s underpinned the basic concepts, introduced the concept of the “secure base” and developed a theory of a number of attachment patterns in infants: secure attachment, avoidant attachment and anxious attachment.
What are the three childhood attachment styles?
TYPES OF ATTACHMENT AND THEIR ANTECEDENTS
There are four types of infant-parent attachment: three ‘organized’ types (secure, avoidant and resistant) and one ‘disorganized’ type (Table 1).
What is the most difficult attachment style?
Fearful-avoidant
This is the least common type of attachment style, but it can also be the most difficult. Again, while there are many factors that contribute to the development of attachment styles, early childhood influences are often key.
What is the most difficult attachment style in a relationship?
Most attachment specialists believe that the disorganized attachment style is the most difficult of the three insecure attachment styles to treat because it incorporates both the anxious and the avoidant styles.
What is the most common attachment style?
The secure attachment style is the most common type of attachment in western society. Research suggests that around 66% of the US population is securely attached. People who have developed this type of attachment are self-contented, social, warm, and easy to connect to.
What is the healthiest attachment style?
Secure attachment is known as the healthiest of all attachment styles.
What attachment style do narcissists have?
Narcissists have insecure attachment styles that are either avoidant or anxious, or some combination. People with insecure attachment styles feel a basic insecurity stemming from relationships with early caregivers.
Which attachment style causes anxiety?
Anxious-ambivalent attachment.
People with anxious attachment are usually needy. They are anxious and have low self-esteem. They want to be close with others but are afraid that people don’t want to be with them. As a child, your parents probably were inconsistent.
Which attachment style is associated with depression?
Insecure attachment styles (preoccupied, fearful, and dismissing) were significantly associated with more fear and avoidance, depression, and suicidal ideation; more preoccupied attachment style was significantly associated with higher fear (β = 5.639) and avoidance (β = 9.974).
What attachment style is obsessive?
People with ambivalent/avoidant attachment styles have obsessive-compulsive personality disorder more than others who do not have those attachment styles. Some potential explanations of these results are related to the suggestion that the roots of child anxiety can be discovered in the mother-child relationship.
What type of parenting leads to anxious attachment?
Children living with caregivers who are neglectful, abusive, or emotionally unavailable are more likely to develop anxious attachment. This attachment style can increase risk for anxiety disorders and low self-esteem later in life, and have a negative impact on relationships.
