Individual Differences in Attachment
Like all relationships, attachment relationships vary – they are not all the same.
Much research in psychology 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 the psychologist Mary Ainsworth who provided the most famous body of research offering explanations of individual differences in attachment.
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.
Psychologist Mary Ainsworth devised an assessment technique called the Strange Situation Classification (SSC) in order to investigate how attachments might vary between children.
Ainsworth and Bell (1970) observational study of individual differences in attchment is described below.
Strange Situation Procedure
The security of attachment in one- to two-year-olds was investigated by Ainsworth and Bell (1970) in the 'strange situation' study, in order to determine the nature of attachment behaviours and types of attachment.
Ainsworth (1970) developed an experimental procedure in order to observe the variety of attachment forms exhibited between caregivers and infants.
The experiment is set up in a small room with one way glass so the behaviour of the infant can be observed. Infants were aged between 12 and 18 months. The sample comprised about 100 middle class American families.
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.
Mary Ainsworth was particularly interested in observing the following aspects of the infant's behaviour:
· Separation anxiety
· Stranger anxiety
· Reaction when reunited with parent
Strange Situation Findings
Her set of observational studies using the ‘Strange Situation’ paradigm (see below) revealed three distinct forms of attachment (‘attachment styles’). One secure attachment style and two types of insecure attachments.
Caregivers and infant pairs displayed one of the following three attachment styles.
|
|
Secure Attachment |
Resistant Attachment |
Avoidant Attachment |
|
Separation anxiety |
Distressed when mother leaves
|
Infant shows signs of intense distress |
Infant shows no sign of distress when mother leaves |
|
Stranger anxiety
|
Avoidant of stranger when alone but friendly when mother present. |
Infant avoids the stranger - shows fear of stranger |
Infant is okay with the stranger and plays normally when stranger is present |
|
|
Positive and happy when mother returns. |
Child approaches mother but resists contact, may even push her away |
Infant shows little interest when mother returns. |
|
Other |
Will use the mother as a safe base to explore their environment. |
Infant cries more and explores less than the other 2 types |
Mother and stranger are able to comfort infant equally well |
|
% of infants |
70 |
15 |
15 |
Strange Situation Conclusion
Ainsworth & Bell suggested that behaviour in the strange situation classification was determined by the behaviour of the primary carer.For example, securely attached infant are associated with sensitive & responsive primary care. Insecure Resistant attached infants are associated with inconsistent primary care. Sometimes the child’s needs and met and sometime they are ignored by the mother. Insecure Avoidant infants are associated with unresponsive primary care. The child comes to believe that communication of needs has no influence on the mother.
Evaluation of The Strange Situation
Strengths
The strange situation classification has been found be have good reliability. This means that is achieves consistent results. For example, a study conducted in Germany found 78% of the children were classified in the saqme way at ages 1 and 6 years (Wartner, et al. 1994).
The strange situation classification has become the accepted methodology worldwide for measuring attachment (re: Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg, 1988)
Weaknesses
Mary 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 (Lamb, 1977). This means that is lacks validity, as it is not measuring a general attachment style, but instead an attachment style specific to the mother.
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.
The strange situation has also been criticised on ethica grounds. Because the child is put under stress (separation and stranger anxiety), the study has broken the ethical guideline protection of participants.
The sample is biased -100 middle class American families. Therefore, it is difficult to generalise the findings outside of America and to working class families.
Finally, the observational study has been criticised for having low ecological validity. Because the child is place in a strange and artificial environment, due to the the procedure of the mother and stranger following a predetermined script.
Attachment Theory PDF Downloads 
The Effects of Childcare on Social Development
The Origins of Attachment Theory: Bowlby and Ainsworth
Attachment Theory PowerPoint Downloads 