Quality Of Attachment Essay

The persistent socioemotional relationship between a child and the people that care for them is attachment. According to (John) Bowlby, children who form an attachment to an adult- that is, an enduring socioemotional relationship- are more likely to survive (Kail and Cavanaugh, 2013). Infants and caregivers tend to have an attachment by the infant’s age of 8-9 months. Attachment takes on many forms, and influences from the environment help to determine its quality. Mary Ainsworth is a researcher that studies attachment. She performed a study based on how infants react when they are separated from their mothers and when they are reunited with them. Based on her research, she discovered four main types of relationship attachments. The first …show more content…
With the internal working model, infants have an understanding of its parent’s responsiveness and dependability, typically when the infant is under stress. The infant knows that their parents are able to be depended on to console them when they exhibit care towards them in their time of need. The infant believes that their parents are concerned with their well-being. The second factor is the caregiver’s sensitivity to be able to form a secure attachment. This form of secure attachment is more likely to occur when caregivers are sensitive and responsive to the infant’s needs. If a caregiver is emotionally involved and respond to the infants needs the child is more likely to become attached to them. If a caregiver ignores the infant’s cries or becomes frustrated with them, the infant is more likely not to gain trust and confidence in their caregiver. The third factor depends on the infant’s temperament. If the infant fusses often and is difficult to console, they are less likely to be able to form a secure attachment. If the child has a difficult temperament and the mother is not flexible to the child’s temperament, this too can cause an insecure