Relationship Between Attachment Theory And Social Learning Theory

The article by Connor, Futh, Matias, & Scott attempts to show the relationship between attachment-based parenting measures and social learning theory-based measures in determining a child’s security of attachment to their care giver and social acceptance amongst their peers. The nature of the research conducted in this article was micro and exploratory because the researchers where looking to find a relationship between the two theories and children’s attachment style and social acceptance. The independent variables within this research are attachment theory and social learning theory, and the dependent variables are the effects of these measures in predicting a child’s adjustment and social acceptance; Researchers also observed if it would …show more content…
Attachment theory is based off of the model that a child’s relationship with its primary care giver will determine how that child develops its sense of self worth and value. Parental figures that are protective, caring and available are viewed as most beneficial to the development of a child, while parents who are detached and unresponsive lead to insecure attachment styles and lower self-esteem. In contrast to attachment theory social learning theory bases its model around the belief that parents should display positive reinforcement for a child’s good behavior, clearly guiding children providing consequences for negative behaviors, and that criticism of the child can lead to negative antisocial behaviors.
Through use of these two theories the authors of this article intended to find a relationship between the two in predicting children’s attachment style through social learning, and also determine what effect these two variable had on the social acceptance of the children with their …show more content…
Positive parenting styles and secure attachment also correlated strongly with positive peer nominations from other children; however, when analyzed from the social learning perspective alone no strong relationship could be show because both positive attending and criticism showed an association with peer nominations for