John Bowlby's Attachment Theory Essay

Two important theories involved in developmental psychology are Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory. Each theory has its own important ideas about how people develop throughout their life. Maslow focuses on a type of development that happens in seven categories, one being reached after the requirements of the previous one have been met. While Bowlby’s theory involves having a Primary Attachment Figure that is there to help a person, most often a child, through their many parts of their development. Included in Bowlby’s theory was the Strange Situation experiment. Both theories have their own focus on how development happens but the main ideas and concepts behind each theory are similar when compared and contrasted …show more content…
The experiment involved introducing, separating, and reuniting mothers, children, and an unfamiliar person. A child was placed in a room with their mother and allowed to explore, next an unfamiliar person was introduced into the room, the mother left, and then the mother retuned. The response of the toddlers was then categorized into four types of attachment. Toddlers classified as having Secure Attachment would explore the room while their mothers were with them, cry when they were separated from their mothers, and then were happy when their mothers returned. In Insecure-Avoidant Attachment the toddlers were not very interested in their mother being with them, and didn’t have much of a response to their mom leaving or returning. In Insecure-Resistant the toddlers were less likely to explore the room, were highly distressed when she left, and were relieved when she returned but also pushed her away. The last type was Disorganized-Disoriented Attachment, these toddlers expressed very unusual behavior by seeming dazed and having outbursts of anger. Both Maslow’s theory and Bowlby theory show that feeling safe is very important to a person’s