Attachment as a Need for Protection and Safety

71

Abstract

The work aims to clarify the concept of “attachment”. The article, based on materials from foreign sources, examines the development of the main provisions of attachment theory. Attachment is based on an evolutionary need for survival. Depending on the connection with security, the following types of attachment are distinguished: secure attachment, avoidant attachment, ambivalent attachment, and disorganized attachment. For a child, attachment is important for safety and survival. However, attachment style can undergo changes and adaptation to varying degrees in light of different life experiences. Attachment theory suggests that the way the bond develops between a child and their mother early in life will influence their sense of security and social, emotional, and mental development later in life. Research on this topic shows that the initial relationships formed at the very beginning of life give rise to the attachment style characteristic of a person in adulthood, which, as a rule, underlies the degree to which a person feels safe and emotionally secure in different relationships throughout their life. The quality of attachment helps shape a child's internal model of behavior regarding the social world, predicting how well children function in their relationships with teachers and friends, as well as their curiosity and motivation to solve problems. Conclusion: For humans, attachment is important for security and survival. At the same time, attachment style may undergo changes and adaptation to varying degrees in light of different life experiences.

General Information

Keywords: attachment, security, types of attachment, operational models of attachment, attachment disorders, psyche

Journal rubric: Problems of Psychological Safety in Age-Related Psychology

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/epps.2024010202

Received: 29.05.2024

Accepted:

For citation: Simonova M.M., Камнева E.V. Attachment as a Need for Protection and Safety [Elektronnyi resurs]. Ekstremal'naya psikhologiya i bezopasnost' lichnosti = Extreme Psychology and Personal Safety, 2024. Vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 22–33. DOI: 10.17759/epps.2024010202. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Avdeeva N.N. Teoriya privyazannosti: sovremennye issledovaniya i perspektivy [Child-parent relationship therapy: Child-parent interaction therapy of Sheila Eyberg (on foreign sources)] [Elektronnyi resurs]. Sovremennaya zarubezhnaya psikhologiya = Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, Vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 7-14. Available at: https://psyjournals.ru/jmfp/2017/n2/86618.shtml (Accessed 23.05.2024). DOI:10.17759/jmfp.2017060201. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.).
  2. Bowlby J. Sozdaniye i razrusheniye emotsionalnykh svyazey. Rukovodstvo prakticheskogo psikhologa. [Creation and destruction of emotional connections. Guide for a practical psychologist]. Moscow: Canon+, 2022, 272 p.
  3. Kazantseva T.V. Privyazannost’ i pomogayushchee povedenie [Attachment and helping behavior]. In Gurieva S.D., Pochebut L.G. (eds.) Sotsial’naya psikhologiya: istoriya i sovremennost’ [Social psychology: History and modernity]. Moscow: Infra-M, 2021, pp. 97-103
  4. Kuftyak E.V. Interrelation of Attachment and Coping Behavior in Adults. Konsul'tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya = Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, Vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 28-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpp.2021290103
  5. Ainsworth D.S., Bowlby J. An ethological approach to personality development. American psychologist. 1991. Vol. 46. pp. 331-341. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.46.4.333
  6. Blehar M. C., Lieberman A. F., & Ainsworth, M. D. S. Early face-to-face interaction and its relation to later infant–mother attachment. Child Development, 1977, Vol. 48, 182–194
  7. Bowlby J. Developmental psychiatry comes to age. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1988, Vol. 145, pp. 1-10.
  8. Bretherton I. The origins of attachment theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Developmental psychology, 1992, Vol. 28, no. 5, 759-775
  9. Brennan K. A., Clark C. L., & Shaver P. R. Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships.  The Guilford Press. 1998, 46–76.
  10. Dugan K. A., Fraley R. C., Gillath O., & Deboeck P. R. Testing the canalization hypothesis of attachment theory: Examining within-subject variation in attachment security. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2024, Vol. 126, no.  3, pp. 511–541.  DOI:10.1037/pspp0000488
  11. Dugan K. A., Khan F., & Fraley R. C.  Dismissing Attachment and Global and Daily Indicators of Subjective Well-Being: An Experience Sampling Approach. Personality and social psychology bulletin, 2023, Vol. 49, no. 8, pp. 1197-1212.  DOI:10.1177/01461672221089781
  12. Finzi R. & Cohen A. Couples in the process of divorce in the light of attachment theory. Discourses, 2001, 15, no. 3, pp. 235-244.
  13. Harlow Harry F.; Suomi Stephen J. Social Reconstruction with Monkeys Raised in Isolation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1971, Vol. 68, no. 7, pp.1534-1538
  14. Main Mary. The organized categories of infant, child, and adult attachment: Flexible vs. inflexible attention under attachment-related stress. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association,2000, 48, no. 4, pp. 1055-1096.
  15. Simpson Jeffry A. and Beckes Lane. Atachment theory. Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Dec. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/science/attachment-theory. Accessed 23 May 2024.
  16. Young E.S Simpson J.A, Griskevicius V, Hülsnitz K.O, Fleck K. Childhood attachment and adult personality: A life history perspective. Self and identity, 2019, Vol. 18. 1, pp. 22-38. DOI:10.1080/15298868.2017.1353540
  17. Vicedo M. On the history, present, and future of attachment theory. Reply to Robbie Duschinsky, Marinus van IJzendoorn, Sarah Foster, Sophie Reijman & Francesca Lionetti Attachment histories and futures. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 2020, Vol. 17, 1, pp. 147–155. DOI:10.1080/17405629.2018.1502920

Information About the Authors

Margarita M. Simonova, PhD in Sociology, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Humanitarian Technologies and Social Engineering, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2232-6920, e-mail: m7230486@yandex.ru

Elena V. Камнева, PhD in Psychology, leading researcher at the Institute of Humanitarian Technologies and Social Engineering, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6165-1339, e-mail: petrov@yandex.ru

Metrics

Views

Total: 240
Previous month: 77
Current month: 74

Downloads

Total: 71
Previous month: 23
Current month: 16