Usually refers to the theory proposed by John Bowlby (1907-1990) and developed further by Mary D. Salter Ainsworth (1913-1999) that is meant to explain how an infant develops emotional relationships with the mother or another caregiver, and how they relate to subsequent development. Attachment behaviors, forming a system, are assumed to be biological predispositions that have evolved to maintain the survival of the species by ensuring the proximity of caregivers committed to providing care and protection during early childhood. The crux of the theory in its present form is the notion of an ‘internal working model’: ways of coping with the world that are developed in response to the responsively of the caregiver. Such styles may carry through from infancy into the adult’s style as a caregiver.
See Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), Antecedent-consequent relationships, Attachment, Coping, Environment of evolutionary adaptedness, Insecure attachment, Parenting, Sensitivity (attachment theory), Social attachment, Strange situation test