Social and Personality Development in Infancy: Attachment and Early Relationships

Chapter 6: Social and Personality Development in Infancy

Learning Objectives

• Understand major theories of social and personality development in infancy.

• Describe the concept and phases of attachment.

• Identify factors influencing attachment quality.

• Distinguish between different attachment classifications.

• Discuss the stability of attachment and its relation to developmental disorders.

6.1 Theories of Social and Personality Development

Psychoanalytic Perspectives

Psychoanalytic theories emphasize the influence of early relationships and experiences on personality development during infancy.

• Freud's Psychosexual Stages: Freud believed that the management of the weaning process is crucial; infants' need to suck should be balanced to avoid frustration or overgratification.

• Symbiotic Relationship: Freud emphasized the close, interdependent relationship between mother and infant.

• Erikson's View: Erikson extended Freud's ideas, arguing that responding to infants' needs beyond feeding (such as comfort and emotional support) is equally important for healthy personality development.

Example: An infant whose needs for comfort and security are met is more likely to develop trust in caregivers, as described in Erikson's stage of Trust vs. Mistrust.

Harlow's Study of Infant Monkeys

• Harlow separated infant monkeys from their mothers and provided two surrogate mothers: one made of wire (provided food) and one covered with soft terrycloth (provided comfort).

• Monkeys spent most of their time with the soft mother, seeking comfort especially when frightened, demonstrating the importance of emotional security over mere nourishment.

Example: This study supports the idea that attachment is based on emotional closeness, not just feeding.

Ethological Perspectives

Ethological theories focus on the evolutionary basis of behavior, suggesting that attachment is an innate, adaptive response.

• All animals, including humans, have innate predispositions that strongly influence development.

• Evolutionary forces have endowed infants with genes that predispose them to form emotional bonds with caregivers.

Attachment Theory

• Infants are genetically predisposed to form attachments, which provide emotional security necessary for survival.

• The first two years of life are a sensitive period for forming attachments; failure to do so may lead to future developmental problems.

• Attachment relationships are highly resistant to environmental changes.

Example: Infants who do not form close relationships in early life are at greater risk for social and emotional difficulties later on.

Internal Models (John Bowlby)

• Infants develop internal models of relationships, including expectations about caregiver availability, affection, and safety.

• These models form late in the first year and become more established by age 5, influencing future relationships and behavior.

6.2 Attachment

Attachment is an emotional bond in which a person's sense of security is tied to the relationship with a caregiver. It does not require biological relatedness and depends on the quality and quantity of interactions.

6.2.1 The Parents’ Attachment to the Infant

• Immediate skin-to-skin contact has positive effects on mothers' and newborns' well-being, but is not strictly necessary for long-term attachment.

• Attachment develops through synchrony: mutual, interlocking patterns of caregiver-infant behaviors.

Synchrony in Parent-Infant Relationships

• Attachment forms through synchronous interactions: infants signal needs (crying, smiling), caregivers respond (holding, soothing).

• Fathers and mothers both form bonds through synchrony, though fathers may spend more time playing and mothers more on routine caregiving.

• Both parents' caregiving responses involve hormones such as vasopressin and oxytocin.

• Cultural beliefs about gender roles influence the degree of father involvement in caregiving.

6.2.2 The Infant’s Attachment to the Parents

• Attachment emerges gradually; infants recognize their mother's voice before birth and her sight and smell within days after birth.

• The cognitive foundation for attachment begins soon after birth.

The Four Phases of Attachment

• Phase 1: Non-focused orienting and signaling (birth to 3 months): Infants signal needs to anyone nearby.

• Phase 2: Focus on one or more figures (3 to 6 months): Signals are directed to specific people.

• Phase 3: Secure base behavior (6 to 24 months): True attachment emerges; infants seek proximity to caregivers.

• Phase 4: Internal model (24 months and beyond): Internal models of relationships influence later social interactions.

Attachment Behaviors

• Researchers infer attachment quality by observing behaviors such as stranger anxiety (clinging to caregivers when strangers are present) and separation anxiety (distress when separated from caregivers).

• Social referencing: Infants use others' emotional expressions as a guide for their own behavior.

6.3 Factors Influencing Attachment

• The quality of attachment varies among infants and is influenced by both child and caregiver characteristics.

6.3.1 Variations in Attachment Quality

• Ainsworth's Strange Situation Test: A laboratory procedure involving a series of episodes to observe attachment behaviors in children aged 12 to 18 months.

Secure and Insecure Attachments

• The Strange Situation Test includes episodes with the mother, a stranger, and periods of separation and reunion.

Ainsworth’s Category System

• Secure attachment is the most common pattern.

• Three types of insecure attachment: insecure/avoidant, insecure/ambivalent, and insecure/disorganized.

• Attachment types have been observed across cultures, though insecure styles may overlap.

Category	Behavior
Secure	Child readily separates from caregiver and explores; seeks contact when threatened or frightened; easily soothed by caregiver; prefers caregiver to stranger.
Insecure/avoidant	Child avoids contact with caregiver, especially after absence; does not seek much contact; shows no preference for caregiver over stranger.
Insecure/ambivalent	Child shows little exploration; wary of strangers; seeks and avoids contact at different times; not easily soothed by caregiver.
Insecure/disorganized	Dazed behavior, confusion, or apprehension; may show contradictory behaviors or appear disoriented.

Stability of Attachment Classification

• Attachment security or insecurity tends to remain stable if the environment is stable.

• Major life changes (e.g., increased domestic violence) can alter attachment patterns.

• Children may have different attachment classifications with different caregivers.

• Insecure attachment to both parents increases the risk of later social-emotional problems.

Attachment and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs)

• Earlier theories linked ASDs to disturbances in attachment, but most infants with ASDs are securely attached to caregivers.

• Current research indicates ASDs have neurological origins, not caused by attachment issues or vaccines.