Attachment Styles

The concept of attachment was introduced into psychiatry and psychology by John Bowlby, a British psychoanalyst whose major books appeared between 1969 and 1980. Like many psychoanalysts, beginning with Sigmund Freud, Bowlby was interested in the early childhood roots of later personality patterns, including psychological disorders. But instead of focusing on imagined instincts, such as eros (sex) and thanatos (aggression), or sex and aggression, as Freud did, Bowlby focused primarily on the natural dependence of infants and children on their primary caregivers for protection, care, comfort, and emotional support. He noticed, as many informal observers have noticed throughout history, that infants become emotionally attached to their caregivers; look to them for comfort and support in times of stress, threat, need, or pain; and display greater ...