Bowlby, John

John Bowlby (1907–1990) was a British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. His theory of attachment is an account of the development of secure, intimate, meaningful, enduring, and trusting relationships. The forming of attachment begins in infancy with the child’s primary caregiver but has ramifications for the way they relate to others throughout life. Bowlby’s theory has had a profound influence on the understanding and treatment of children in every aspects of their lives. It is possibly the most influential 20th-century psychological theory of child development.

Attachment theory is essentially a spatial theory. Its premise is that the closeness to a loved one feels good while separation causes anxiety. As Bowlby puts it “all of us, from the cradle to the grave, are happiest when life is organized as ...