Attachment Theory

The Attachment Behavioral System

According to Bowlby, human infants are born with a repertoire of behaviors (attachment behaviors) that were selected during evolution to increase the [Page 126]likelihood of maintaining proximity to supportive others (whom Bowlby called attachment figures). Attachment behaviors include making eye contact, smiling, crying, calling, following, hugging, and clinging. Attachment figures—such as parents, grandparents, neighbors, older siblings, and daycare workers—typically protect a child from threats and dangers, provide encouragement and promote safe exploration of the environment, and help the infant learn to regulate emotions. Proximity-seeking behaviors are part of an adaptive behavioral system (the attachment behavioral system) that emerged over the course of primate evolution because it increased the likelihood of survival and reproduction in species whose offspring are born before they are able to walk, explore their environment, find food and water, or protect themselves from predators and other dangers. This behavioral system governs the choice, activation, and termination of proximity-seeking behaviors aimed at attaining an attachment figure's protection in times of need. Although the attachment system is most important early in life, Bowlby claimed it is active over the entire life span and is evident in thoughts and behaviors related to proximity seeking in times of need. This claim provided the impetus for subsequent theorists and researchers to conceptualize and study adult attachment.

During infancy, primary caregivers (such as parents) are likely to occupy the role of attachment figure. During adolescence and adulthood, peer relationship partners often become attachment figures, including close friends and romantic partners. Teachers and supervisors in academic settings or therapists in clinical settings can also serve as important sources of comfort and support. Moreover, groups, institutions, and spiritual personages (e.g., God, the Buddha, the Virgin Mary) can also be recruited as attachment figures. In addition, mental representations (thoughts, memories, images, conscious and unconscious) of attachment figures can serve as internal sources of support, comfort, and protection. They can also provide models of loving behavior that help a person sustain a sense of security even in the absence of physically present attachment figures.

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