BEFORE ATTACHMENT THEORY: SEPARATION RESEARCH AT THE TAVISTOCK CLINIC, 1948–1956

This article traces the formation of attachment theory to the pioneering research program of Bowlby and his colleagues at the Tavistock Clinic between 1948 and 1956. Through a discussion of the concepts and practices that informed Bowlby's program, I examine the efforts of his team to reconstruct psychoanalytic objects according to preventive objectives and operational criteria. I discuss how the exploratory techniques that Bowlby and his colleagues were developing during these years ultimately led to the establishment of a hybrid investigative framework, in which the prophylactic requirements of mental hygiene, the psychometric model of personality disturbances, the psychoanalytic theory of object relations, and a direct‐observational methodology were brought to bear on the problem of the psychological consequences of early separation experiences. I further claim that this shift in investigative practice was crucial for the succeeding theoretical developments that eventually gave rise to the statistically validated constructs of attachment theory.     

The adult attachment interview and self‐reports of romantic attachment: Associations across domains and methods

Two lines of research on adult attachment have emerged; both are based on Bowlby and Ainsworth's attachment theory, which in turn relies on evolutionary theory. Investigators in one tradition use the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) to assess “state of mind with respect to attachment.” The AAI has been validated primarily by its ability to predict the attachment classification of an interviewee's child in Ainsworth's “strange situation.” Investigators in the second tradition use self‐report measures to assess romantic “attachment style.” The self‐report measures have been validated by their ability to predict features of romantic/marital relationships. Although the two constructs. state of mind and romantic attachment, are importantly different and so would not be expected to relate highly, some of their components, especially ability to depend on attachment figures, should be related if both stem from a person's attachment history. We report associations between components, or aspects, of the two measures. Overlap occurs mainly in the areas of comfort depending on attachment figures and comfort serving as an attachment figure for others. Implications of the findings for attachment theory and research, as well as for evolutionary psychology, are discussed.     

On Attachment to Internal Objects

This paper considers some clinical implications of attachment theory from the perspective of the theory of internal object relationships and the unconscious phantasies that derive from such relationships. The paper focuses on the contributions of Bowlby and his followers, particularly Mary Main, who has developed a language-based methodology to study representational processes in adults and children, bridging the gap between the systematic study of human behavior and clinical psychoanalysis. The theory of inherent role responsiveness in the internal object world—mental representations of self and other in interaction and externalized in complementary role relationships through exchanges of unconscious and conscious messages—is presented as the psychoanalytic complement of Bowlby's theory of internal working models of attachment. Role responsiveness occurs internally as well as externally, so that one can speak of attachment to phantasy objects as well as external objects. Clinical examples illustrate how the therapist, through maintaining a free-floating responsiveness to the patient's enactments, may reconstruct the internal working models of attachment and their origins in the transference. The paperthus illustrates the way in which the origins of phantasy derive from the wished for and feared states related to early experiences of felt security, or lack of it, in relation to the attachment objects, thereby integrating the psychoanalytic theory of phantasy with attachment theory.     

Comprendre l'attachement au travail pour agir sur le confort au travail

Workplace attachment is defined as the emotional bond resulting from the dynamic interaction between a person and his environment (Rioux, 2006), Adult Attachment in the workplace (AAW) (Neustadt Chamorro-Premuzic, & Furnham, 2006) allows analyzing the quality of employee’ relations in the workplace using the Attachment Theory perspective (Bowlby, 1969). Both are considered an important aspect of comfort at work. We wish to test the effects of these two variables on the attachment dimension of affective commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1990). 240 subjects participated in the study. With the technique of multiple linear regressions, we estimated the impact of these two variables on affective commitment. The results show significant indications for Human Resource Management best practices.     

Attachment theory and research: Resurrection of the psychodynamic approach to personality

Since the rise of the social-behaviorist approach to personality and its elaboration with cognitive concepts following “the cognitive revolution,” psychodynamic theories, usually identified with Sigmund Freud, have taken a beating. This makes it easy for mainstream personality-social psychologists to brush the psychodynamic approach aside. At the same time, researchers in both developmental and personality-social psychology have made great progress in testing and elaborating ideas presented by John Bowlby in his famous trilogy on attachment and loss. What outsiders to that perspective may not realize is that Bowlby was a psychoanalyst who saw himself as retracing Freud’s steps but with the advantage of new theoretical and empirical strategies. In this article, we conceptualize attachment theory as a contemporary psychodynamic approach, show how this theory has helped to bring psychodynamic psychology back to life, and review empirical evidence from our laboratories that supports many of the psychodynamic hypotheses advanced by Bowlby.     

Epistemology and Psychoanalysis: A Fruitful Relationship

Abstract

Bowlby may be viewed as one of the strongest exponents of the alternative psychoanalytic approach initiated by Ferenczi. His most important contributions are, on a theoretical level, to have potentially placed psychoanalysis onto a firm evolutionary basis, and, at a practical level, to have generated an enormous amount of empirical research. The main traits he shares with Ferenczi are independence of mind and the stress on a loving relationship in normal development and on real-life traumatic events in psychopathology. The similarities between them seem to be due to a convergence, or at the most to an indirect influence of Ferenczi, due to Bowlby's associations with Melanie Klein and the British Middle Group. As regards the specific issue of real-life experience, although Bowlby acknowledges Ferenczi's priority, he seems to have arrived at this concept independently.     

Hidden meaning of an early loss. The common ground of attachment and social character assessments and their clinical applications

All contemporary psychoanalytical theorists are concerned with the common problem of how to account for the preeminent importance of relations. John Bowlby, the founder of attachment theory, suggests that “instinctive” behavioral systems underlie much of the emotional life of man and have developed because they were necessary for survival. The system with which he was almost exclusively concerned was the multitude of behaviors and experiences constituting the child's “attachment” to the mother. This “strikingly strong tie, evident particularly when disrupted”, has systematically been observed by attachment researchers, through the development of a series of instruments that gauge interpersonal communication. These interpersonal communications have on their part been found to “contain traces of developmental history”.

Bowlby's theory is based on clinical accounts of cases of important loss experiences. A transcendental role is given in Bowlby's theory to the experiences of loss. It stresses that the construction of mourning processes can be seen as a manifestation of search and as a general gradual mental reorientation. The paper introduces the methodological perspectives, which are observable derivations of Bowlby's psycho‐ethological ideas. We will argue that becoming acquainted with these attachment‐research tools and with socio‐psychoanalytic assessment can enhance the development of the clinicians' observational skills, their insight and their scientific research practices. A clinical vignette seen through the lenses of the attachment assessment of loss is presented. It points in addition to the socio‐cultural‐ethnical basis that serves as an underlying structure for the development of meaning.     

Bowlby's ‘yearning and searching’ phase of mourning as seen in adult psychotherapy

SUMMARY

This paper was given at a conference to celebrate Dr. John Bowlby's 80th birthday. The conference was organised by the External Organising Committee of the Association of Child Psychotherapists and was held at the London Zoological Society on 28th February 1987. The theme of the conference was ‘Clinical Applications of Attachment Theory’. In the paper I outline Dr. Bowlby's theory of mourning with particular reference to the processes of the second phase described by him as ‘yearning and searching’. A clinical account of once weekly psychotherapy with an adult patient is given in order to illustrate work on disordered mourning in which the patient had remained imprisoned in a suspended state of searching for her lost parent. Some resolution of this state is described together with the ensuing feelings of anger, sadness and depression as loss is comprehended.     

Relationships,attachment, and culture: A tribute to John Bowlby

As a tribute to John Bowlby, some of the work that he stimulated and facilitated is reviewed. In rhesus monkeys, the behavior of individuals is much influenced by social companions. Dyadic relationships and group structure are crucial. A few days' separation between mother and infant can produce long-term effects, but the outcome depends on a large number of factors. The need to maintain a proper balance between a research focus on the individual, the relationship, and the family or group is stressed. John Bowlby's use of comparative data is discussed. This perspective shed light on many aspects of infant and child behavior and was crucial in the development of attachment theory. The dangers of equating what is “natural” with what is “best” are stressed: Cultural desiderata interact with the biological desiderata on which natural selection operated in our environment of evolutionary adaptedness.     

Einstein,his theories,and his aesthetic considerations

This article deals with the question whether aesthetic considerations affected Einstein in formulating both his theories of relativity. The opinions of philosophers and historians alike are divided on this matter. Thus, Gerald Holton supports the view that Einstein employed aesthetic considerations in formulating his theory of special relativity whereas Jim Shelton opposes it, one of his reasons being that Einstein did not mention such considerations. The other theory, namely, that of general relativity, is discussed by John D. Norton. He asserts that the successful completion of this theory was due to Einstein's adherence to mathematical simplicity resulting from experience, as Einstein himself stated, and not from an aesthetic drive, to which he did not refer. The present work attempts to overcome this deficiency indirectly by investigating Einstein's aesthetic awareness and its consequences for his work. It is found that this awareness was imbedded in his perception of nature and is linked to the criteria (such as simplicity) that guided him in formulating his theories. The conclusion thus reached is that aesthetic considerations did play a role in Einstein's endeavour, contrary to the assertions of Shelton and Norton.     

Bowlby before Bowlby: The sources of an intellectual departure in psychoanalysis and psychology

John Bowlby's first scientific papers express a viewpoint of the etiology of childhood disorders that gradually developed during his university years and the first years of his professional life. As becomes clear from, among other things, Bowlby's private correspondence, it was the period spent as a student at Cambridge, his work as a teacher at two progressive schools, and his work at a child guidance clinic that allowed him to articulate a view on childhood deviancy that was at variance with the Kleinian variant of psychoanalysis. Bowlby's position as an ‘independent’ thinker in the British Psycho-Analytical Society can be understood against the background of these intellectual influences. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Attachment theory and psychoanalysis Some remarks from an epistemological and from a Freudian viewpoint1

The author examines Bowlby's attachment theory and more recent versions of it from an epistemological viewpoint and subjects it to questioning on whether they are in line with central concepts of Freudian psychoanalysis. He argues that Bowlby's basic tenets regarding attachment theory, which later attachment theorists never seriously questioned, do not conform to scientifi c standards, and that psychoanalytic issues such as the dynamic unconscious, internal confl icts, interaction of drive wishes and the role of defence in establishing substitutive formations are either ignored or not treated in suffi cient depth. In the light of this, Fonagy's assertion that psychoanalytic criticism of attachment theory arose from mutual misunderstandings and ought nowadays to be seen as outdated is reversed: psychoanalytic criticism can only be regarded as outdated if either basic tenets of Freudian psychoanalysis, or attachment theory or both are misunderstood.     

Influence of Attachment Style on Major Psychological Capacities to Lead

Addressing psychological literature's deficiency in research on the early development of leaders in everyday life (e.g., leaders in the workplace, leaders in social settings, leaders in organizational settings), this study assumed that central psychological capacities required for such leaders can be predicted and explained by J. Bowlby's (1969) Bowlby, J. 1969. Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment New York : Basic Books. [Google Scholar] attachment theory concerning developmental processes in infancy. The authors administered a series of questionnaires to 402 participants. The authors analyzed data by using structural equation modeling. Findings indicate a potential-to-lead construct that forms in infancy. The results fully supported the authors’ main arguments: that secure attachment style influences the potential to lead and that this capacity is essential for leadership as measured by leadership ranking.     

依恋——早期亲密关系的持续影响

依恋形成于婴幼时期,并贯穿人的一生。自从英国精神病学家J.Bowlby最早提出了依恋这一概念以来,依恋一直是发展心理学乃至整个心理学领域的研究重点,文章从不同理论学派对依恋如何形成所持的观点开始,从时间纬度分别介绍了"依恋"研究在幼儿期、青少年期以至成年期的主要理论以及与依恋行为有关的研究发现。     

Imagining Fear: Attachment,Threat, and Psychic Experience

Attachment theory is today considered an integral part of contemporary psychoanalytic theory and practice, and yet the theoretical and clinical implications of Bowlby’s emphasis on fear and the search for safety have been largely overlooked. From Bowlby’s perspective, the dynamic relationship between the experience of threat and attachment shapes the development and maintenance of essential relationships, the organization of psychic structure, and the nature of defenses and adaptation. This element of attachment theory—which alerts us to the ways in which the infant or child is compelled to seek safety when in a state of fearful arousal—is particularly relevant to the clinical situation. It helps us imagine moments of fearful arousal in our patients’ pasts, attend to their manifestations in the present, and understand current suffering in light of the long-term sequelae of adaptations that were crucial to survival. Finally, it helps us find language that brings alive or mentalizes these aspects of the patient’s early experience such that transformation is possible.     

Implications of attachment theory for working in psychoanalytic psychotherapy

John Bowlby's Attachment Theory is being increasingly operationalised in the world of developmental research, but as yet its implications for clinical work are relatively less discussed. This paper addresses the issue of the measurement of attachment patterns and how knowledge of these can inform psychoanalysts’ work with their patients. It looks at the implications of Attachment Theory at all stages of the therapeutic process, but concentrates particularly on how it can help with the crucial phase of building the working alliance.     

Maternal representations during pregnancy and early infant-mother interactions

This paper deals with the influence of maternal representations during pregnancy on the subsequent mother-infant relationship and the infant's style of attachment at 1 year of age. Psychoanalytic thinking, beginning with Freud to the most recent contributions, has considered the great importance of the mental dynamics between parents and children to which empirical research according to Bowlby's theoretical perspective has contributed. The current research project was planned in order to study the intergenerational processes. Starting during pregnancy, the woman was interviewed specifically to study maternal representations of herself as a mother and of the future baby. When the child was 1 year old, the style of attachment was studied during the Ainsworth Strange Situation paradigm and, at the same time, the mother was given the Adult Attachment Interview. Case studies are presented to illustrate, from the clinical point of view, the mental dynamics during pregnancy and the influence on the style of attachment of the baby. The clinical implications are discussed especially in terms of the fantasies in pregnancy and their relevance for the subsequent mother-infant relationship.     

Louis Guttman's Contributions to Classical Test Theory

This article focuses on Louis Guttman's contributions to the classical theory of educational and psychological tests, one of the lesser known of his many contributions to quantitative methods in the social sciences. Guttman's work in this field provided a rigorous mathematical basis for ideas that, for many decades after Spearman's initial work, had been somewhat ambiguous and not adequately formalized. It anticipated later developments that are more widely known in education and psychology.     

Reclaiming Bowlby's contribution to psychoanalysis

The paper reviews central concepts and research findings of attachment theory emphasizing its clinical relevance to psychoanalytically informed clinicians. We then turn to a historical analysis in order to understand why Bowlby's work was dismissed within psychoanalytic circles and the reasons why Bowlby's contributions and attachment theory have begun to have a significant impact among clinicians within the last ten years.     

Intersubjectivity,object relations theory,and empirical evidence from mother-infant interactions

The work of John Bowlby and his associates on the development of the infant's attachment to his or her parents in the second half of the first year reflects the fruitfulness of an integration of psychoanalytic insights and empirical research. In line with this approach, this paper considers the mother-infant relationship in the first few months from two perspectives: that of the British School of Object Relations and that of the theory of Intersubjectivity, set out initially within developmental psychology and, more recently, developed within systems theory. These views are considered in the light of evidence from two sources. First, a series of experimental studies is described employing disruptions to both the form and the timing of communication between 6- to 12-week-old infants and their mothers. This work illustrates the sensitivity of young infants to the quality of their interpersonal engagements and, also, the contribution of the infant to the regulation of interactions with others. Second, evidence is presented from a prospective study of the effects of maternal depression in the postnatal period on infant development. This work shows the possible longer term consequences for the infant of early disturbances in the mother-infant relationship. Infants of postnatally depressed women were found to be more insecurely attached to their mothers, were more likely to have mild behavioral problems (especially sleep disturbance), and showed poorer outcome on Object Concept tasks at 18 months. These effects occurred despite the fact that the mother had recovered from depression by 3 months postpartum.