STYLES 1. Newborn and Attachment
Among the life periods, Infancy (0-2 years) is the period in which development is fastest and most intense in physical, mental and emotional terms. During this period, since the baby does not have sufficient equipment to meet its own needs, it is observed that the baby is physically, mentally and emotionally dependent on the caregiver and forms an attachment to the caregiver (Öztürk, 2002; cited in Tüzün and Sayar, 2006).
It is Bowlby who made the first studies on the baby's attachment to the person who gives him primary care. In general, the mother is considered to be the primary caregiver because the baby has been in a relationship with the mother since before birth. However, the person who cares for the baby may vary, the attachment figure may be the mother, father or caregiver.
According to Bowlby (1988), attachment is the emotional bond that the baby establishes with his caregiver as a result of his search for his caregiver and his strong desire to be close to him. This emotional bond is related to the need for security and support that the baby seeks in stressful situations (Bowlby, 1982; cited in Nemutlu, 2020).
In the first years of their lives, babies want to feel safe in stressful situations and make an effort to maintain closeness with their attachment figures. At such moments, the attachment figure that provides the baby with the support and closeness he/she seeks, makes the baby feel safe and comforts him/her (Akbay, 2015).
Meeting the baby's physical or emotional needs develops the basic sense of trust or insecurity.
2. Attachment Theory
Attachment theory was put forward as a result of detailed research by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, who were influenced by some psychoanalytic theorists such as Freud. It is a holistic theory that has benefited from many schools in the psychology literature, such as animal studies, psychoanalytic theory, and experimental psychology (Nemutlu, 2020).
Bowlby called the messages transmitted by the baby to the attachment figure and the perceptions formed in the baby when the attachment figure perceives these messages and gives correct answers as 'cognitive representations'. ir. The basic basis of attachment theory is these cognitive representations, and they are considered as 'internal working models' in the theory (Şipit, 2019).
Each individual begins to perceive himself and what is happening around him from his childhood and tries to make sense of it in his own way. It creates cognitive representations according to this perception style, which is shaped by the baby's internalization of the interaction with the attachment figure. These communication patterns acquired in the early period are related to how a person will make sense of himself, the world, and other people in his life journey. Through constantly recurring communication patterns with the caregiver, the baby learns what kind of reaction he will encounter in stressful situations and shapes his own behavior according to this teaching (Akbay, 2015).
If the mother (caregiver) understands and meets the baby's needs correctly; If the child exhibits close and supportive behavior towards the baby, this creates a cognitive foundation in the child that the mother is approachable, supportive and understanding. While the child feels valuable, his perception of others will develop in parallel, and he will reach the conclusion that others are also reliable and valuable. In the opposite situation, where the mother is indifferent and indecisive towards the baby's needs, the child forms cognitive representations related to the perception of being unwanted and rejected. While the child feels worthless, perceiving himself as an unwanted person, other people will think that only cold relationships can be established with them because they are unreliable. In other words, these cognitive representations that the child develops in the early period affect their perceptions of both themselves and others and determine how the new relationships they will establish will progress.
Some factors are effective in the baby's relationship with the attachment figure. The first of these is providing intimacy. In stressful situations, the attachment figure's closeness to the baby makes the baby feel safe. The second feature is that the baby sees the attachment figure as a safe haven. The attachment figure is again the figure that the baby looks for in stressful situations and relieves his distress. It functions as a safe haven for snacks. The third is the basis of trust, it is achieved when the attachment figure's behaviors do not conflict with each other. Finally, it is the pain of separation that develops with the complete loss of the attachment figure (Bowlby, 1988; cited in Işık, 2020).
Attachment behavior (being more dominant after the first 6 months) occurs between the ages of 0-2. The reactions of a 6-month-old baby to the threat of separation from the attachment figure are predictable. In the protest phase, which is the first phase after the separation, the baby experiences deep sadness for the loss of the attachment figure and makes an effort to bring him/her with him by using all the resources he has. In the second stage, despair, the baby secretly searches for the attachment figure he lost and shows some mourning reactions. In the last stage, the detachment stage, the baby behaves indifferently towards the attachment figure (Bowlby, 1969).
3. Attachment Styles:
As explained before, attachment styles are a continuous pattern of behavior that an individual acquires at an early age and maintains throughout his/her life. The possibility that the secure or insecure attachment style acquired in infancy will change in the relationships established in adulthood has been found to be very low (Main, 1988; cited in Gümüştepe, 2019).
As a result of the 'foreign environment experiment', in which they examined the baby's reaction to the mother's short-term separation from the baby, Ainsworth et al. (1978) observed that there were 3 attachment styles developed by babies.
3.1 Secure Attachment Style:
The baby, who has developed a secure attachment, experiences natural uneasiness in case of separation from his/her mother (caregiver), but when the mother returns, he/she calms down and continues his/her exploratory behaviors (Burger, 2006; cited in Gümüştepe, 2019). When the relationships within the family of these babies were examined, it was seen that the mothers were open and sensitive to the needs of their babies (Crain, 2005; cited in Işık, 2020).
3.2 Anxious-Ambivalent Attachment Style:
The baby experiences very intense anxiety when separated from his/her mother. It is the attachment style in which the mother experiences difficulties in calming down when the mother returns. The baby rejects communication with a stranger, both in the mother's presence and in her absence, and has difficulty making contact even though he wants to be close and relieve his anxiety (Morsünbül and Çok, 2011; cited in Gümüştepe, 2019). It has been observed that the baby feels intense anger when the caregiver leaves, and when he calms down after a long time, he completely moves away from exploratory behavior and exhibits mother-dependent and introverted behaviors (Ainsworth et al.,1978; cited in Sarı, 2017).
3.3 Avoidant Attachment Style:
In this attachment style, the baby's communication is limited even though he is together with his mother. In case of separation from the mother, they show neutral reactions and do not need contact with the mother when she returns. It has been observed that the mother's departure or return does not fluctuate the baby's emotional state very strongly (Gümüştepe, 2019).
4. Attachment Styles in Adulthood
When the concept and theory of attachment is examined, it is seen that, rather than being a process specific to early childhood, it affects the individual in all life periods and affects his/her social life in parallel.
Psk. From. İlayda Atıcı
is seen. The attachment style acquired in the early period directs how the person will behave in the close relationships he will establish in the future (Fraley & Shaver 2000 cited in Nemutlu, 2020). Attachment styles developed since infancy play an important role in romantic relationships in adult life (Hazan and Shaver, 1987). It is the schemas brought by attachment styles that determine the individual's attitude towards the other person in the adult period, both in friendship and romantic relationships, and show how to perceive and interpret the behavioral patterns of the other person.
It is seen that individuals who develop secure attachment in childhood do not have difficulty establishing close relationships in adulthood and have high satisfaction from their relationships. These people are as happy and self-confident in adulthood as they were in childhood (Gümüştepe, 2019).
Individuals who develop an anxious-ambivalent attachment style They experience fear of abandonment in their relationships. These are people whose feelings of jealousy are at the forefront, who are anxious and whose moods are very fluctuating. Over time, they may develop excessive dependence on their partners within the relationship (Hazan and Shaver, 1987).
In the avoidant attachment style, the adult individual has difficulty establishing social relationships and tries to stay away from close relationships. They have a perception that others are untrustworthy, and this pushes them to be apathetic and distant. They find sincerity disturbing and stay away from getting support from others (Hazan and Shaver, 1987; cited in Sarı, 2017).
The first studies on attachment processes in adults were conducted by Main et al. (1985). Using Ainsworth's classification, Main and his colleagues conducted research on how the types of relationships people share with their parents change over time and to what extent these changes affect the relationships they establish when they become adults.
4.1 Hazan and Shaver's Adult Attachment Model They concluded that the internal working models created have an impact on relationships with others in adulthood.
Arguing that romantic relationships established in adulthood have some differences from the parent-child relationship established in the early period, they are mostly parallel to each other, and that people are safe and anxious in their romantic relationships. They claimed that they adopted ambivalent and anxious-avoidant attachment styles (Çalışır, 2009).
4.2 Bartholomew and Horowitz's Fourfold Attachment Model
Based on the internal working models explained by Bowlby in his original theory, which the baby acquires as a result of defining himself and other people through his caregiver, Bartholomew and Horowitz ( 1991) developed the Quadruple Attachment Model. It affects the individual's perception of himself and others in a positive or negative way.
Read: 0
