Definition
Offspring–parent attachment denotes the strong bonds that children form to their caregiver(s), seeking to maintain proximity to and protesting separations from their caregiver(s) and using the caregiver(s) as a secure base to explore the environment and a safe haven to return to for comfort and protection. Children are endowed with an attachment behavioral system retained in evolution as maintaining proximity to caregivers was associated with increased chances of survival and thus reproduction. Accordingly, children come into the world prepared to form attachments, doing so to individuals who are sufficiently available and responding to children’s attachment behaviors. Offspring–parent attachment therefore denotes a hierarchical bond between children (the smaller and weaker part) and their caregiver(s) (the stronger and wiser part) and not the emotional bond that caregivers form to their offspring. Attachment bonds take time to form and are typically observable during the...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Bowlby, J. (1958). The nature of a child’s tie to his mother. The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 39, 350–373.
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss (entire work). London: Hogarth Press.
Bowlby, J. (1997). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1, attachment. London: Pimlico.
Cassidy, J. (2008). The nature of child’s ties. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 3–22). New York: Guilford Publications.
Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species. New York: Modern Library.
Main, M., & Hesse, E. (1990). Parents’ unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status: Is frightened and/or frightening parental behavior the linking mechanism? In T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation series on mental health and development (pp. 161–182). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, xix, 507 pp.
Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth strange situation. In M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 121–160). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Simpson, J.A., and Belsky, J. (2008). Attachment theory within a modern evolutionary framework. In J. Cassidy, and P.R Shaver (eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 131–157, 173–191). The Guilford Press: New York/London.
Sroufe, L. A., & Waters, E. (1977). Attachment as an organizational construct. Child Development, 48(4), 1184–1199. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1977.tb03922.x.
van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Sagi, A. (1999). Cross-cultural patterns of attachment; Universal and contextual dimensions. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment. Theory, research and clinical applications (pp. 713–734). New York: The Guilford Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Forslund, T., Granqvist, P. (2016). Offspring–Parent Attachment. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1968-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1968-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences