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Affectional bond


In psychology, an affectional bond is a type of attachment behavior one individual has for another individual, typically a caregiver for her or his child, in which the two partners tend to remain in proximity to one another. The term was coined and subsequently developed over the course of four decades, from the early 1940s to the late 1970s, by psychologist John Bowlby in his work on attachment theory. The core of the term affectional bond, according to Bowlby, is the attraction one individual has for another individual. The central features of the concept of affectional bonding can be traced to Bowlby's 1958 paper, "The Nature of the Child's Tie to his Mother".

Bowlby referred to attachment bonds as a specific type of "affectional" bond, as described by him and developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth. She established five criteria for affectional bonds between individuals, and a sixth criterion for attachment bonds:

An attachment bond has an additional criterion: the person seeks security and comfort in the relationship.

Bowlby believed that there were four distinguishing characteristics of attachment. These included:

Bowlby's thoughts on distinguishing attachment led the way for many other psychologists' viewpoints on attachment and the various bonds that attachment coincides with.

Child psychologist Mary Ainsworth further expanded on Bowlby's research by conducting an experiment that is known as the "Strange Situation" experiment. In the experiment, a parent and child are alone in the room. A stranger then walks into the room and talks to the parent. After some amount of time, the parent quietly exits the room, leaving the stranger and child in the room. The child then reacts to the situation at hand and then the parent re-enters the room and comforts the child. From this groundbreaking study, Ainsworth developed different forms of attachment styles that infants display with the people they are close to.

Secure attachment in infancy was characterized by noticeable distress when the parent left the room. When the parent returned, the child was extremely happy to see them. Infants are more likely to choose a parent over any other person, especially a stranger. As they embark on childhood, those who maintain secure attachment have an easier time making friends and meeting new people and hold a trustworthy bond with their parents. Adolescents benefit from parental support, but they are also beginning to make the transitions from relying heavily on their parents to a more independent environment with more freedom. In adulthood, they are more likely to have long-lasting relationships, high self-esteem, find pleasure from romantic relationships and are able to easily talk with their partners.


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