Temperament Category Essay

From an evolutionary perspective, John Bowlby made the connection that children form an attachment to their parents in the best interest of survival. Therefore, in a well functioning parent-infant relationship, infants learn to seek their parents in frightening situations and use them as a secure base (Hesse, 2014). However, Mary Ainsworth exemplifies that this is not the case for all infants. In the Strange Situation Study, Mary Ainsworth discovered three fundamental attachment styles: secure, ambivalent, and avoidant attachment. A fourth attachment style was later discovered by Main and Solomon and classified as disorganized attachment. These are known as the four fundamental unidirectional types of attachment between an infant and their caregiver. These relationship patterns are often established between infant and primary caregiver during their early stages of life. In the following, I will exemplify how these attachment styles differ when the infant experiences significant disruptions in their family relationships because of changes in caregivers and separation from imprisoned parents?

Research has revealed that there is a strong relationship between insecure attachment and a history of abuse and neglect (Begle, Dumas & Hanson, 2010). Insecure attachments are formed due to parenting stress and abusive parenting behavior. Parenting stress and abusive parenting behavior form children’s mental schemas of how the world works based upon early interactions with caregivers. These mental schemas construct their expectations about relationships. Ultimately

A child that has an easy temperament is usually positive, smiles frequently and very easy, can overcome new situations easily and adapt to the new changes, most of all will have a set schedule for eating, sleeping and other activities (Cook & Cook, 2014). A difficult temperament is the opposite of an easy temperament. The child is usually negative and will become frustrated very easily, any new situations will become a problem, and shows no pattern when it comes to basic things like eating and sleeping (Cook & Cook, 2014). In another hand, a child that has a slow-to-warm-up temperament can sometimes have a negative behavior to new things but if exposure is persistent a better or positive response can be developed (Cook & Cook, 2014). The better side of a child that has a slow-to-warm-up temperament is that they have “less emotional reactions” and would actually do better with scheduled times for eating and sleeping (Cook & Cook,

Attachment relationships between child and parent is differentiated based on two categories, secure and insecure, (Quan, Bureau, Yurkowski, Moss & Pallanca, 2013). Insecure stage also have been divided into avoidant, resistant and disorganized (Holmes, 2001).

An infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver.

Infants with secure attachment feel comfortable and confident separating from their caregiver. In the toddler 's eyes, their caregiver is a base for exploration that provides assurance and enables experiences of discovery. Infants with secure

A healthy or secure attachment develops over time because of a caregiver’s consistent, sensitive care that they have towards a young child. Each time a caregiver interacts in ways that focus fully on the individual child, it furthers connections. When a caregiver attempts to read a baby’s cues and tries to respond to the child’s needs and wishes, the baby learns the caregiver is a source of comfort and security. Children with secure attachments learn that their world is a safe place because the people in it are caring and understanding. They also learn that their ways of communicating result in others responding and understanding them. This reinforces their efforts to continue to express themselves to others. Consistent back-and-forth exchanges that happen over time are one of the ways to build positive relationships. Children with secure attachments feel confident in exploring their environment, which allows them to learn. It’s the accumulation of intimacy during these numerous interactions that turns ordinary tasks into a relationship-based curriculum.

The results that I got from the close relationship survey is a score of 3.89 on my attachment-related anxiety and my attachment related avoidance score is 3.00. This puts me in the secure region. The influences that made me have the secure attachment style is how my parents and grandparents would spend a lot of time with me when I was a baby. I was always around them and always taken care of. Especially my mother whom would pamper me a lot when I was a baby. I remember when I was younger, I was so scared of the dark that I would always go to my mom to calm me down. The style of when my parents took care of me when I was a baby influenced my secure attachment style.

Secure attachment: Secure attachment occurs when a child will freely explore when the caregiver is present, and may exhibit distress when the caregiver parts with them, and displays happiness when the caregiver returns (Schacter, 2009). Parents who frequently respond to their children’s needs create securely attached children. In turn, children will be confident that their parents will respond to them (Schacter, 2009). Children who are securely attached to their caregivers are able to

Secure attachment is commonly considered the healthiest style of attachment. This bond results when a caregiver responds to the child’s needs in an appropriate manner. The child will learn that the caregiver will be responsive and available (Romero). When parents provide a safe and secure environment, a child can build a nurturing relationship. Most of all, a child will simply feel valued and loved (Greenberg; Romero).

Every infant acts a different way and can have different kinds of attachment. Babies can show signs of secure attachment, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant, or insecure-disorganized/disoriented attachment behaviors. There are all kinds of personalities, environments, and genes that mold the babies’ relationships and attachment with the parents. I have observed three different adult and baby pairs in the store, in my in-laws’ home, and at the park.

Signs of a secure attachment as a child include they are able to separate from their caregiver, children seek comfort from caregiver when they are frightened, children can greet caregiver with positive emotions upon caregivers return, and the child prefers the caregiver over strangers (Hazan & Shaver, 1990). Signs of a secure attachment in adults include having trusting and lasting relationships, Adults who have high self-esteem tend to have more secure attachments, they are comfortable sharing feelings and thoughts with friends and partners, and tend to seek out social groups (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).

An infant with a secure attachment style has a natural bond with their parent, where they are able to trust them, at the same time leaving their side to discover and explore their surroundings. In an insecure/resistant attachment the relationship the child has with their mother or caregiver is very clingy, thus making them very upset once the caregiver is away. When the mother or caregiver is back they are not easily comforted and resist their effort in comforting them. In an insecure/avoidant attachment the infant is, “indifferent and seems to avoid the mother, they are as easily comforted by a stranger, as by their parent” (Siegler 2011, p.429). Lastly, the disorganized/disoriented attachment is another insecure attachment style in which the infant has no way of coping with stress making their behavior confusing or contradictory. Through these brief descriptions of the attachment theory, many researchers have defined the turning point in which each attachment definition can have an influence on one’s self esteem, well-being and their marital relationship.

These characteristics are well demonstrated in Mary Ainsworth’s experiment of the “strange situation.” Researcher Chris Fraley describes the study as, “a group of 12 month-old infants and their parents are brought in to the laboratory and, systematically separated from and reunited with one another.” Approximately 58 percent of the children demonstrated characteristics of secure attachment. When the parent left the room the child displayed signs of distress with a need to be close to the attachment figure. When the parent returned to the room, the child eagerly approached

How would you describe your own temperament? (Do you think you were an easy child, a difficult child, or a slow-to-warm-up child?)