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15.3: What are the antecedents, consequences, and mechanisms in Ainsworth’s theory?

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    These are most easily seen in the graphic representation of the theory, as pictured in Figure 4. 1. The antecedents are individual differences in maternal (or caregiver) sensitive responsive behavior; and the consequences are summarized as “health development”—the specifics of which are listed in the Understanding paper (see Table 4.1; and have been elaborated in research following the publication of the theory). Together, these targets, antecedents, and consequences comprise the outlines of Ainsworth’s “macro-developmental theory” of individual differences in attachment.

    The “micro-developmental theory” is depicted by the mechanisms describing what is “on the arrows.” As shown in Figure 4.2, the mechanism on the arrow between individual differences in caregivers’ behavior and the formation of different qualities of attachments are differential histories of social interactions. The different qualities of caregiver behaviors initiate different sets of experiences for their infants: (1) the normative experiences depicted by Bowlby, in which caregivers respond to infant distress signals with sensitive caregiving, leading infants to develop feelings of trust and security, so that they will seek the caregiver when distressed; (2) experiences in which caregivers respond to infant distress signals with insensitive and rejecting caregiving, leading infants to develop a feeling of insecurity or indifference to caregiver support, so that they avoid the caregiver when upset; and (3) experiences in which caregivers either do not respond to infant distress signals or respond inconsistently, leading infants to develop a feeling insecurity and anxiety, so that they are ambivalent and resistant to contact with the caregiver when they are distressed.

    The mechanism on the arrow between quality of attachment and its consequences is shown in Figure 4.3—the internal working model, in which the history of interactions between caregiver and infant lead the infants to construct an internal representation of what they can expect from the social world created by their caregivers, whether or not they can expect consistently safe, loving, sensitive, and contingent responses to their signals and needs. Infants and then young children are posited to take these internal working models with them into subsequent interactions with the animate and inanimate environments, where it guides their expectations and interpretations of interactions, especially through its effects on exploration, wariness, emotional reactivity, and coping through proximity seeking. Consistent with the theme started in earlier chapters, it is important to point out that, in both cases, social interactions are a key part of this theory’s explanations— caregiver-infant interactions are essential ingredients in the mechanisms or pathways through which the antecedents and consequences of attachment exert or register their effects.

    This page titled 15.3: What are the antecedents, consequences, and mechanisms in Ainsworth’s theory? is shared under a CC BY-NC license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ellen A. Skinner, Thomas A. Kindermann, Robert W. Roeser, Cathleen L Smith, Andrew Mashburn & Joel Steele (Portland State University Library) .