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For at least 30 years, infant-caregiver attachment has been a primary focus of developmental psychologists, and the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) has been utilized in literally hundreds of research studies. The SSP involves a series of separations from and reunions with the mother, as well as episodes during which a stranger is also in the room with the infant. This procedure has enabled researchers to observe infants (typically 12- to 20-month-olds) in a standardized laboratory situation consisting of several 3-minute episodes. This chapter describes the theoretical and methodological background for this assessment; the results from other studies linking attachment outcomes to earlier face-to-face interactions, play behaviors, and family stress; the relevance of attachment to the study of deaf children; and results from analyses of attachment data from this project.

This chapter examines the history of some challenges to John Bowlby’s and Mary Ainsworth’s ethological attachment theory (EAT). Bowlby and Ainsworth argued that the mother-infant relationship is a natural dyad designed by evolution in which the instinctual responses of one party activate instinctual responses in the other, and that secure attachment is an adaptation. This chapter focuses on EAT’s two fundamental tenets: the universality of attachment patterns and the biological foundations of the attachment system. It shows that several scholars have challenged those tenets over the years and argues that attachment researchers have not addressed those challenges successfully.

This chapter brings to life how successful relationships in and outside the workplace are established and maintained. The chapter recounts the development of attachment theory and how our earliest interactions set the stage for all our future relationships. Individuals who benefited from secure relationships are likely to navigate the tenuous nature of the modern workplace more effectively. The chapter also takes a tour of John Gottman’s Love Lab, which has become famous for its ability to break down the ingredients of long-lasting and happy marriages, a finding that has profound implications for professional relationships. When the Magic Ratio of positive to negative interactions becomes unbalanced or if any of the Four Horsemen of criticism, contempt, defensiveness, or stonewalling rear their ugly heads, those in a relationship are forewarned to act quickly and decisively.

Science, and by extension society, requires a comprehensive theory of attachment to guide research and practice—one grounded in a contextualized conception of attachments and their development, which encompasses knowledge from diverse disciplines engaged in the study of human development. To improve on the current paradigm, this volume embraces the diversity of attachment systems across cultures and primate species, and assesses the core assumptions and methods of attachment theory. Resultant understanding is used to project an updated version of attachment theory—one that can be applied across cultures. Suggestions for more culturally sensitive research methods are proposed and ideas applicable to current practice and policies discussed. A reconceptualized theory of attachment is presented based on principles that are generalizable, valid, and reliable across diverse primates and diverse human cultures. In addition, the need to make adjustments in attachment philosophy is stressed, and strategies are discussed to communicate and work with researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders.