Types of Emotional Attachment: What They Are and How They Change

What Emotional Attachment Is: Bowlby and Ainsworth’s Theory Emotional attachment is the affective bond that forms between a person and those who care for them during the earliest years of life, and that later shapes the way we relate to others. To understand it, it helps to start with its foundational authors: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, whose research shaped attachment theory. Bowlby considered the child’s attachment relationship with their caregiver during early infancy to be a critical element for their survival. Bowlby’s attachment theory has notably driven research into how emotional bonds between people form and what quality they have, and it…