Biography of Psychologist John Bowlby

John Bowlby (February 26, 1907-September 2, 1990) was a British psychologist and psychoanalyst who believed that early childhood attachments played a critical role in later development and mental functioning. His work, along with the work of psychologist Mary Ainsworth, contributed to the development of attachment theory.

Bowlby believed that children are born with a biologically programmed tendency to seek and remain close to attachment figures. This provides nurturance and comfort and aids in the child’s survival. Sticking close to a caregiver ensures that the child’s needs are met and that they are protected from environmental dangers.

Bowlby's Early Life

Edward John Mostyn Bowlby was born in London to an upper-middle-class family. Believing that too much parental affection and attention would spoil a child, his parents spent only a small amount of time with him each day. At the age of seven, he was sent to boarding school, which he would later describe as a traumatic experience.

College Years

Bowlby went on to attend Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied psychology and spent time working with delinquent children. After graduating from Cambridge, Bowlby volunteered at two schools for maladjusted and delinquent children to gain experience and consider his career goals.

Klein's Influence

He then studied medicine at University College Hospital and psychiatry at Maudsley Hospital. During this time, Bowlby also studied at the British Psychoanalytic Institute and was initially influenced by the work of Melanie Klein, a psychologist who created the play therapy technique.

He eventually became dissatisfied with Klein’s approach. He felt that it focused too much on children’s fantasies and not enough on environmental events, including the influence of parents and caregivers.

After becoming a psychoanalyst in 1937, he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War II. In 1938, he married a woman named Ursula Longstaff, and together they had four children.

Once the war was over, Bowlby became Director of the Tavistock Clinic, and in 1950, he became a mental health consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Bowlby's Career and Theories

Bowlby’s early work with children led him to develop a strong interest in the subject of child development. He became particularly interested in how separation from caregivers impacted children. After studying the subject for some time, he began to develop his ideas on the importance of attachment on child development.

The WHO commissioned Bowlby to write a report on the mental health of homeless children in Europe. In 1951, the resulting work Maternal Care and Mental Health was published. In it, he wrote, "...the infant and young child should experience a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute–one person who steadily ‘mothers’ him) in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment."

After the publication of the influential report, Bowlby continued to develop his attachment theory. Bowlby drew on various subjects, including cognitive science, developmental psychology, evolutionary biology, and ethology (the science of animal behavior).

Bowlby as a Psychoanalyst

Bowlby had trained as a psychoanalyst and, much like Sigmund Freud, believed that the earliest experiences in life have a lasting impact on development. According to Bowlby, attachment also keeps the infant close to the mother, thus improving the child's chances of survival.

Bowlby was also influenced by Konrad Lorenz, a zoologist and ethologist who demonstrated that attachment was innate and aided in survival. In Lorenz’s well-known 1935 study on imprinting, he showed that young geese would imprint on attachment figures in the environment within a certain critical period after hatching.

Lorenz even got newly-hatched geese to imprint on him and view him as a “mother” figure. This revealed that not only is attachment innate but that there is also a critical period during which the formation of attachment relationships is possible. Lorenz’s research found that an attachment was not likely to occur after a certain period (approximately 32 hours for geese).

In humans, Bowlby believed that the first two and a half years of a child's life were critical for the formation of attachment. If it did not happen during this period, he suggested it may be too late. However, he later expanded the timeline for this critical period up to the age of five.

Bowlby's Attachment Theory

Bowlby defined attachment as a “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings." His ethological theory of attachment suggests that infants have an innate need to form an attachment bond with a caregiver.

This is an evolved response that increases a child's chances of survival; babies are born with a number of behaviors, such as crying and cooing, and caregivers are biologically programmed to respond to these signals and attend to the baby's needs.

The Importance of the Attachment Bond

While mothers are often associated with this role as primary caregivers and attachment figures, Bowlby believed infants could form such bonds with others. The formation of the attachment bond offers comfort, security, and nourishment.

However, Bowlby noted that feeding was not the basis or purpose of this attachment, allowing bonds to be formed with fathers and other significant caregivers.

It is not food or nourishment that determines attachment. Instead it is the responsiveness of caregivers and the attention and care that children receive that determines their attachment patterns.

Stages of Attachment

Bowlby also suggested that attachment forms in a series of stages:

• During the first part of the pre-attachment phase, babies recognize their primary caregiver but do not yet have an attachment. Their crying and fussing draw the attention and care of the parent, which is rewarding to both the child and the caregiver. As this stage progresses through about three months, infants begin to recognize the parent more and develop a sense of trust.
• During the indiscriminate attachment phase, infants show a distinct preference for the primary caregivers and certain secondary caregivers in their lives.
• During the discriminate attachment period, children form a solid attachment to one individual and experience separation distress and anxiety when parted from that person.
• Finally, during the multiple attachment phases, children develop strong attachments to people beyond the primary caregivers.

How Attachment Influences Development

Bowlby believed that a child's earliest attachments with caregivers created a blueprint for all future relationships. These early attachments serve as a framework that helps children understand themselves, others, and their relationship with the world.

Bowlby suggested maternal deprivation disrupted the attachment process and could result in long-term emotional, social, and cognitive problems. 

This approach, known as monotropy, views attachment as a bond between the child and a single attachment figure. In Bowlby's view, this attachment figure was primarily the mother. Problems with this attachment, he suggested, led to lasting problems that could include mental health issues, lower intelligence, higher aggression, poor relationships, and lack of empathy for others.

While Bowby emphasized the existence of a single primary attachment figure, contemporary research has shown that children develop multiple attachments to other caregivers. Bowlby's belief that separation from the primary caregiver would negatively affect development, modern theorists recognize that quality matters more than quantity. 

Bowlby's Contributions to Psychology

Bowlby’s research on attachment and child development left a lasting impression on psychology, education, child care, and parenting. Researchers extended his research to develop clinical treatment techniques and prevention strategies.

His work also influenced other eminent psychologists, including his colleague Mary Ainsworth, who also made significant contributions to attachment theory by expanding on Bowlby's research to develop a method for observing a child's attachment to a caregiver.