Different Faces of Attachment

Cultural Variations on a Universal Human Need

Hiltrud Otto, Heidi Keller

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781107027749
• eBook ISBN: 9781139989916
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Developmental Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Attachment between an infant and his or her parents is a major topic within developmental psychology. An increasing number of psychologists, evolutionary biologists and anthropologists are articulating their doubts that attachment theory in its present form is applicable worldwide, without, however, denying that the development of attachment is a universal need. This book brings together leading scholars from psychology, anthropology and related fields to reformulate attachment theory in order to fit the cultural realities of our world. Contributions are based on empirical research and observation in a variety of cultural contexts. They are complemented by careful evaluation and deconstruction of many of the underlying premises and assumptions of attachment theory and of conventional research on the role of infant-parent attachment in human development. The book creates a contextual cultural understanding of attachment that will provide the basis for a groundbreaking reconceptualization of attachment theory.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Foreword
• Introduction: understanding relationships - what we would need to know to conceptualize attachment as the cultural solution of a universal developmental task
• Part I Attachment as an adaptation: evolutionary, cultural, and historical perspectives
• Part II Multiple attachments: allomothering, stranger anxiety, and intimacy
• Part III Looking into the future and implications for policy development
• Part IV Conclusion
• Index