Mary Ainsworth: biography and contributions

Mary Ainsworth was a Canadian psychologist who, along with John Bowlby, developed one of the psychological theories that have helped the most to understand early social development: attachment theory. This theory was formulated focused on children at first. Although Ainsworth, in the 60s and 70s, introduced new concepts that, in the 80s, would lead to an expansion focused on adults.

She was one of the most cited psychologists throughout the 20th century and, still today, His brilliant theory is the pillar on which numerous psychological studies are built. Her work is studied in universities around the world, she received numerous recognitions, despite the fact that she lived in a time when women’s professional role was quite restricted.

Ainsworth already showed some concern in his first steps at university and began to reflect on the attachment relationship of children with the maternal figure. From there, the theory would be born that would highlight his name in the history of psychology.

However, Ainsworth’s life was not limited only to study, to immerse herself between questions and papers, but she was much more dynamic than one would expect for a woman of her time.

His life

Mary Ainsworth was born in the United States, but her family moved to Toronto, Canada, when she was a child. He graduated in Developmental Psychology from the University of Toronto. and obtained her Doctorate in 1939. Upon completing her studies, she joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, spent four years in the army and achieved the rank of Major.

Shortly after, she married and moved with her husband to London. That’s when He begins working at the Tavistock Institute alongside psychiatrist John Bowlby. Both pave the way for research based on experience of separation of children from their mothers.

In 1953, he moved to Uganda and begins work at the African Institute for Social Research in Kampalawhere he continued his research on children’s early relationships with their mothers.

After a while, obtains a position at the John Hopkins Institute in the United States and, later, at the University of Virginiawhere he continued to develop his attachment theory until his professional retirement in 1984.

attachment theory

John Bowlby is considered the father of attachment theory. Bowlby’s studies showed that children possess innate exploratory behavior. But if they feel unprotected or in danger, their first reaction is to seek support from the mother or primary caregiver.

Mary Ainsworth started from Bowly’s basis on control systems, but added a new concept: the strange situation.

Mary Ainsworth researched the relationship between children and their caregivers, adding the strange situation in different contexts. The strange situation was created by adding a strange person to the child in the context of the mother-child relationship.

Based on the results obtained, Mary Ainsworth expanded the theory by connecting three attachment styles.: secure attachment, insecure-avoidant attachment and insecure-ambivalent attachment. The theory was later expanded by other researchers. The set of rereadings, comments and additions is the result of the attachment theory that we know today.

Mary Ainsworth and the different types of attachment

Attachment theory was later expanded with a fourth type of attachment. What Mary Ainsworth defined and characterized were only the three types mentioned above. Below, we describe what exactly each of them consists of:

secure attachment: is generated when the child feels loved and protected. Even if the caregiver is absent and the child experiences the momentary separation with some anxiety, he knows that he can trust that his caregiver will return.insecure attachment: These children respond with intense distress to separation from the mother or caregiver. It seems that this type of attachment is the result of poor maternal or primary caregiver availability. These children learn that their mother will not always be there when they need her.ambivalent attachment: It develops when the primary caregiver repeatedly and constantly fails to attend to the child’s needs. These are children who develop a great feeling of distrust and learn not to seek help in the future.

An important task

Mary Ainsworth became a great connoisseur of the importance of developing a healthy maternal attachment relationship. In addition to the influence this could have on the child as a future adult.

She spoke many times in favor of the need to develop and implement programs that would help women make their professional careers compatible with motherhood. Well, at that time, it was almost impossible for women to combine what we see today with total normality.

Access to academic studies, research, the world of work, etc. It seemed not to be very compatible with the domestic tasks and, consequently, that of wife and mother, which were what society dictated. Thus, Mary Ainsworth can be considered one of the precursors of work-life balance programs for mothers..

As a female researcher, she knew that her work could not only be relegated to study, there was something to claim, something that could help many women in the future so that, like her, they could choose their path. Thus, we find ourselves before a scientist who was interested in aspects of women that psychology left aside.

Finally, Mary Ainsworth died in 1999, aged 86, after a lifetime dedicated to developing one of the most important psychological theories we have today.

You might be interested…