Abstract
Introductory psychology classes and texts invariably feature attachment theory, which is rightly regarded as a pillar of the field. The acknowledged founder of attachment theory, John Bowlby, resisted the tide of psychoanalysis and instead pursued a more biological explanation of parent–child relations, characterized by insecure attachment variants as dysfunctional miscarriages of mother–infant bonding. Contrary to Bowlby’s assumptions, the supposed pathology of the insecure attachment is reframed by life history evolution as strategic adaptation to reproductive ecologies. While insecure attachment is not specifically adaptive, eliciting rearing behaviors displayed by parents, like early sexual debut, mate diversity, completed fertility, and other resultant mating behaviors displayed by the child at maturity, are adaptive within unpredictable and stochastic environments.
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Hertler, S.C., Figueredo, A.J., Peñaherrera-Aguirre, M., Fernandes, H.B.F., Woodley of Menie, M.A. (2018). Edward John Mostyn Bowlby: Reframing Parental Investment and Offspring Attachment. In: Life History Evolution. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90125-1_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90125-1_18
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