The DOI matches its Crossref record; 5 of the 5 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
An Ethological Approach to Personality Development
Abstract
attachment that we have jointly developed is that it is an ethological approach to personality development. We have had a long and happy partnership in pursuing this approach. In this article we wish to give a brief historical account of the initially separate but compatible approaches that eventually merged in the partnership, and how our contributions have intertwined in the course of developing an ethologically oriented theory of attachment and a body of research that has both stemmed from the theory and served to extend and elaborate it.
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Attachment theory explains systematic differences in how individuals regulate closeness, vulnerability, and relational risk.
“Attachment theory explains systematic differences in how individuals regulate closeness, vulnerability, and relational risk (Ainsworth & Bowlby 1991) .”
From Not a Silver Bullet for Loneliness: How Attachment and Age Shape Intimacy with AI Companions (2026) · cites this paper as Ainsworth & Bowlby 1991
Human attachment theory predicts greater intimacy among secure individuals and lower intimacy among avoidant individuals under conditions of loneliness.
“This finding aligns with our hypotheses but inverts expectations from human attachment theory, which predicts greater intimacy among secure individuals and lower intimacy among avoidant individuals under conditions of loneliness (Ainsworth & Bowlby 1991;Feeney & Noller 1990).”
From Not a Silver Bullet for Loneliness: How Attachment and Age Shape Intimacy with AI Companions (2026) · cites this paper as Ainsworth & Bowlby 1991
Attachment theory explains enduring differences in caregiving, intimacy-seeking, and emotion regulation through internal models of the self and others.
“Attachment theory, originating in developmental psychology (Ainsworth & Bowlby 1991) and later extended to adult relationships (Hazan & Shaver 1987), explains enduring differences in caregiving, intimacyseeking, and emotion regulation through internal models of the self and others (Mikulincer 1998).”
From Not a Silver Bullet for Loneliness: How Attachment and Age Shape Intimacy with AI Companions (2026) · cites this paper as Ainsworth & Bowlby 1991
Citations
Cites
Attachment and Loss. Vol. 1. Attachment
Rever, G. W. (1972) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-197211000-00011 · Cited by 8,446
Ainsworth, M. S. (1989) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.44.4.709 · Cited by 3,231
Self-citationAinsworth, M. D. S., & Bell, S. M. (1970) · Child Development · doi:10.2307/1127388 · Cited by 1,764
Self-citationObject relations, dependency, and attachment: a theoretical review of the infant-mother relationship
Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1969) · Child Development · doi:10.2307/1127008 · Cited by 1,461 · cited 1×
“Publication of these and other findings was interspersed with theoretical expositions (e. g. , Ainsworth, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1979).”
BackgroundPathological mourning and childhood mourning
Bowlby, J. (1963) · Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association · doi:10.1177/000306516301100303 · Cited by 252
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Maternal care, hippocampal synaptogenesis and cognitive development in rats
Liu, D., Diorio, J., Day, J. C., Francis, D. D., & Meaney, M. J. (2000) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/77702 · Cited by 1,195
Noftle, E. E., & Shaver, P. R. (2006) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2004.11.003 · Cited by 501
Drivers of human development: How relationships and context shape learning and development 1
Osher, D., Cantor, P., Berg, J., Steyer, L., & Rose, T. (2020) · Applied Developmental Science · doi:10.1080/10888691.2017.1398650 · Cited by 484
“These relationships build upon early attachment relationships which establish a secure base for exploration and a safe haven, which continue to be important for learning and development (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991; Bowlby, 1988; Cassidy, Jones, & Shaver, 2013).”
BackgroundWilliams, S. K., & Kelly, F. D. (2005) · The Journal of Early Adolescence · doi:10.1177/0272431604274178 · Cited by 225
Gleason, M. M., Fox, N. A., Drury, S., Smyke, A., Egger, H. L., Nelson, C. A., Gregas, M. C., & Zeanah, C. H. (2011) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2010.12.012 · Cited by 206
Attachment security and child’s empathy: The mediating role of emotion regulation
Panfile, T. M., & Laible, D. J. (2012) · Merrill-palmer Quarterly · doi:10.1353/mpq.2012.0003 · Cited by 184
A socio-relational framework of sex differences in the expression of emotion
Vigil, J. M. (2009) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x09991075 · Cited by 173
Attachment and Resilience: Implications for Children in Care
Atwool, N. (2006) · Child Care in Practice · doi:10.1080/13575270600863226 · Cited by 123
Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Guhn, M., Gadermann, A. M., Hymel, S., Sweiss, L., & Hertzman, C. (2013) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-012-0149-y · Cited by 121
Effects of neonatal oxytocin manipulation on development of social behaviors in mice
Mogi, K., Ooyama, R., Nagasawa, M., & Kikusui, T. (2014) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.05.010 · Cited by 37
Salande, J. D., & Hawkins, R. C. (2017) · Journal of Psychotherapy Integration · doi:10.1037/int0000037 · Cited by 29
Forster, M., Rogers, C. J., Rainisch, B., Grigsby, T., De La Torre, C., Albers, L., & Unger, J. B. (2022) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/08862605211035881 · Cited by 19
Translation of Eastern Meditative Disciplines Into Western Psychotherapy
Semple, R. J., & Hatt, S. P. (2012) · The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199729920.013.0021 · Cited by 8
Attachment and hope as A framework for improving depression outcomes for trauma patients
Blake, J., Leppma, M., Mamboleo, G., Nauser, J., O'Toole, H., & Chan, F. (2020) · Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling · doi:10.1891/jarc-d-19-00005 · Cited by 6
Not a Silver Bullet for Loneliness: How Attachment and Age Shape Intimacy with AI Companions
Ciriello, R., Gal, U., & Turel, O. (2026) · arXiv · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2602.12476 · Cited by 4
Metadata
- Authors
- Ainsworth, M. S., & Bowlby, J.
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 1991-04
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 333-341
- ISSN
- 1935-990X
- 0003-066X
- Cited by
- 1,004
- References
- 5
- Language
- en
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