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Cited by 1,461Attachment and Relationship DynamicsPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology ResearchChild and Animal Learning Development

Object relations, dependency, and attachment: a theoretical review of the infant-mother relationship

Ainsworth, Mary D. Salter·1969·Child Development
DOI 10.2307/1127008
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Abstract

3 theoretical approaches to the origin and development of the infant-mother relationship are reviewed: psychoanalytic theories of object relations, social learning theories of dependency (and attachment), and an ethologically oriented theory of attachment. "Object relations, " "dependency, " and "attachment, " although overlapping, are seen to differ substantially. Among the concepts in regard to which there are significant intertheoretical differences, the following are discussed: genetic "biases, " reinforcement as compared with activation and termination of behavioral systems and with feedback, strength o f attachment behavior versus strength of attachment, inner representation of the object, intra-organismic and environmental conditions of behavioral activation, and the role of intra-organismic organization and structure. Finally, the relation between theory and research methods is considered. Three terms have been commonly used to characterize the infant's relationship with his mother: "object relations, " "dependency, " and "attachment. " Although they overlap somewhat in their connotations, these terms are not synonymous. Each is more or less closely tied to a distinctive theoretical formulation of the origin and development of

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Authors
Ainsworth, M. D. S.
Affiliations
Johns Hopkins University (US)
Corresponding author
Ainsworth, Mary D. Salter
Venue
Child Development
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
1969-12
Volume
40
Issue
4
Pages
969
ISSN
0009-3920 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2307/1127008
OpenAlex
W2060051277
Cited by
1,461
References
86
Citations by year
2026: 34 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 100 · 2023: 80 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 55 · 2020: 92 · 2019: 58 · 2018: 53 · 2017: 61 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 59 · 2013: 56 · 2012: 37
FWCI
20.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Child Development (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
Keywords
mother-infant relationship, object relations, dependency, attachment, psychoanalytic theory, social learning theory, attachment behavior, behavioral systems, reinforcement, feedback, behavioral activation
MeSH terms
Adult, Behaviorism, Child, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Discrimination, Psychological, Drive, Ethology, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Learning, Love, Mother-Child Relations, Object Attachment, Orientation, Personality Development, Psychoanalytic Theory, Psychological Theory, Reinforcement, Psychology, Social Behavior

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