Background:
Mary
Ainsworth was born in Glendale, Ohio in December of 1913. She was the oldest of
three girls and both her parents graduated from Dickinson College. When
Ainsworth was five her family relocated to Canada after her father was
transferred at a manufacturing firm. Ainsworth’s parents placed a high emphasis
on education and weekly trips to the library were a regular event for her
family. When Ainsworth was fifteen she became inspired to become a psychologist
after reading the book Character and the Conduct of Life by William
McDougall.
Ainsworth
began college in 1929 at the University of Toronto. She enrolled in the honors
psychology program and completed her Bachelor’s degree in 1935, her Master’s
degree in 1936, and a PhD in developmental psychology in 1939; all her degrees
were from the University of Toronto.
After
completing her PhD, Ainsworth taught at the University of Toronto until joining
the Canadian Women’s Army Corps in 1942. During her time in the Army she
received the rank of major and administered tests, interviews, and conducted
counseling. After returning from the Army, Ainsworth continued to teach at the
University of Toronto where she met her husband Leonard Ainsworth, they married
in 1950.
After
she was married Ainsworth and her husband moved to England so he could finish
his graduate degree at University College. Ainsworth joined the research team
at Tavistock Clinic in England this is where she began her research along with
John Bowlby on mother-child relationships. Ainsworth continued her research on
mother-child relationships while living in Uganda after her husband accepted a
job at the East African Institute of Social Research.
After
spending two years in Uganda Ainsworth moved to Baltimore, Maryland after her
husband accepted a job as a forensic psychologist. Ainsworth taught at Johns
Hopkins and provided psychological service at Sheppard and Enoch Pratt
Hospital. Ainsworth and her husband divorced in 1960 but she continued to teach
at Johns Hopkins until 1975. After 1975, Ainsworth relocated to Virginia and
began to teach at the University of Virginia until her retirement in 1984. She
died in Charlottesville, Virginia on March 21, 1999 at the age of 86.
Professional Life:
Mary
Ainsworth is best known for her work regarding the mother-child bond. While in
Uganda she conducted a longitudinal field study on the mother-child bond and
their subsequent interactions. She observed that while most mother-child bonds
made children feel comforted and secure, she also observed mother-child
relationships that were strained and conflicted.
With this
observation she then developed the “Strange Situation.” During the Strange
Situation the researcher takes the mother and the child of about a year of age
into a room filled with toys. At first the mother and the child are alone in
the room but then the researcher enters the room and after a few minutes the
mother leaves the room. After a few more minutes with just the researcher in
the room with the child, the mother is allowed to re-enter the room. The
researcher then observes the child’s reaction to their mother upon her return
into the room.
Ainsworth
concluded that there are three different attachment styles between mother and
child. One attachment style is the anxious/avoidant style where the child may
not show signs of distress when the mother leaves the room, and avoids her upon
her return. The second attachment style is the secure attachment where the
child will be distressed when she leaves the room but will seek comfort from
her upon her return. The final attachment style is the anxious/resistant where
the child stays close to the mother before her departure, becomes highly
distressed when she leaves but upon her return rejects the comfort of their
mother. Ainsworth determined that the attachment style each child has with
their mother could be a determinant of their future behavior. Children with
anxious attachment styles are more likely to develop maladaptive behaviors
later on in life than children with secure attachment styles.
Application to Psychology of
Women:
The
work of Mary Ainsworth is relevant to our class because she was one of the
first people to examine mother-child relationships. She was the first woman to
attempt to explain how the mother-child bond could affect their children later
in life and defined what a secure bond is between a mother and child as well as
various negative attachment styles. Although Ainsworth said that her work could
be depicted as encouraging mothers to stay at home during children’s early years
to ensure secure attachment to their child, she was sure that alternative
arrangements to stay at home mothering could also create secure bonds with
children as well.
References:
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