Definition
The attachment system is the innate motivation to seek proximity to a responsive figure when threatened — regulation through closeness, not moral weakness.
Origin
Bowlby framed attachment as a biological behavioral system — parallel to other survival systems — documented in A Secure Base and developmental attachment literature.
Mechanism
Under threat, the system activates proximity seeking; failed availability yields protest, despair, or defensive detachment. Adult bonds replay the same architecture through internal working models — pair with Infantile conflict loops when conflict looks disproportionate.
Applications
When protest or clinging surprises you, ask whether the system is signalling threat before judging character — map the need, then choose the skill.
Sources
Cite
- Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. Basic Books.