Question

Infants are born with their own unique style of interaction through temperament, which as a result establishes responses to people and the surrounding environment. With this in mind, explain how might temperament impact infant attachment (200 word count)

Answer 1

Pioneers in temperament research; Chess, and Birch (1963), categorize babies as “easy,” “slow to warm,” and “difficult.” Thus a good match between parent temperament and child temperament promotes the development of attachment; a mismatch may hinder the development of attachment. If the temperament of the child and parent aren’t a natural fit, the adult must adjust to the baby rather than expecting the reverse. It is important for us to understand while considering our own attachment process with the children we work with and also when working with parents.