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Sensitivity and Security: New Questions to Ponder
Author(s) -
Thompson Ross A.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1997.tb04220.x
Subject(s) - maternal sensitivity , psychology , context (archaeology) , sensitivity (control systems) , developmental psychology , psychosocial , consistency (knowledge bases) , social psychology , psychotherapist , electronic engineering , engineering , paleontology , geometry , mathematics , biology
The conclusion that parental sensitivity is a reliable—but not highly robust—predictor of a secure attachment invites reconsideration of the nature of sensitivity and its impact on early psychosocial development. Future directions for inquiry include (1) renewed attention to the growth of attachment in the context of other developing features of the parent‐infant relationship, including play and behavioral management; (2) the factors that moderate the impact of sensitivity on developing security (including the contexts of sensitive responsiveness infant age, and the consistency of parental sensitivity over time); (3) the multifaceted and dyanamic origins of individual differences in sensitivity; and (4) greater consideration of why sensitivity fosters attachment security, especially in relation to emergent working models of relationships and self.