Talia, Alessandro;
Duschinsky, Robbie;
Mazzarella, Diana;
Begus, Katarina;
Kleinbub, Johann;
Miller-Bottome, Madeleine;
Taubner, Svenja;
... Fonagy, Peter; + view all
(2025)
A socio-epistemic theory of attachment: Part I. Secure attachment as
epistemic trust and its place in development.
Psychoanalytic Inquiry
(In press).
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Abstract
This article, written in honor of Mary Main’s legacy, introduces a new socio-epistemic theory of attachment and attachment-related differences. Inspired by Main’s pioneering work on attention and discourse, we integrate insights from epistemic trust theory (Fonagy & Allison, 2014) and cognitive pragmatics (Sperber & Wilson, 1986) to argue that attachment patterns are not specifically adaptations to caregivers’ responsiveness to infants’ distress, but broader strategies for optimizing communication. We propose that attachment patterns reflect variations in epistemic trust towards the caregiver—the trust in the relevance and authenticity of interpersonal communication. Our framework helps explain key findings of attachment research, including the so-called 'intergenerational transmission of attachment,' as well as the association between attachment differences and a broad range of developmental outcomes seemingly unrelated to threats and safety, but to communication and learning. In Part I, we examine how infants adjust their epistemic trust in response to caregiver communication, shaping attachment patterns and later development. In Part II (forthcoming), we extend this model to a view of AAI classifications as differences in fostering epistemic trust, while in Part III (forthcoming), we apply our perspective to explain AAI subclassifications, the unresolved AAI classification, mentalizing, and more further celebrating Main’s legacy in attachment theory and research.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | A socio-epistemic theory of attachment: Part I. Secure attachment as epistemic trust and its place in development |
| Publisher version: | https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/hpsi20 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10210439 |
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