Dismissing Attachment

Root is repeated maternal rejection, especially physical. Parents find close contact with their babies
aversive. Rare cuddling and soothing. Also rejecting children’s expressed attachment behaviors, which
left the child in a state of “chronic frustration”.

After repeated rejection of proximity- or contact-seeking, the child responds by deactivating the
attachment system and developing an avoidant pattern.

Mothers of avoidant children were far less emotionally expressive than mothers of children with secure
or other types of insecure attachment. Secure mothers showed careful attunement to a wide range of
the child’s affective displays. Dismissing mothers were remarkably misattuned to the negativeaffective
displays of their children. This misattunement was especially apparent when the child sought comfort or
reassurance or when the child directed negative affects toward the mother.

Avoidantly attached infants experienced friendly attention mostly when they were busy playing by
themselves, and when they showed positive emotions, but they were left alone when they displayed
negative emotions.