Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 9, 2025
07:56
Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
10.4K
Object attachment, transitory attachment, and materialism in childhood.
Marsha L Richins1, Lan Nguyen Chaplin2
1Trulaske College of Business, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
Current Opinion in Psychology
|September 14, 2020
Summary
Children
Area of Science:
- Child psychology and developmental science.
Background:
- Early research on object attachment primarily focused on infants and toddlers' attachment to soft objects for security.
- This perspective overlooks the broader phenomenon of object attachment across all ages and motivations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the diverse reasons and motivations behind children's object attachment.
- To introduce and define the concept of transitory object attachments.
- To explore the link between childhood insecurities, transitory object attachments, and materialism.
Main Methods:
- Literature review synthesizing existing research on object attachment in children.
- Conceptual analysis to define transitory object attachments and materialism.
- Discussion of psychological factors influencing attachment behaviors.
Main Results:
- Children of all ages form attachments to a wide variety of objects, driven by diverse motivations.
- Transitory object attachments, characterized by rapid attachment and un-attachment, are identified.
- Materialism in children can be understood as a manifestation of repeated transitory object attachments.
Conclusions:
- Object attachment in children is a complex behavior extending beyond infancy and soft objects.
- Childhood insecurities play a significant role in fostering transitory object attachments and materialism.
- Understanding these dynamics is crucial for addressing materialistic tendencies in children.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:20Attachment
356
Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that...
356
03:34Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
48.5K
Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships.
48.5K
01:28Relationship with Parents: Attachment
140
Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
140
01:24Attachment Styles
131
Jeffrey Simpson's attachment theory suggests that early caregiver relationships shape lasting patterns of behavior and emotional regulation, known as attachment styles. These patterns are organized along two key dimensions: self-esteem and interpersonal trust. The intersection of these dimensions produces four primary attachment styles that typically persist throughout life and significantly influence how individuals form and maintain relationships.Secure Attachment StyleIndividuals with a...
131
01:28Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Styles
246
Attachment theory, developed initially to explain infant–caregiver bonds, has been extended to illuminate patterns of intimacy in adult romantic relationships. Psychologists Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver proposed that the attachment styles observed in infancy form a framework for how individuals approach emotional closeness and conflict in adulthood. These attachment styles—secure, avoidant, and anxious—are linked to enduring patterns of behavior and emotional regulation in...
246
01:16Psychosexual Stages of Personality: Oral
2.3K
The oral stage is the initial phase of Sigmund Freud's theory of psychosexual development, occurring from birth to approximately 12 to 18 months. During this period, the infant's mouth serves as the primary source of pleasure, with actions such as sucking, chewing, biting, and drinking playing a crucial role in reducing tension. These activities are essential not only for nourishment but also for the infant's psychological and emotional satisfaction.
Weaning, typically occurring...
Weaning, typically occurring...
2.3K