AFFECTIVE ASPECT IN PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: COMPONENTS - PSYCHOLOGY - 2024

The affective aspect in personal development is one of the most important components of a person's maturation process. It is defined as the set of emotions, feelings and social elements that determine the relationships of a person with herself and with her environment.

The affective aspect of personal development begins in early childhood, being greatly influenced by the child's relationship with his parents. What happens at this time will largely determine the social and emotional aspects of the person in her adult life.

However, the process of affective development continues throughout all stages of an individual's life. The main theoretical framework used to study the affective aspect of human development is attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby in the mid-20th century.

How it influences the person

Initially, Bowlby's attachment theory was used only to study children's relationships with their parents during infancy. However, later numerous studies showed that this relationship profoundly marked the person during her adult life.

Bowlby's theory is based on the concept of "attachment": a deep and lasting bond that connects one person to another across time and space.

This attachment is formed for the first time with the parents (especially with the mother or the main caregiver), and the form it takes will determine the affective development of the person throughout his life.

Importance of attachment

In 1958 Harry Harlow carried out a controversial experiment on the importance of affection and attachment in the development of living beings. Although unethical, this experiment served to better understand how the affective aspect of development affects people's lives.

The experiment consisted of separating several young rhesus monkeys (highly social animals) from their mothers and from their reference groups. These babies had all their basic needs covered, such as water or food, except for social contact.

The aim of the experiment was to study the effects that being raised alone would have on monkeys. To do this, Harlow divided the hatchlings into three groups:

- Monkeys totally isolated from the rest.

- Monkeys that lived in groups of young, without an adult nearby.

- Monkeys raised with a «surrogate mother».

Monkeys totally isolated from the rest

The first experimental group consisted of those monkeys raised without any type of social contact with other members of their species. The length of time they were isolated varied, but generally lasted between 3 months and a year.

After this isolated time, Harlow put these young in contact with other monkeys of his species, to observe their behavior. All the isolated pups exhibited the following unusual behaviors:

- They were frightened by the rest of the monkeys and isolated themselves from them.

- They showed repetitive behaviors, such as swinging on the spot and hugging their own body.

- They were more aggressive than normal, even towards themselves (and could even self-injure).

- They were unable to socialize or communicate with others.

Monkeys that lived in groups of young

The second group of monkeys consisted of young that lived together, without having a nearby adult with whom to form attachment bonds. These macaques clung to each other for physical contact, hugged each other continuously, and generally had a hard time separating.

When they were reintroduced into a normal group of monkeys, these young showed much milder symptoms than those experienced by those who had been completely isolated. Still, they weren't totally normal.

Monkeys raised with a "surrogate mother"

The last group of monkeys also consisted of completely isolated young. However, inside its cage a plush doll with the appearance of an adult monkey was introduced, with a warm and soft coating that mimicked the mother's fur.

The young of this third group clung to the surrogate mother for companionship and affection; and when an external threat was introduced, they ran to hug the doll.

When they were reintroduced into the normal group of monkeys, it was found that these offspring did not suffer as severe effects throughout their lives as those of the first group.

Conclusions on the importance of attachment

Despite the fact that Harlow's experiment may seem cruel to us, it helped us enormously to understand how the lack of attachment affects the affective development of living beings.

Monkeys deprived of physical contact for the first year of their life never led a normal life, while those that did have recovered over time.

In the case of human beings, it is highly unlikely that we will grow up totally deprived of physical contact. However, according to Bowlby's studies, there can be cases in which the attachment bonds that we form are not totally secure.

These cases of insecure attachment have very negative consequences in the lives of individuals, making it difficult for them to have satisfactory adult relationships and even predicting the appearance of mental disorders.

Components of the affective aspect

Bowlby described three main components within the affective aspect of human development. These components have to do with how we experience our important relationships, from the attachment bond with our mother during childhood to adult relationships. The three components are as follows:

Cognitive component

Formed by beliefs, attitudes and thoughts about what other people are like and what can be expected of them. Depending on our early experiences and how we have felt in our life relationships, we will trust others more or less.

Affective component

The affective component has to do with the emotions we experience in the presence of someone important to us. These emotions can be joy (if we have had secure attachment), anxiety (if we form insecure attachment) or rejection (in the case of avoidant attachment).

Behavioral component

Depending on the two previous components, each individual will tend to behave in a different way in the presence of an important person in their life.

Those with a secure attachment will tend to open up to the other person and want to spend time with them, while those with insecure or avoidant attachment will withdraw from the other.

References

1. "Emotional Development" in: Britannica. Retrieved on: March 28, 2018 from Britannica: britannica.com.
2. "Attachment Theory" in: Simply Psychology. Retrieved on: March 28, 2018 from Simply Psychology: simplypsychology.com.
3. "Affectional Bond" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: March 28, 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.
4. "Social-Emotional Development Domain" in: California Department of Education. Retrieved on: March 28, 2018 from California Department of Education: cde.ca.gov.
5. "Attachment theory" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: March 28, 2018 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org.