Attachment theory is one of the most researched psychological theories. It explains how we, as social beings, interact and form relationships with each other – based on how we experienced security in our close emotional relationships, usually in early childhood. Findings from attachment research are standard practice when working with young children. However, they have received little application and attention in terms of their relevance to collaboration between people in organisations. On the afternoon of 17 June, organisational psychologist Bea Schramm invites us to explore these connections together.

Most of the participants in this SOCIUS lab have already dealt with attachment theory in personal contexts and are curious to see how it could be transferred to work contexts and how we, in our various roles as supervisors or project managers, can also sensitise others to the powerful impact of these early relationship experiences on our actions as adults.

Attachment theory, which was established in the late 1940s primarily by British psychiatrist and analyst John Bowlby and has been continuously developed to the present day, assumes that children have an innate need to form close emotional relationships with their caregivers. The Reliability of this relationship, finding protection and comfort in situations of stress, separation and fear, 

Research history and references

John Bowlby is considered the father of attachment research. In the 1940s, he took over the „Children and Parents" department at the Tavistock Clinic in London and laid the theoretical foundations. Above all, Mary Ainsworth, but also James Robertson enriched the theory in the following decades with diverse empirical research on parent-child bonding. Among other things, they also conducted studies in Uganda and drew inspiration from primate research and the research of Konrad Lorenz inspire. Bowlby and Ainsworth developed attachment research into the late 1970s and early 1980s. With the development of adult attachment interviews In the 1980s, attachment styles in adults became diagnosable. Since the 1990s, attachment research has been continuously developed, culminating in the development of attachment therapy. In German-speaking countries, Hanus and Mechthild Papoušek as well as Karl Heinz Brisch at the University of Munich and Karin and Klaus Grossmann leading representatives at the University of Regensburg. Some of them conducted long-term research from birth to the age of 22. Recent research focuses on exploring the transferability of attachment research to the school context or the relationship between humans and animals (e.g. Short Kotrschla).

shape fundamental attachment patterns, which are expressed in different attachment behaviours, but also in biochemical reactions, such as cortisol levels in the body. For the development of a secure attachment, it is necessary for the respective attachment figure to perceive the child's signals, interpret them correctly and respond appropriately to the child's needs.

In children, the following four attachment types are distinguished, each with different behaviour and reaction patterns in stressful situations:

Research shows that Attachment styles largely shaped in the first two years of life . This is where our image is formed, known as inner working models, with what expectations and reaction patterns we enter into interpersonal relationships, searching, so to speak, for confirmation of our learned basic assumptions. Meanwhile, the transgenerational effect Well researched in terms of attachment styles: in 50% of the cases studied, there is a direct correlation between the grandmother's attachment style and the child's own attachment patterns.

At this point, a distinct heaviness becomes noticeable in the virtual laboratory room and the participants ask themselves: Are we really so completely determined in our attachment style and capacity and at the mercy of our own history and that of our most important caregivers? Or is it possible to heal and relearn here? Attachment therapy assumes that the acquired attachment patterns, which are also associated with structural changes in the brain, can be changed through new, reliable attachment experiences, but usually at great effort. Bea offers us a different perspective here: we can also actively and independently rewrite the script of our lives around the one we have been given biographically. Instead of fighting our own patterns, we can ask ourselves the question: „What is my attachment style good for?, When is it helpful and when does it tend to cause difficulties? And how can I best deal with what is? Understanding the causes of attachment difficulties can be a relief for ourselves, but also for others.

It is precisely this insight that then forms the transition to the discussion about observable Commitment behaviour in the work context. We compile typical characteristics of the different attachment types: For example, insecure-avoidant attachment types usually display a high degree of autonomy, are less likely to ask questions when things are unclear. They can sometimes come across as prickly, dismissive or rebellious. The insecure-ambivalent attachment type, on the other hand, often appears anxious and insecure, fordert a lot of attention and communication one, in order to deal with one's own insecurities.

We will now venture a double change of perspective. First, the question: what makes these attachment styles particularly valuable in teams? Autonomous avoiders prove themselves capable of acting in crisis situations, while ambivalent insecure individuals often become important Resonating bodies and seismographs in organisations that respond sensitively to change and danger. And in the next step, we try to slip into different attachment types in small role-plays – how does it feel to look at the world through such glasses? The participants' conclusion: it is not easy to take on a role with a different attachment style, but it definitely led to more empathy, because insecure attachment patterns are, first and foremost, quite exhausting!

The disillusionment of the initial phase had evaporated by the end of the lab. Instead, the focus is now on the various possibilities of a Strength-based approach to different bonding styles in teams; and on the opportunity offered by attachment theory as a guide and backdrop for team development.