Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Brett Kahr has referred to the death of Mary Main as the loss of "the queen of attachment research." However, how well is Main's work actually known? In this portrait and tribute, I argue that Main's transformative contributions have become a taken-for-granted part of the basic environment of attachment research, but that readers have faced obstacles in understanding and responding to their strengths and limitations. Drawing from interviews with Main, in this paper I describe some of her early life experiences and mental and physical health challenges, which she felt had influenced what was possible for her in her research. I then highlight less well-known aspects of her ideas regarding the role of attention within attachment strategies, the nature of disorganised attachment, the implications of alarming caregiving behaviours, and what is ultimately measured by the Adult Attachment Interview. My goal throughout is to help reader see both how much Main's rich and exciting works still have to teach, and identify their many loose threads still to follow.
Source: Attachment & Human Development
Author: Robbie Duschinsky
Institution: University of Cambridge
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Wellcome Trust
OpenAlex ID: W4402585050