Based on the position that cultural ideologies shape child development, many developmental analyses have focused on analyzing cultural conceptions of independence and interdependence. Less attention has been paid to charting the developmental sequences of children's independent and interdependent behavior that are ostensibly shaped by cultural…

The social networks that rhesus monkeys develop in nature are centered around multiple generations of matrilineal kin embedded in larger social groupings that have some degree of distinctiveness and permanence. Within each family, infants initially grow up in the care of their mothers and the close presence of relatives, and they subsequently…

This paper is organized to highlight gaps in our current understanding of attachment during the middle and later years of childhood and to allow researchers to make informed decisions regarding measurement selection. First, theoretical and methodological considerations with respect to the study of attachment during this age range are discussed.…

The classical attachment theory holds to the notion of a monotropic model. Such a model leads to a view of the mother as first and most important figure in an infant's life. A polytropic view of attachment moves us toward a model of simultaneous and multiple attachment figures. In particular, it is argued that peer attachment is a separate but…

This article addresses how close relationships can be conceptualized so that they can be accurately understood over the life span. First, two typical clusters of theories of close relationships, the attachment theory and the social network theory, are compared and discussed with regard to their fundamental but controversial assumptions regarding…

The aim of this article is to propose a theorization of the father-child relationship based on our current understanding of attachment, interactions between fathers and their young children, and human-specific adaptations. The comparison of mother-child and father-child interactions suggests that fathers play a particularly important role in the…