Journal_6_2.docx Journal 6-2: Reflection on Temperament and Attachment Southern New Ha

Journal_6_2.docx    Journal 6-2: Reflection on Temperament and Attachment  Southern New Hampshire University    Reflection on Temperament and Attachment  Temperament and Attachment  Temperament is a person™s characteristics of responding emotionally and behaviorally to environmental events.  Mary Rothbart and John Bates (1998) defined the six different types of temperaments or dimensions that describe infant temperaments (Shaffer &n Kipp, 2014).  Those six temperaments are: fearful distress, irritable distress, positive affect, activity level, attention span/persistence, & rhythmicity.  Of these six dimensions, there are two types of negative emotionality, one positive affect, and the first five of these can also describe children in preschool and older (Shaffer &Kipp).  These dimensions do not appear all at once as some may not show until a few months or years old.  Temperament can be influenced by genetics, environment, and one™s culture.    Attachment is a deep bond between two people.  The two individuals usually have an extraordinarily strong emotional bond and feel secure when they are in each other™s presence.  John Bowlby (1969) defined emotional attachment as the strong affectional ties that we feel with the special people in our lives (Shaffer &Kipp, 2014).  When a secure attachment is in place, then people take pleasure in their interactions and are comforted in the presence of the special person during times of stress or uncertainty.  Bowlby also said that there is a reciprocal