Humans display different ways of attaching to one another, shaped largely by how our caregivers responded to us in early childhood. Some of us may shy away from closeness and prefer emotional distance, while others feel anxious in relationships, seeking reassurance and fearing abandonment. Understanding these underlying attachment styles can help us navigate emotions and relationships — and, as it turns out, might even help us better understand ourselves through the eyes of our primate relatives.
A recent study led by the Ape Social Mind Lab at France's University of Lyon offers insight into mother-offspring attachment types in wild chimpanzees. Their findings suggest that some patterns we assumed were uniquely human may be more deeply rooted in our evolutionary history — while others may be distinctly modern.
The Different Attachment Styles
Attachment theory, grounded in the work of 20th-century researchers John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth (among others), proposes that children develop mental templates, or “attachment styles,” based on how consistently and sensitively their caregivers respond to their emotional needs. The styles include:
Secure attachment arises when caregivers are reliably supportive. The child feels safe, explores confidently, and trusts others.
Anxious attachment emerges when caregiving is inconsistent. The child may become clingy, fearing abandonment and needing constant reassurance.
Avoidant attachment develops when caregivers are emotionally distant or rejecting. These children tend to suppress their emotional needs and rely only on themselves.
Disorganized attachment, often linked to trauma or fear-inducing caregiving, combines both approach and avoidance behaviors — wanting comfort, but also fearing it.
In psychological research, secure, anxious, and avoidant styles are considered “organized” because they reflect clear, if not always ideal, strategies for seeking support. Disorganized attachment, by contrast, is erratic and conflicted, and often associated with later emotional struggles.
Read More: What Your Attachment Style Says About Your Relationship
Wild Chimpanzees and Humans
Researchers observed 50 wild chimpanzees in Côte d’Ivoire (or Ivory Coast, West Africa) over nearly 4,000 hours and found that their young showed only organized attachment styles — either secure or insecure-avoidant. Some infants stayed close to their mothers during threats, showing secure-like behavior. Others remained more independent, resembling avoidant styles. But perhaps what is most striking is what researchers didn't find.
“In the wild, we found no evidence of disorganized attachment patterns, which supports the hypothesis that this type of attachment may not be an adaptive survival strategy in the face of environmental constraints,” said lead author Eléonore Rolland in a news release.
This differs sharply from humans, where studies suggest around 23.5 percent of children display disorganized attachment. Among captive, peer-raised chimpanzees, that number jumps to 61 percent, a clue that caregiving environment plays a massive role in shaping attachment.
“By identifying attachment patterns in wild chimpanzees, we provide important insights into the roots of human social behavior,” added senior author Roman Wittig in the statement.
Rethinking Parenting Through a Primate Lens
So, what does this mean for us?
If disorganized attachment is nearly nonexistent among wild chimps — but relatively common in modern human societies — it raises important questions about how contemporary caregiving practices align with our evolutionary needs.
“Our results deepen our understanding of chimpanzees’ social development and show that humans and chimpanzees are not so different after all,” said Rolland in the release. “But they also make us think: have some modern human institutions or caregiving practices moved away from what is best for infant development?”
As senior author Catherine Crockford notes, “The high prevalence of disorganized attachment in humans and captive orphan chimpanzees, in contrast to wild chimpanzees, also supports the idea that the rearing environment plays an important role in shaping attachment types.”
These findings not only deepen our understanding of our primate cousins but also invite us to reflect on how early relationships shape emotional health — for chimps and for us.
Read More: Chimps Use Both Genetics and Behavior to Adapt to Different Environments
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
Journal of Pediatric Health Care: A REVIEW OF ATTACHMENT THEORY IN THE CONTEXT OF ADOLESCENT PARENTING
Nature Human Behaviour: Evidence of organized but not disorganized attachment in wild Western chimpanzee offspring (Pan troglodytes verus)
Having worked as a biomedical research assistant in labs across three countries, Jenny excels at translating complex scientific concepts – ranging from medical breakthroughs and pharmacological discoveries to the latest in nutrition – into engaging, accessible content. Her interests extend to topics such as human evolution, psychology, and quirky animal stories. When she’s not immersed in a popular science book, you’ll find her catching waves or cruising around Vancouver Island on her longboard.
