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Human bonding is the process of development of a close interpersonal relationship between two or more people. It most commonly takes place between family members or friends, Webster's New World College Dictionary 1971. but can also develop among groups, such as sporting teams and whenever people spend time together. Bonding is a mutual, interactive process, and is different from simple liking. It is the process of nurturing social connection.
Bonding typically refers to the process of attachment that develops between romantic or platonic partners, close friends, or parents and children. This bond is characterised by emotions such as affection and trust. Any two people who spend time together may form a bond. Male bonding refers to the establishment of relationships between men through shared activities. The term female bonding refers to the formation of close personal relationships between women. Cross-sex friendships refers to personal relationships between men and women. The Free Dictionary
Eryximachus reasons that when various opposing elements such as wet and dry are "animated by the proper species of Love, they are in harmony with one another... But when the sort of Love that is crude and impulsive controls the seasons, he brings death and destruction" (188a). Because it is love that guides the relations between these sets of opposites throughout existence, in every case it is the higher form of love that brings harmony and cleaves toward the good, whereas the impulsive vulgar love creates disharmony.
Plato concludes that the highest form of love is the greatest. When love "is directed, in temperance and justice, towards the good, whether in heaven or on earth: happiness and good fortune, the bonds of human society, concord with the gods above—all these are among his gifts" (188d).
In the 1660s, the Dutch philosopher Spinoza wrote, in his Ethics of Human Bondage or the Strength of the Emotions, that the term bondage relates to the human infirmity in moderating and checking the emotions. That is, according to Spinoza, "when a man is prey to his emotions, he is not his own master, but lies at the mercy of fortune."
In 1809 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in his classic novella Elective Affinities, wrote of the "marriage tie," and by analogy shows how strong marriage unions are similar in character to that by which the particles of quicksilver find a unity together through the process of chemical affinity. Humans in passionate relationships, according to Goethe, are analogous to reactive substances in a chemical equation.
The constitution of these bonds may vary over the course of the relationship, in ways that may either increase or decrease the intensity of the limerence. A characteristic of this delineation made by Tennov, is that based on her research and interviews with over 500 people, all human bonded relationships can be divided into three varieties being defined by the amount of limerence or non-limerence each partner contributes to the relationship.
Breastfeeding has been reported to foster the early post-partum maternal bond, via touch, response, and mutual gazing.Cesk, Cas Lek. (2000). " Development of the Maternal Bond during Pregnancy." 19 Jan; 139(1): 5–8. Extensive claims for the effect of breastfeeding were made in the 1930s by Margaret Ribble, a champion of "infant rights,"Ribble, M. (1939). The significance of infantile sucking for the psychic development of the individual. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 90, 455–463. but were challenged by others.Pinneau, S.R. (1950). A critique on the articles by Margaret Ribble. Child Development, 21(4), 203–228. The claimed effect is not universal, and bottle-feeding mothers are generally appropriately concerned with their babies. It is difficult to determine the extent of causality due to a number of confounding variables, such as the varied reasons families choose different feeding methods. Many believe that early bonding ideally increases response and sensitivity to the child's needs, bolstering the quality of the mother–baby relationship—however, many exceptions can be found of highly successful mother–baby bonds, even though early breastfeeding did not occur, such as with premature infants who may lack the necessary sucking strength to be successfully breastfed.
Research following Bowlby's observations (above) created some concern about whether adoptive parents have missed some crucial period for the child's development. However, research regarding The Mental and Social Life of Babies suggested that the "parent-infant system," rather than a bond between biologically related individuals, is an evolved fit between innate behavior patterns of all human infants and equally evolved responses of human adults to those infant behaviors. Thus nature "ensures some initial flexibility with respect to the particular adults who take on the parental role."
In 2003, a researcher from Northwestern University in Illinois found that progesterone, a hormone more usually associated with pregnancy and maternal bonding, may also control the way men react towards their children. Specifically, they found that a lack of progesterone reduced aggressive behavior in male mice and stimulated them to act in a fatherly way towards their offspring.
During the 1820-1870s, America's Victorian middle class used the human-animal bond to aid in children's socialization. This was an entirely gendered process, as parents and society believed only boys had an innate tendency towards violence and needed to be socialized towards kindness and empathy through companion animals.Greir, Katharine C. (1997). "Childhood Socialization and Companion Animals: United States, 1820–1870". Society and Animals Vol. 9 No.2. Over time pet keeping to socialize children became more gender neutral, but even into the 1980s and 90s there remained a belief that boys especially benefited from pet keeping due to the fact that it was one of only ways they could practice nurturing given the limiting gender norms.Melson, Gail F., and Alan Fogel (1989). "Children's Ideas about Animal Young and their Care: A Reassessment of Gender Differences in the Development of Nurturance". Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals vol.2 no.4, pp. 265–273.
An example of the Human-Animal Bond can be seen during World War I on the Western Front with horses. The use of this animal was widespread as over 24,000 horses and mules were used in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I. The horse connection can be seen as horses were used to pull wagons for their drivers, as individual transport mounts for officers, and patients for veterinarians. When researching the human-animal bond, there is a danger of anthropomorphism and projections of human qualities.
In the 19th century, in Bielefeld, Germany, epileptic patients were given the prescription to spend time each day taking care of cats and dogs. The contact with the animals was found to reduce the occurrence of seizures. As early as the 1920s, people were starting to utilize the human-animal bond not just for healing, but also granting independence through service animals. In 1929, The Seeing Eye Inc. school formed to train guide dogs for the blind in the United States, inspired by dogs being trained to guide World War I veterans in Europe."Our Mission and History". The Seeing Eye: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities. (2015) The Seeing Eye, Inc. Furthermore, the idea is that the human-animal bond can provide health benefits to humans as the animals "appeal to fundamental human needs for companionship, comfort, and security..." In 1980, a team of scientists at the University of Pennsylvania found that human to animal contact was found to reduce the physiological characteristics of stress; specifically, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, anxiety, and tension were all found to correlate inversely with human–pet bonding.
In some cases, despite its benefits, the human-animal bond can be used for harmful purposes. The 1990s saw an increase in social and scientific awareness of the use of companion animals as a tool for domestic violence.David S. Wood, Claudia V. Weber, Frank R. Ascione. (1997) "The Abuse of Animals and Domestic Violence: A National Survey of Shelters for Women who are Battered". Society & Animals Vol.5, pp.205–218. A 1997 study found that 80% of shelters reported women staying with them had experienced their abuser threatening or harming companion animals as a form of abuse.
A study in 2003, by the U.S. Department of Defense, based on human-animal bonding determined that there was an improvement and enrichment of life when animals were closely involved with humans. The study tested blood levels and noticed a rise in oxytocin in humans and animals which participated; oxytocin has the ability to lower stress, heart rate, and fear levels in humans and animals.
Historically, animals were domesticated for functional use; for example, dogs for herding and tracking, and cats for killing mice or rats. Today, in Western societies, their function is primarily bonding. For example, current studies show that 60–80% of dogs sleep with their owners at night in the bedroom, either in or on the bed.Article: "The Changing Status of Human–Animal Bonds" . Source: University of Minnesota. Moreover, in the past the majority of cats were kept outside (barn cats) whereas today most cats are kept indoors (housecats) and considered part of the family. Currently, in the US, for example, 1.2 billion animals are kept as pets, primarily for bonding purposes. In addition, as of 1995, there were over 30 research institutions looking into the potential benefits of the human–animal bond.
Oxytocin is associated with higher levels of trust in laboratory studies on humans. It has been called the "cuddle chemical" for its role in facilitating trust and attachment. In the reward centers of the limbic system, the neurotransmitter dopamine may interact with oxytocin and further increase the likelihood of bonding. One team of researchers has argued that oxytocin only plays a secondary role in affiliation, and that endorphin play the central role. According to this model, affiliation is a function of the brain systems underlying reward and memory formation.Depue, R.A., & Morrone-Strupinsky, J.V. (2005). A neurobehavioral model of affiliative bonding: Implications for conceptualizing a human trait of affiliation. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 313–395.
Because the vast majority of this research has been done on animals—and the majority of that on rodents—these findings must be taken with caution when applied to humans. One of the few studies that looked at the influence of hormones on human bonding compared a control group with participants who had recently fallen in love. There were no differences for most of the hormones measured, including LH, estradiol, progesterone, DHEAS, and androstenedione. Testosterone and FSH were lower in men who had recently fallen in love, and there was also a difference in blood cortisol for both sexes, with higher levels in the group that was in love. These differences disappeared after 12–28 months and may reflect the temporary stress and arousal of a new relationship.Marazziti, D., & Canale, D. (2004). Hormonal changes when falling in love. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 29, 931–936.
Prolactin can also influence both maternal and paternal behavior. The administration of prolactin to female rats initiates maternal behavior, and in bird and fish fathers, it can increase paternal behavior, whereas antagonists to prolactin decrease paternal behavior.Gordon, I., Zagoory-Sharon, O., Leckman, J. F., & Feldman, R. (2010). Prolactin, Oxytocin, and the development of paternal behavior across the first six months of fatherhood. Hormones and Behavior, 58, 513–518 In human studies, fathers with higher prolactin concentrations are more alert and nurturing towards their infants. In a different study where fathers and infants were observed over a six-months period after the child was born, the researchers found that fathers with higher prolactin levels were more likely to facilitate play with their infant. Moreover, following the birth of the child, prolactin promotes bonding between the father and the newborn.
Prolactin levels can also increase during socially stressful situations in humans. This has been seen by administering the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), and then measuring blood serum prolactin concentrations. The TSST is a widely accepted stress test in which the research subject undergoes a mock job interview and then a mental arithmetic task in front of a three-person committee. This test is proven to simulate social psychological stress.C. Kirschbaum, K.M. Pirke, D.H. Hellhammer (1993). The 'Trier Social Stress Test'—a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology, 28, 76–81 After the administration of this test, significantly higher prolactin levels can be observed in the serum. There is a large variation in the amount prolactin levels increase in different individuals, however the effect is not significantly different between men and womenAnna-Karin Lennartsson, Ingibjörg H. Jonsdottir (2011). Prolactin in response to acute psychosocial stress in healthy men and women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36, 10, 1530–1539.
Weak social bonds are believed to be responsible for the majority of the embeddedness and structure of in society as well as the transmission of information through these networks. Specifically, more novel information flows to individuals through weak than through strong ties. Because our close friends tend to move in the same circles that we do, the information they receive overlaps considerably with what we already know. Acquaintances, by contrast, know people that we do not, and thus receive more novel information.Granovetter, M.D. (2004). " The Impact of Social Structures on Economic Development ." Journal of Economic Perspectives (Vol 19 Number 1, pp. 33–50). There are some demographic groups, such as Alexithymia, who may find it very difficult to bond or share an emotional connection with others.Bagby, R. Michael, James DA Parker, and Graeme J. Taylor. "The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale—I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure." Journal of Psychosomatic Research 38.1 (1994): 23–32.
When a person to which one has become bonded is lost, a grief response may occur. Grief is the process of accepting the loss and adjusting to the changed situation. Grief may take longer than the initial development of the bond. The grief process varies with culture.
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