The concept of mind-mindedness: The main principles and perspectives

Abstract

The concept of mind-mindedness is an important contribution to understanding mother-child interactions in the light of attachment. It is created to explain the influence of sensitive parenting on the formation of a secure attachment. Although research on this concept has been carried out over the past twenty years, in our psychological literature dedicated to the social-emotional development, it is only mentioned by reference, as one of the factors that influence the development of secure attachment, or as a mechanism by which transgenerational transmission of attachment patterns can be explained. Therefore, because of its significance and actuality, in this paper the concept of mind-mindedness will be presented in more detail. First of all, attention will be paid to the origin and development of the idea itself, then the methods of assessment will be described, and then the results of the research important for shedding light on the theoretical background of this phenomenon will be presented. In addition, we will describe the correlation of mind-mindedness and the other concepts created in an attempt to understand how parents experience their own child.