Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Human Imprinting?Is Imprinting Real for Humans?Types of ImprintingWhat Are Some Examples of Imprinting?Effects of Imprinting
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is Human Imprinting?
Is Imprinting Real for Humans?
Types of Imprinting
What Are Some Examples of Imprinting?
Effects of Imprinting
Close
Imprinting refers to a well-researched phenomenon within animals where they form an extremely close and dependent bond with the first animal they see after being born. For example, when ducklings hatch, they tend to imprint on their parent and follow them everywhere.
The core purpose of imprinting is survival, which makes sense considering that young animals are dependent upon their parents for food and protection. Let us not forget that humans are animals too, and we can also experience imprinting. Imprinting in humans isn’t as simple as us forming an inseparable bond with the first human we see when we are born.
Instead, human imprinting involves how we formsocio-emotional bondswith others in ways that impact us throughout our lifespan. This article will explain what human imprinting is, provide examples to help you understand the concept better, and explore the effects of imprinting.
Konrad Lorenz was an ethologist who focused on animal behavior and was able to show that the concept of imprinting was real. One of his most famousexperimentsthat proved the power of imprinting was hatching ducklings andwatchingas they imprinted on the first thing they saw.
It is important to note that he learned ducklings didn’t only imprint on a parent. Instead the imprinting was focused on the first object they saw—which in some cases was an inanimate object. While imprinting was first studied in relation to non-human animals, the concepts and various forms of imprinting can apply to humans as well.
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Considering that much of the research presented thus far has focused on animals, it is fair to wonder if imprinting is real for humans. It is and has been documented within psychology. In fact,attachment theorybuilds upon Lorenz’s findings on imprinting.
Attachment theory refers to humans’ need to form astrong attachmentwith their caregiver for the sake of safety and nourishment—which isn’t significantly different from animal imprinting.
However, attachment theory accounts for the reality of human behavior and finds that the relationships we have with our caregivers can influence the relationships we have with others throughout our lifetime.
There are three different forms of imprinting—filial, sexual, and limbic. Each of these types of imprinting occurs in both animals and humans, and all seek to meet the core need of survival.
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There are various examples of imprinting—from the aforementioned duckling example to animals who don’t immediately recognize their species yet still imprint. Lorenz and renowned biologist Niko Tinbergen noticed the latter when witnessing greylag goslings and jackdaws fail to recognize members of their own species, but did show an imprinting response to the first moving animal they saw.
Remember—in imprinting, we are seeking safety for the purpose of survival. While it may seem contradictory to choose partners that mimic anunsafe caregiver, it is actually a matter of maladaptive coping. Though your caregiver was unsafe, they were still your caregiver and an instinctual response is to find someone who feels familiar to this caregiver.
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Sexual imprinting can have some of the largest impacts on our lives because it directly correlates to attraction and why we like who we like. Sometimes, like in the aforementioned example of finding yourself in relationships with those who have drinking problems because that is what you witnessed growing up, you realize that your sexual imprinting is not serving your best interests.
It is important to note that we can develop awareness around our sexual imprinting and develop healthier patterns.
Anyone who has put in the work towards secure attachment would likely not move towards an unstable attachment situation.—SHAWN HOWARD, LMFT
Anyone who has put in the work towards secure attachment would likely not move towards an unstable attachment situation.
—SHAWN HOWARD, LMFT
Howard says that throughattachmentrepair, folks will often find themselves lacking attraction to potentially unsafe partners.
For those who are struggling with developing healthy relationships with safe partners and suspect it might be due to early experiences you’ve had with caregivers, therapy with a provider who specializes in anattachment-based modalitycan be deeply helpful.
Imprinting revolutionized the way we understand human development. From Lorenz performing the first successful experiment that proved the concept of imprinting to now, there have been advances in how we understand various animal species,human development, and how we can heal adverse impacts from our early experiences with our caregivers to develop healthy, safe, and secure attachments.
5 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
McCabe BJ.Visual imprinting in birds: behavior, models, and neural mechanisms.Front Physiol. 2019;10. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00658
Hou B, Wang Y. Westermarck effect and imprinting. In: Shackelford TK, Weekes-Shackelford VA, eds.Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.Springer International Publishing; 2021:8496-8498. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_3618
Sokolowski K, Corbin JG.Wired for behaviors: from development to function of innate limbic system circuitry.Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience. 2012;5. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2012.00055
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