What is monotropy?

Monotropy is an idea that one of the most famous developmental psychologists, John Bowlby, came with. He believed that infants are born with the innate need to create one main and special bond with their attachment figure. He also argued that in most cases the main attachment figure for infants is the mother. From the idea of monotropy he further developed the maternal deprivation theory, in which he suggested that the disruption of the attachment between an infant and their primary caregiver can lead to serious developmental problems in terms of the infant's social, cognitive and emotional capabilities.