Monotropism is the
psychological view that a child becomes exclusively
attached to one
parent or parent-figure (
caregiver,
teacher, etc). The parent most often emotionally attached to is the
mother (hence the term
Mama's boy).
Monotropism is a
theory that many psychologists hold true, among them being
John Bowlby. Bowlby used the theory of monotropism as one aspect in his theory of
attachment.