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The strengths and limitations of attachment theory
Strengths and weaknesses of attachment theory
Strengths and weaknesses of attachment theory
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“Adult attachment, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction: A study of married couples” This article explained the importance of sexuality in most romantic relationships, and that society implies that marriage is the main relationship in which sex occurs (Sprecher, Christopher, & Cate, 2006). The article then goes on to discuss the research and findings of psychologists that have studied attachment behavior, like Bowlby, and Hazan and Shaver. The three important factors that affect romantic relationships in adulthood are attachment, caregiving, and sexual mating (Shaver, Hazan & Bradshaw, 1988). This article goes on to explain the links between sexual and marital satisfaction. It was also found that the link between sexual and …show more content…
In this study, there is a sample of 116 married couples, ages 21-75, who completed self-report questionnaires about adult attachment, marital, and sexual satisfaction (Butzer & Campbell, 2008). After analysis of the answers, the results show that people with higher levels of anxiety or avoidance claimed that they had lower levels of sexual satisfaction, which supported the hypothesis. These results suggest that attachment is linked in “theoretically predictable ways to marital and sexual satisfaction” (Butzer & Campbell, …show more content…
Similar to previous studies, attachment is measured through use of questionnaires. This study used an adapted version of the “Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised scale” to investigate adult attachment in Korea. In this study, the participants were a large sample of 1,374 college students ranging from the ages of 18 to 47. The results of the CFA showed that the Korean version of the test was heavily influenced by response set factors, which implies that attachment does not have relevance across different cultures and, furthermore, attachment measures “are biased toward Western ways of thinking” (Rothbaum et al., 2000). However, it may be argued that the adult attachment measure itself should be blamed for the lack of the equivalence (Kim et al.,
In this article, IJzendoorn discusses the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985) and how it is related to it and the Strange Situation procedure (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall 1978). IJzendoorn states that the AAI is constant, without bias, and unrelated to IQ with good psychometric aspects. When considering alternative studies focused on the influence of childhood experiences on functioning later in life, the AAI demonstrates faithfulness to be out of the ordinary but also reliable. The main underlying consensus IJzendoorn wants his audience to take away from the first section in his article is the validity of the AAI and to introduce his understanding of how Fox’s (1995) speculations address doubts about the AAI’s reliability and validity.
Criticisms of attachment theory have come mainly from the feminist schools of thought since the theory has been used to argue that no woman with a young child should work outside the home or spend time away from her baby (Goodsell and Meldrum, 2010). Children’s experience and development also depend on what happens after early years, whether bad or good later in life may change a child’s emotional development, e.g. lack of basic needs, diet, education, stimulation such as play might affect a child’s development (Rutter, 1981) Difference in cultures have to be taken into consideration as well. A study by Schaffer and Emmerson (1964) provided contradictory evidence from Bowlby’s attachment theory. They noted attachment was more prominent at eight months, and afterwards children became attached to more than one person. By one year six months only 13%of infants had one attachment. This study by Schafer and Emmerson (1964) concluded care giver can be male or female and mothering can be a shared responsibility. Social workers should therefore understand that parents are not totally responsible for the way the children develop. They did give them their genes and therefore do have some influence. Attachment theory also fails to consider the fact that the father and siblings, and other close relatives can also
1. What is the difference between a. and a. Caron, A., Lafontaine, M., Bureau, J., Levesque, C., & Johnson, S. M. (2012). Comparisons of close relationships: An evaluation of relationship quality and patterns of attachment to parents, friends, and romantic partners in young adults. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 44(4), 245-256. doi:10.1037/a002801 Overview: Study of the two attachment theories; personality-trait and context-specific variables to assist which attachment model holds more weight in three types of interpersonal relationships regarding participants and their parents along with friendships and romantic relationships among two individuals.
In understanding others, one must first understand our own family background and how it affects our understanding of the world. Conversely, family systems draw on the view of the family as an emotional unit. Under system thinking, one evaluates the parts of the systems in relation to the whole meaning behavior becomes informed by and inseparable from the functioning of one’s family of origin. These ideas show that individuals have a hard time separating from the family and the network of relationships. With a deeper comprehension of the family of origin helps with the challenges and awareness of normalized human behaviors. When interviewing and analyzing the family of origin, allow one to look at their own family of origin
Barr, A., Bryan, A., & Kenrick, D. T. (2002). Sexual peak: Socially shared cognitions about desire, frequency, and satisfaction in men and women. Personal Relationships, 9(3), 287-299. doi:10.1111/1475-6811.09305
Another contribution of Main to the attachment literature is a structured interview for adults about the relations with their parents...
...uring the adolescent years, teens create new relationships with their peers which pull them farther away from their parents. Depending on their attachment behavior, they may develop secure, anxious, or avoidant relationships. According to studies on attachment theory “anxious attachment style typically indicates an early first intercourse, more lifetime partners, more infidelity and took fewer sexual precautions. (Feeney, Peterson, Gallois, & Terry, 2000)” Avoidant-type teens did not have as risky behavior as anxious-type teens. It is clear that “anxious adolescents are preoccupied with seeking out closeness with others, it is not surprising that they would seek to please others through engaging in sexual behaviors, particularly those that are risky [for example] early sexual initiation, multiple sexual partners, and inconsistent condom use” (Paulk, & Zayac, 2013).
Sassler, S, F Addo, and D Lichter. "The Tempo of Sexual Activity and Later Relationship Quality." Journal of Marriage & Family 74.4 (2012): 708-725.
Hazan, C., Gur-Yaish, N., & Campa, M. (2003). What does it mean to be attached? In W. S. Rholes & J. A. Simpson (Eds.) Adult Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Implications, (pp. 55 – 85). New York: Guilford.
Willoughby, B. J., & Vitas, J. (2012). Sexual desire discrepancy: The effect of individual differences in desired and actual sexual frequency on dating couples. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41(2), 477-86. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9766-9
The reliable assistance of another is the help one longs for. In the study, “Within-Person Variation in Security of Attachment: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective on Attachment, Need Fulfillment, and Well-Being,” researchers, La Guardia, Ryan, Couchman and Deci, work hard to prove that attachment and reliance on the significant other is detrimental to how well a romantic relationship works. Stated within the article, “research has indicated that satisfaction of the basic ...
We expect the results of this study to agree with our hypothesis. After comparing the scores for all three measures for both men and women, we expect to see a decrease in the desire for sexual variety for men in all three measures and no change in sexual variety for women after close relationships. According to the research presented at the beginning of this proposal, we have found that men and women do differ in their desire for sexual variety, but because they share similarities in their relationship values, men are affected by close relationships.
According to Schoen et al. (2002), marital satisfaction is a global evaluation of the state of one’s marriage and a reflection of marital happiness and functioning. From an evolutionary perspective, it can be viewed as a psychological state of regulated mechanisms that monitor the benefits and costs of marriage to a particular person (Shackelford and Buse, 2000). Once Emest Burgess, a respected sociologist, wrote in 1953 that, •urbanization, greater mobilization, individualization, increased secularization, and the emancipation of women had transformed the family from an institution based on law and custom, to one based on companionship and love" (Furstenberg, 1996:35). This statement illustrates that not only societal changes, that have occurred in the last fifty years provide significant changes within the family and spouse behavior, but it also provides some insight into the adjustments that individuals who are married have had to face within the previously relatively well-defined institution of marriage. This means that these pre – defined institution of marriage have undergone significant changes overtime which places serious demands on marital relationship. Contemporary married couples face many challenges that require renegotiation and reformation of previously defined and taken-for granted marital roles and expectations in order to achieve more intimate, companionable committed and adjusted marriages (Baker, Kiger & Riley, 1996:161). As we know that human relationships and marital relationships are never clear-cut and tend to fluctuate and undergo changes across time and circumstance, it renders the investigation of marital relationship dimensions, and the factors that are potential determiners of it. Marital satisfaction ...
Marital quality, is traditionally defined as an, “individual’s affective response varying in the amount of satisfaction, gratification, or happiness with his or her marriage” (Shriner, 2009, p. 83). Martial satisfaction is often used as a global best measure of marital quality. The Quality of Marriage Index, for example, is a six-item measure of marital quality, which only includes questions that relate to marital satisfaction (Norton, 1983). Fincham and Bradbury (1987), found that the Marital Adjustment Test (Locke and Walace, 1959), which is purposed to assess overall marital quality, has 22% of the possible score on this assessment as marital happiness. The Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976), another measurement that is commonly used to assess marital quality, assesses for satisfaction and other aspects of marriage including dyadic consensus, cohesion, and affection expression. However, these subscales although admirable, all assess for compatibility, which indirectly points back to satisfaction within the relationship. To be more clear, satisfaction and compatibility go hand it hand with the American glamorization of romantic love and the assumptions that if spouse are compatible and satisfied, these are the ingredients to a long happy marriage (Crawford, Houts, Huston, & George, 2002). Crawford et. al (2002) mentioned that, “the consistency of the link found between companionship and satisfaction has been such that the notion that companionship is some how ‘good’ for marriage has acquired the status of a cultural truism” (p.
The most sensitive factor was that of apprehension, but in predictor variables, the self-rated importance of sex to the patient and the perceived importance of sex to the partner were strongly related to the affective factors (Burnett, Lechner, & Rowland, 2012), thus showing the importance of self and partner expectations of sex towards sexual dysfunction. Another similar study investigated if there was a relationship or a correlation between perceived prevalence of sexual dysfunction and definition and prevalence of sexual function and satisfaction (Chang, Gorzalka, & Klein, 2013). Therefore, not only dysfunctional beliefs regarding sexual functioning, but also perceived prevalence of sexual dysfunction and the definition can lead to sexual difficulties for women. However, the study did not show any significant relationship between these factors and the sexual functioning of