Attachment Patterns In Romantic Relationships

1069 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analyse the significance of attachment on children’s development

Study has identified the attachment patterns as secure, anxious/preoccupied and avoidant in children. These attachment patterns can have a positive or negative impact on the quality of their future romantic relationships.
Romantic relationship quality is one of the most important relationships in adulthood.

When individuals fall in love their attachment style is already in place and operating. An understanding of adult attachment is important to begin to understand the effects of attachment patterns on relationships. It contributes significantly to a personal well-being. Based on children’s behaviors during their mother’s presence, absence, and return patterns; attachment styles may also be transfer to the romantic partner during adult relationships (Feldman, 2011). Both children and adults feel anxious when separated from their attachment figures are nearby. Adult romantic attachment relationships are made clear by proximity-seeking, safe haven and secure base. (Brumbaugh, Fraley, Heffernan, & Vicary, 2012).
Seeking proximity with their romantic partners may be useless and avoidant people may try to keep a distance from others and remain independent. Romantic partners are overly sensitive to proximity of their partners and signs as a possible threat. Individuals work extremely hard to maintain closeness with their romantic partner and have exaggerated negative emotions when they fail to do so. Adult attachment patterns are the foundation of individuals understanding and expectations about relationships and directs their social interactions.
Anxiety and avoidance attachments are two of the most common factors in romantic relationships. Anxious attachments is describe by the desire to be close with others a...

... middle of paper ...

...m to maintain the relationship. Adolescents with avoidant and anxious attachment patterns have a greater conflict in opposite sex relationships (Miga, Hare, Allen, & Manning, 2010).
Attachment theory is used to predict if single individuals out of a group would date or enter a committed romantic relationship in the future. Anxious individuals showed eagerness to commit and fall in love with a romantic partner. Avoidant attached individuals were shy about commitment and fall in love. Prior involvement in a committed romantic relationships and self-perceived physical attractiveness are part of dating assessment success. As part of the research men show their desire for greater intimacy in order to start a relationship. Women show a greater desire to start a family. Both men and women are most likely to live together or get married (Schindler, Fagundes, & Murdock

Show More
Related

  • Can Attachment Theory Explain All Our Relationships, By Bethany Saltman

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Attachment theory could be considered one of the most important aspects of how we develop starting out as an infant. In the article “Can Attachment Theory Explain All Our Relationships” By: Bethany Saltman, she explains to us her personal experience and struggles raising her daughter, and her experience as a child and her own attachment. There are three types of attachment types, secure, avoidant, and resistant and the trouble with today is that only 60% of people are considered “secure”. There also subgroups that are called disorganization. Attachment will often pass generation to generation, so it is likely that if someone has an insecure attachment because of the way they were raised they will struggle to create a secure attachment for their own children. Although it can be reversed and changed with the

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Adult Attachment Interview

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout a person’s lifetime- infancy, childhood, and adolescence- a variety of positive and negative influences occur that may elicit change in the development of attachment. Evolutionary and psychological levels are introduced as an argument somewhat similar to the nature or nurture dilemma. In the evolutionary bias, Bowlby (1973) describes humans as being born with an “innate bias,” in the way they become attached. The second level, the psychological level, attachments are described as being more environmentally labile during their life

    Read More

  • Attachment Theory: Systematic Analysis Of The Family Of Origin

    1912 Words  | 4 Pages

    The first topic that came up in the interview relates to idea of attachment theory. Attachment theory explains the human’s way of relating to a caregiver and receives an attachment figures relating to the parent, and children. In addition, the concept explains the confidence and ability for a child to free explore their environment with a place to seek support, protection, and comfort in times of distress (Levy, Ellison, Scott, and Bernecker, 2010, p. 193). Within attachment theory explains different types of attachment styles that children experience during early childhood. These attachment styles affect the relationships they continue to build in adulthood. The best attachment style happens when the parent is attuned to the child during his or her early childhood called secure attachment (Reyes, 2010, p. 174). In order for complete secure attachment, the child needs to feel safe, seen, and soothed. Any relationship that deviates from this model represents the anxious or insecure attachment. This means that parents or caregivers are inconsistently responsive to the children. Children who have these parents are usually confused and insecure. Some children experience a dismissive attachment where they

    Read More

  • Adult Attachment Styles

    589 Words  | 2 Pages

    Admittedly, many psychologists define attachment as an enduring, affectionate bond that one person forms between himself and another person throughout life. Mary Ainsworth provided the most famous research: strange situation, offering explanations of individual differences in attachment. However, in this Adult Attachment Style questionnaire that I took, I found many factors relevant to attachment as defined in the textbook. For example, in the textbook, it defines attachment based on Ainsworth research, the strange situation by observing attachment forms between mother and infants. They are described in four attachment styles: securely attached, insecure avoidant, insecure resistant, and insecure disorganized.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Core Concepts In Narrative Therapy And Emotionly Focused Therapy

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    Acknowledging, the importance of attachment has been in helpful development of couples therapy, in particular to Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), “where it helps explain how even healthy adults need to depend on each other,” (Nichols, 2013, p. 62). EFT is an empirically validated experiential therapy model that works with emotion to create change. EFT therapists use “attachment theory to deconstruct the familiar dynamic in which one partner criticizes and complains while the other gets defensive and withdraws,” (Nichols, 2013, p.63). Research has demonstrated the importance of attachment in individuals. It is not solely a childhood trait attachment is a trait that individuals carry for the rest of their lives. Nonetheless, it is important to work on the attachments with families and couples in order to alleviate some of the negative interactions that arise from feeling a fear of losing the attachment with

    Read More

  • The Rejection-abuse Cycle

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first stage of the cycle is the man experiences rejection by his current partner. The past experience of rejection by the man's previous attachment relationships will be able to detonate by contact with his current partner's behaviour of rejection. Brown et al. (2010) pointed out that previous experiences of rejection weaken a man's ability to cope with present rejection. Such experiences include excessive rejection, punishment, neglect and abandonment. According to Bowlby's attachment research (as cited in Bretherton, 1992, p. 769), repeated threats of rejection may lead to excessive separation anxiety. Thus, an anxiously attached man tends to be the one being rejected or abandoned several times by parents or previous partner in his past life experience. Substantial research has been carried out which indicated a link between attachment style and man's abusive behaviour (Brown et al., 2010). Other than that, a man received excessive punishment during their childhood is more likely a troublesome individual (Fergusson & Lynskey, 1997). Therefore, when a m...

    Read More

  • Attachment Theory

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cassidy, J., & Shaver, P.R. (1999). Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Read More

  • When Harry Met Sally: Relationship Analysis

    1933 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Attachment for the Children's Development

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Psychologist, Mary Ainsworth expanded upon Bowlby's original work. She conducted a study labelled the ‘Strange Situation’. In the study, based upon the children’s reactions, Ainsworth described three major styles of attachment: secure attachment, ambivalent-insecure attachment, and avoidant-insecure attachment. Work by Stroufe and Waters in 1977, further supported Ainsworth's attachment styles and have indicated that attachment styles also have an impact on behaviours later in life (Birns, 1999, p. 13). Researchers have found strengths in attachment patterns established early in life can lead to a number of outcomes. For example, children who are securely attached as infants tend to develop stronger self-esteem and better self-reliance as they grow older. These children also tend to be more independent, perform better in school, have successful social relationships, and experience less depression and anxiety (Birns, 1999, p. 13).

    Read More

  • High Attachment-Related Anxiety

    503 Words  | 2 Pages

    Attachment style is the way in which one related to others in the context of intimate relationships. According to the attachment theory, people can differ form one another in terms of attachment-related avoidance and attachment-related anxiety. People who have high attachment-related anxiety tend to have trust issues within their intimate relationships. People who have high attachment-related avoidance tend to keep to themselves and are less likely to open up in their intimate relationships. Both of these aspects of attachment relationships can be measured on a scale from 1 to 7, with 7 being the higher end of each scale. When these measures are placed on a graph, four different attachment styles can be determined in individuals. For instance, those with both low avoidance and low anxiety are considered to be secure in their attachment style. Those with low avoidance and high anxiety fall into the preoccupied style. Those with the complete

    Read More

  • Essay On Attachment Theory

    1794 Words  | 4 Pages

    In addition to romantic partners, other age peers such as friends and family have the potential to become dominant attachment figures for adults. Throughout adolescence and early adulthood, friends and romantic partners gradually replace parents as the preferred source of emotional support and proximity seeking (Freeman & Brown, 2001; Hazan & Zeifman, 1994). Shifts in attachment tend to be a function of the relationship length, and only longer lasting friendships are likely to create close attachment bonds (Fraley & Davis, 1997). Enduring close friendships have the potential to

    Read More

  • Origins and Solutions to Jealousy

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sharpsteen Don J. and Lee Kirkpatrick. "Romantic Jealousy and Adult Romantic Attachment" Journal of Personality And Social Psychology Vol. 72 (3) March 1997: 627-640. American Psychological Association

    Read More

  • Attachment Patterns Essay

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    This pattern is also referred to as ambivalent attachment pattern. This pattern of attachment can be observed by the use of two parameters. One of the parameters is the child exploring ability and will. In this attachment pattern, the child does not explore much even when the caregiver is around the child. The other parameter is the behaviour of the child towards strangers. The child extremely gets worried in the presence of strangers and becomes highly distressed compared to a child with secure attachment. Resistant attachment in a child develops because of lack predictable response by the caregiver and is always seen as a strategic pattern for a child to maintain the availability of the caregiver through the display of helplessness and anger by a child. When a child displays anxious attachment patterns, it is an indication that the child has experienced an abusive childhood experience from the caregiver. Research has indicated that children who have anxious-resistance attachment always find it difficult to develop and maintain intimate relationships in their adult lives (Newton,

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Erikson And Piaget's Theory Of Cognitive Development

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the first few stages of both theories, we see challenges in the development of the child and we also see challenges that a child might face during some, if not all forms of attachment theory. For example, a parent ignoring the child and speaking to them in a negative manner during insecure-avoidant attachment can be challenging for a child and lead to insecurities and the feeling of not being loved and/or wanted. Additionally, the theme of independence is seen throughout both theories and can also be related specifically to insecure-avoidant attachment where the child does not focus his or her attention on the parents but instead looks to the outside world for assistance. Both theories, as well as attachment theory, has an impact on childhood

    Read More

  • The Feelings Of Falling In Love

    1387 Words  | 3 Pages

    Romantic love requires attraction, plus attachment. Someone can be very strongly attracted to another person, but never become attached. Without some feeling of attachment, attraction is nonspecific. Once you have begun to fall in love with someone, this process becomes more and more important and you begin to feel more attached to this person. When in this state of attachment, each person feels as if they are one person combined together.

    Read More

More about Attachment Patterns In Romantic Relationships

Open Document