Attachment Security Research

Each attachment style is divided along two dimensions – the fear of abandonment and the fear of closeness. Bartholomew and Horowitz define fear of abandonment as the model of self which describes the belief of an individual to be either “worthy of love and support or not” (1991). They also define fear of closeness as the model of other which describes an individual’s

There is considerable evidence that attachment security is associated with many cognitive, emotional, and social benefits, and contributes to positive adjustment by fostering an open, flexible, and optimistic approach to life’s diverse and often unpredictable challenges, coined as ego-resilience (Block & Block, 1980; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2008). This suggests that repeated experiences in secure attachment relationships may allow for organization and optimization of emotion-regulation strategies, which are aimed at alleviating distress and maintaining comfortable,

Kim Bartholomew took Bowlby’s theory a step further and proposed four styles of adult attachment based on working models of self and others (Lyddon & Sherry, 2001). These styles were secure, preoccupied, dismissing and fearful. Secure adults feel self worth and expect other people to be trustworthy. Preoccupied adults feel unworthy but feel better about other people. Dismissing adults feel they are worthy but have a negative view of others. And fearfully attached adults tend to feel unworthy and untrusting of others (Lyddon & Sherry, 2001). All of the styles noted except for secure would also fall under the broader category of insecure.

Fraley (2002) completed a meta analysis of studies concerning attachment in order to investigate the level of attachment pattern’s continuity throughout life. The study indicated that there was a certain stability of the attachment pattern, and that the stability is independent of time. Even though it is theorized that a secure pattern will be likely to stay unchanged, it is still indicated that experiences such as bad relationships will be able to change the attachment pattern (Fraley,

The AAI classifies adult attachment in three main classifications: Secure-Autonomous (F), Insecure Dismissing (Ds), and Insecure-Preoccupied (E) (IJzendoorn & Bakermans, 2010). In this case, Ms. Johnson was classified in the Insecure-Preoccupied (E) attachment category; however, further assessment is needed. Adults in this category often highlight the negative impact of her attachment experiences, but still demonstrate constant preoccupation with her relationships (IJzendoorn & Bakermans, 2010). In addition, adults with high attachment anxiety have fear of rejection, abandonment, and obsessive needs for emotional dependence. For example, Ms. Johnson reported that she experienced several long-term abusive relationships. Individuals scoring high

Over the past 15 years, homelessness has been one of the more noticeable social problems in the United States, but . With tens of thousands of homeless on the streets or in temporary housing situations on any given night and no near-term end in sight, finding ways to best support the homeless becomes paramount to the well-being of the homeless (Zaff, 2010). Although there are some suggestions that American attitudes toward homelessness have hardened over time, there have not been adequate experiments to back up this claim. According to (Daves & Kingree, 1997) older people hold less stigmatizing attitudes when it came to homeless people. When it came to college students however, the findings were quite different. (Ostrow, 1995) states that as for students, self-consciousness dissipates as they become engaged more spontaneously within interaction. In everyday

Bowlby’s attachment theory and the effects of secure and insecure attachment on an individual’s personality, behavior, interpersonal processes and coping, have been extensively supported by research. Persons with secure attachment have been found to be more able to work autonomously as well as with others as they are able to self regulate, and are flexible and constructive in their interpersonal relationships (Simmons, Gooty, Nelson & Little, 2009). The study also found significant positive relationships between secure attachment and hope and trust. Individuals with secure attachments perform better at work as they are more trusting and hopeful and able to work well and effectively with others. Their sense of hope and trust also means they

Attachment behavior has been defined as a series of different affectional bonds, whose activation, manifestation and intensity depend on both individual and contextual fact (Viejoa, 2018). Ainsworth and Bowlby (1965) identified three different styles of attachment: secure attachment (corresponding to a clear and stable style of intimate relationship, and stable social personality); avoidant attachment (related to an unstable style of affective bonding); and labile and unstable attachment (related to an ambivalent social personality). These traits characterize the style of interpersonal relationships when the individual faces new social situations, especially in the field of interpersonal relations of proximity,

Investigators conducted a series of experiments to investigate the relationship between insecure attachment styles, and depression. Several factors are correlated with depression and dependency which states that “thoughts, emotions, and behavioral characteristics related to the need to communicate with and depend on others (Hirschfeld et al., 1977). The role attachment style and depression are investigated and it is hypothesized that insecure attachments strongly correlate with depression rather than securely attached individuals which do not.

Secure adults consider themselves as worthy of the concern, care, and affection of others; perceive significant others as being accessible, reliable, trustworthy, and well intentioned; and tend to have relationships characterised by intimacy and trust. Adults with an avoidant attachment style tend to deny their own emotional needs for attachment and perceive others as untrustworthy, thereby limiting their capacity for developing truly intimate relationships. Adults with anxious–preoccupied attachment styles have negative working models of themselves and positive models of significant others, such that their relationships are characterized by worry about abandonment,

Despite its roots in evolutionary theory, attachment theory has long split itself into two factions: adaptive and maladaptive. For years, insecure attachment has been implicated as one of the root causes for a number of psychological concerns (Dozier, Stovall-McClough, & Albus, 2008). The development of social defense theory, however, provides an entirely new interpretation of attachment – that all attachment dispositions (secure, anxious, and avoidant) have access to different cognitive schemas that provide advantages in dealing with a threatening situation (Ein-Dor, 2015). Further, social defense theory suggests that groups made up of all three dispositions are ultimately more effective than more homogenous groups. This paper seeks to better understand the cognitive accessibility of these cognitive schemas (sentinel, rapid fight-flight, and collaborative) and their associationed with the theorized attachment disposition. If the hypotheses are accurate, these findings will provide empirical support to better generalize and validate the core tenets of social defense theory.

I really enjoyed reading your post. I believe our attachment whether its insecure avoidant, secure, or insecure ambivalent/resistance starts as we are babies and depends on if we got proper nurturing, love, and attention we needed. Infants use the attachment figure as a “secure base from which to explore the environment and a safe haven to retreat to in times of threat.” (Underwood, M. K., & Rosen, L. H. 2011). If we got the proper care we needed as infants, then we would develop the secure attachment. However, if we didn’t get the proper care we needed, then we would develop the insecure attachment. Our attachment can affect us as adults in many different ways. If we fall into the secure attachment, we often show signs of “trust, emotional

Attachment has a huge impact on a person’s life. The number of studies in the area of attachment styles matches its importance on the development of the personality. Researchers suggest that attachment has direct

Attachment quality is found to be associated with individuals’ representations of self and others (Bakermans-Kranenburg & Van Ijzendoorn, 2009; Sroufe, 2005; Van Ijzendoorn, 1995). Main (1991) suggests that these interpersonal representations are displayed through various psychological processes such as memory recalling, internal organization and verbal expression. The individual differences in terms of attachment security will be demonstrated not only in the 'content' of the representations but also in the 'flexibility and readiness for examination' (Main, 1991, p. 128). To be more specific, secure individuals are not only able to give coherent and integrated accounts of their attachment experiences but also more willing to think about or entertain these thoughts. Based on this theoretical formulation, the RFS was developed to measure not only the content of the participants’ narratives but also to assess the plausibility, consistency,

The person being studied was read the three paragraphs in Figure 8.5 on page 336 in “The Person: An Introduction to the Science of Personality Psychology” by Dan P McAdams, to find out that their attachment style is secure. Knowing the participant personally, his secure attachment style was anticipated because he gets along with other people very easily, he is comfortable with confiding in others, particularly his friends and family, and with helping other people. His traits describe him as an openly accepting, trustworthy and supporting individual. He is also in a happy, long term relationship which further proves his secure attachment style. His security in real life relationships can be due to his close relationship with his mother, as he stated, “She was always there to support me in all of my decisions and outcomes in life.” The participant also explained that he had not really been let down by anyone in life or had anyone break his trust before, so he did not feel as though he had reasons to doubt anyone. In comparison to other people, his secure attachment style makes him stand out because of his easy going manner and his extreme friendliness towards others. (McAdams