Basic Processes Of A Relationship : Attachment And Divorce

The attachment style that an individual exhibits as an infant can affect their adult romantic relationships. An attachment pattern is established in early childhood attachments and continues to function as a working model for relationships in adulthood. This model of attachment influences how each of us reacts to our needs and how we go about getting them met. The ability to recognize one 's attachment can help someone to understand their strengths and vulnerabilities in a relationship.

The key research question in this study is what are the long term effects of parental divorce on a child’s relationship between their parents and their siblings? They took into consideration variables such as age of divorce, gender, and living arrangements so they can see what influence they may have on the present study results and compare it with previous studies. They gave 3 different surveys to 102 students with married parents and 107 students with divorced parents to be able to observe the differences in relationships between the two types of families. Some of the key findings of this study are that females actually have better adult relationships with their siblings and that divorce caused the children to have better relationships with their mother, and worse relationships with their father. They noted that the age when their parents got divorced was not a variable that affected whether or not they had a good relationship with their siblings. For the relationship between their mothers, it was better unless there was a variable of pre-divorce or post-divorce conflict between them. For their fathers, it showed that daughters had worse relationships with their fathers compared to sons. Living arrangements showed effects for both of the parents depending on which parent they lived with. When it comes to remarriage, it had a positive affect on mother-child relationship when the father got remarried and no affect when the mother was remarried.

Individual attachment style and its effects on adult romantic relationships were examined. The hypothesis of this literature review was that insecure attachment style would negatively affect the overall dynamic of adult romantic relationships while secure attachment would promote positive and healthy romantic relationships. Empirical studies looking at attachment style and relationship issues such as one’s views of self and others, communication, sexual intimacy, childhood family dynamic and God were evaluated. Reviews of studies were in line with the hypothesis indicating that insecure attachment does negatively affect the overall dynamic of romantic

A qualitative study showing how childhood experiences of attachment and separation can affect relationships in adulthood.

Hazan and Shaver (1987) aimed to investigate whether they could classify the responders’ love relationships as secure, ambivalent, and avoidant, whether there was a correlation between the formed attachment pattern from childhood and attachment pattern during the love relationships, and whether there was a correlation between the distribution of childhood attachment patterns and adult love relationships’ attachment patterns.

Regarding divorce and its affects on attachment theory, Rogers (2004) reviewed how divorce often leads to the separation from an attachment figure and the affects this has on a young child. The interruption in development of the parent-child relationship seems to be most harmful to children under the age of six post-divorce. The separation can cause a disruption in the development of an attachment figure (Emery, 1999). Risk and protective factors that are commonly associated with post divorce adjustment in young children were also looked at. The experience of parental divorce may possibly affect the way an adult recalls early relationships and with parents. This appears to have an adverse impact on participants' recollection of early bonds but not on current adult attachment orientations (Lopez, Melendez, 2000).

The Experiences in Close Relationships-Relationships Structure Questionnaire (ECR-RS) was used to measure attachment in a variety of relationship type including parental, romantic partners, and nonromantic best friends. The ECR-RS was also used to assess general attachment styles. Participants were recruited online, and two samples were collects for both exploratory and conformity

The storyline centers on the life of the matriarch of the family, Diana. After the traumatizing and unexpected loss of her son Gabe, Diana loses herself. She struggles to accept that her son has passed and it has begun to consume her life. Diana eventually develops Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (which progresses into Bipolar disorder). Stemming from this illness, Diana is unable to normally participate in everyday life and spirals out of control. She has vivid hallucinations about her son and cannot cope. Eventually, after dozens of trial medicines, electro shock therapy seems to be her only hope of a “normal” life. This musical daringly tries to portray the roller-coaster ride she is experiencing.

Early childhood secure attachment could affect adult relationship in many positive ways. Many research suggested that individuals who experienced security during childhood, had exemplar parents who took attachment as an important part of their relationship during their child’s development is very likely to determine the onset of relationship during adulthood with more satisfaction and partner matching. (Brennan & Shaver, 1995). Secure attachment is known for promoting confidence and self-security within the person been raised in the environment that prepares them for later life relationship with other adults. The emerging adult would have matured and learned to understand the dynamic of what a relationship should be and is assumed that he or she has the capability to tolerate the challenges that such relationship will encounter. Some studies show that those adults who encountered secure attachment during their childhood can display appropriate relationship and friendship engagement because they have developed the ability to regulate their feeling and emotions which helps them tolerate frustrations or disappointment that may arise from the relationship. (Boyd,

Attachment theory suggests that infant attachment classifications may lead to similar adult attachment styles in romantic relationships. Discuss the attachment theory thoroughly. Describe these people’s adult romantic attachment style based on their parent-infant classification: Must discuss all three scenarios

This source discusses how Hazan and Shaver apply Bowlby’s theory of attachment in infants to determine the attachment in adult relationships. They also discuss how proximity decreases within a relationship. In addition, the article touches on reciprocity and how this concept is applied to determine if a relationship will be successful or not.

In other words, this supported Bowlby’s theory that adaptation to adult bonding was rooted from childhood attachments, hence affecting individuals’ engagement in later relationships (Partis, 2000). A notable strength of this study was that the method consisted of longitudinal dataset following individuals from birth to adulthood. As it was a direct measure of age-related changes, the results were not confounded by cohort differences, giving more concise result patterns. Nevertheless, one of the weaknesses was that the study was limited by the modest number of individuals in the sample (Roisman et al, 2005). Also, results may be biased as participants were drawn from low-risk samples, where they were quite stable in their romantic relationships at the time of the assessments. If a higher risk of cohort was to be examined, such as low-income families with low social supports, changes in attachment security might be more likely to be observed.

It will be part of an extra credit opportunity for the Introductory Psychology course. Students are the best population for this research because they are diverse in ages, marital status, and cultural backgrounds. Forty-eight percent of participants will be single and forty-nine percent in a committed relationship. The sample from the clinic will be obtained from clients of a faculty member from the university, who have their own private practice. There will be a group meeting with clients, they will be informed about the purpose and goal of the research, and they will voluntarily accept or decline participation in the survey. The couples from the Marriage and Family therapy clinic are a good target population because they will give information about their experiences in their marriages, either successful or unsuccessful outcomes, and how those conflicts are reflected on their past attachments with their parents or caregivers. We will then compare and contrast these results between the college students and clients and see their experiences and beliefs up close. We Hypothesized that negative attachment styles affect relationships. Also, those who are clients at the marriage and family therapy will score less on avoidant attachment.

There are many different thoughts about dating, love and marriage. I had the pleasure of interviewing six co-workers from different lifestyle regarding their views on these matters. I will compare their thoughts with the theories of love and attachment. The social science theories that help us understand the components and processes of love include attachment theory, Reiss’s wheel theory of love, Sternberg’s triangular theory of love, Lee’s research on the styles of loving, and exchange theories.

Life is full of all different kinds of relationships, whether it is with co-workers, peers or a significant other. Building and maintaining these relationships is critical in living a fulfilling, happy life. While there are many different kinds of relationships and they are all important, romantic relationships are especially unique. Along with being unique, they can be difficult and take work and dedication by both partners. The difficulties faced in these relationships can be attributed partially to the differences between men and women. Theses differences range from mate selection to attachment styles to the way in which problems are dealt with.