Different Attachment Styles

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.

They are not bothered by small issues. When a person has a secure attachment, they are capable of developing very trusting, and lasting relationships. They usually have good self-esteem also. They are comfortable sharing with their family and friends. Securely attached adults tend to have a good view of themselves, and their relationships with others. They feel comfortable balancing intimacy and independence, without any issues. This style of attachment usually results from a history of warm and responsive interactions with relationship partners. They often talk about experiencing more fulfilling relationships than people with other attachment styles. Being reliable and consistent, people who are secure may seem boring at first to those with other styles because there is little drama in their love lives, but secure people have a stabilizing effect on those with less secure styles and they report the highest level of satisfaction in their relationships.

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

Everyone has an attachment style from which they developed in the first two years of their life. This attachment style tends to stay consistent with each person throughout their lifetime and affects their social-emotional development, and thus relationships with other people. Attachment styles greatly affect the choice one makes in life partners, and how they parent their own children. It is important for everyone to gain insight on their own attachment style if they are to know their emotional limits and how to strengthen their flaws in order to develop a better-self and stronger relationships with other people (Norcross, 2011). It is even more so important for caregivers to be aware of their attachment style and how sensitively available they are to the children in their lives. How the primary caregiver responds to the child’s needs, determines the attachment style the child will acquire. To develop a secure attachment the child needs to establish confidence in a reliable caregiver. In this paper I will be talking about the behaviors and interactions that I observed while watching the film “Babies”, and what attachment styles may be formed as a result of those interactions.

According to research conducted by Milkulincer & Shaver (2003), individuals who have an anxious-ambivalent attachment style have an obsession with acceptance, and maintaining attachments lead them to constantly seek reassurance and constantly strive to attain care and support from their partner. Anxious-ambivalent individuals are acutely sensitive to signs that their partner is not committed and caring, which leads them to display more negative emotions when their partners do not provide them with sufficient support (Girme; Rholes et al.,

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

The three prototypes explored are avoidant, anxious-ambivalent, and secure attachments which describes how partners will behave in close relationships and how caring and supportive each individual is within their relationship. Avoidant attached individuals are withdrawn from relationships and untrustworthy of others. Anxious-Ambivalent individuals worry often about their partner’s needs being fulfilled as well as theirs and analyze if they’re moving too fast in the relationship when compared to their partner. Secured individuals are completely trustworthy of their partner and confident in their feelings and

Attachment theory was originally proposed by Bowlby (1969) as an explanation of interpersonal relationships, with particular focus in his work on the parent-child relationships which are formed in early childhood. He noted that this was an evolutionary need within us as humans to form close attachments to improve our rate of survival (Bowlby, 1969). He later also theorized that these attachment styles would persist throughout life into adulthood (Bowlby, 1988). Further work on attachment theory by Bartholomew & Horowitz (1991) expanded on attachment styles and looked at the continuation of attachment style into adulthood. Using interviews with participants and the participants close friends they found evidence for four types of adult attachment styles: Secure, Preoccupied, Dismissing and Fearful (Bartholomew & Horowitz 1991). Further support for adult attachments styles is from Mikulincer & Shaver (2004) showing that attachments styles persist from childhood into adulthood demonstrating bowlby 's later hypothesis

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,

Attachment-based relationships stem from attachment behaviour, which is conceived as any form of behaviour that results in a person attempting, or retaining proximity to some other differentiated and preferred individual, who is usually perceived as stronger or wiser (Ainsworth, 1985). These relationships have a strong connection with the development, functioning, and well-being across the lifespan, in both parent-child relationships, and adult relationships. This essay sets out to display and prove the positive relationship between secure attachment relationships and positive development, well-being, and functioning, across the lifespan.

After taking the quiz, I was surprised to find that I have a secure attachment style. I personally do not think how I was raised contributed to this at all. The way I was raised was very avoidant. My parents didn't encourage me and I did not share my feelings with them often, or at all. I was constantly afraid of being made fun of by them so I didn't share my opinions or thoughts very often. I did not like it when they were mad at me, so I would try my very best to always be on my best behavior. I have been with my boyfriend for almost four years though and I feel like that has really effected my attachment style. He is very supportive and is aware of my needs to be reassured, so I do not often worry about him leaving me or not paying close

Attachment styles affect relationships and how they function. Each of the different styles has different levels of trust, intimacy, satisfaction, and commitment among other things. When people have secure attachments they tend to look for a relationship where there are high levels of trust, interdependence, commitment, and satisfaction. The opposite is true for people who have insecure attachments (Simpson, 1990, p 977). Emotional relationships between romantic partners are also affected by attachment style.

There is an interchange in the attachment and caregiving roles in long-term relationships. Fraley and Shaver (2000) review the adult attachment theory proposed by Hazan and Shaver in 1987 and describe its evolution over more than a decade. They also state 5 aspects of the theory that need some deeper research: (1) the nature of attachment relationships, (2) the evolution and function of attachment in adulthood, (3) individual differences in attachment (4) continuity and change in attachment security, (5) integrating sex, attachment, and caregiving. By discussing the stated issues, there will be a more complete picture of attachment theory (Fraley & Shaver,

At the beginning of the course the class was introduced the concept of attachment styles. Attachment styles are the types of behavior displayed in relationships shaped by a two-part set of basic assumptions, conclusion, or core beliefs about one’s self and others. In laymen’s terms it is how one person interacts with another either God, spouse, child, friend, or even self. There are four different types of attachment styles and they are: secure, ambivalent, disorganized, and secure. The relationship style that all should aspire to be a secure attachment style, however I would classify myself as having an ambivalent attachment style. This is the attachment style where I believe I am not worthy of love since I am flawed. It also takes the assumption that I will not be able to get the love I need without being angry or clingy.

There are 4 types of attachment styles according to Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991). Secure adult attachment is where the person has a healthy understanding and expectation in close relationships. This person has a healthy self-esteem, confident with whom they are and are confident in their relationships. Insecure attachment is the opposite and separates into 3 groups anxious, preoccupied and dismissing. Anxious attachment is when the person is afraid of close relationships, preoccupied attachment is when the person has a negative opinion of themselves but a positive view of their partner, and dismissing attachment is when the person has a high opinion of