Different Types Of Attachment And How An Individual 's Life Experiences May Result

There are two different types of avoidance attachments: fearful and dismissive. People with either of these avoidance attachment styles often say that they are uncomfortable being close to others; and they find it hard to trust and depend on others. They get nervous when anyone gets too close to them, or when romantic partners want to be more intimate with them. People with a fearful style of avoidant attachment often have mixed

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

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.

John Bowlby, the backbone of attachment theories will be discussed throughout this essay to explain and evaluate the key theories of attachment. Health and well-being which is made up of four factors ‘physical, intellectual, emotional and social ' (Jones, 2016), will also be discussed within the essay. The definition of attachment is ‘an act of attaching or the state of being attached. ' (Dictionary, 1400) This will be showed in the assignment, using theorists to analyse the meaning. Sharing the strengths and weaknesses in some theorists will help conclude this assignment.

The insecure/preoccupied anxious attachment style preoccupied, and they seek approval from their partners. They tend to extremely clingy; consequently, pushing the person away with their self-doubts and insecurities. Individuals who have fearful/avoidant attachment style tend to have suffered abuse or sexual abuse, and they want close relationships, nonetheless they cannot bring themselves to be intimate with other people.

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

What is attachment theory and why is it an important aspect of intimate relationships and love? The attachment theory of love maintains that the degree and quality of attachments one experiences in early life influence one’s later relationships (Strong & Cohen, 2014). John Bowlby proposed that, based on infants interactions with caregivers, infants construct expectations about relationships in the form of internal working models- cognitive representations of themselves and other people that guide their processing of social information and behavior in relationships (Sigelman & Rider, 2015). This research was further elaborated on by Mary Ainsworth and colleagues, who believed there were three styles of infant attachment: secure, anxious or ambivalent, and avoidant.

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,

Secure attachment relationships are relationships where the individuals are comfortable depending on their partner. They are trusting of their partner, and tend to show emotional control in situations where their partner would be gone for some time. Anxious attachment relationships are those where either one or both of the individuals are obsessed with their partner. They are

An attachment is an emotional bond formed between a parent and a child. An attachment is common between a mother and a child. Strange anxiety is when a child tends to fear when they see an unfamiliar person. However, the primary attachment figure is usually mother for a child. A child uses a secure base, usually a primary attachment figure when exploring around. One of the researchers named Ainsworth has created a procedure to propose attachment behavior. Key behaviors observed by researchers in each attachment are the child’s exploration of toys, and the reaction of a child when the caregiver leaves and returns to the room. There are four types of attachments that researchers have agreed on. The first one is a secure attachment that involves

An individual’s attachment style is conceived as a personality trait which is stable across the individual’s life span. Attachment is seen as a categorical model where individuals are either securely, avoidant or anxiously attached to others. Several studies have indicated how individuals treat attachment-related thoughts is related to their attachment style and governs how they cope with and express the loss of a loved one. When compared with secure and anxious attached adults, avoidant attachment style adults are less concerned with attachment to others. Anxious attachment style adults are worried about loss and will be hyper vigilant to relationship distress.

An infant with a secure attachment style has a natural bond with their parent, where they are able to trust them, at the same time leaving their side to discover and explore their surroundings. In an insecure/resistant attachment the relationship the child has with their mother or caregiver is very clingy, thus making them very upset once the caregiver is away. When the mother or caregiver is back they are not easily comforted and resist their effort in comforting them. In an insecure/avoidant attachment the infant is, “indifferent and seems to avoid the mother, they are as easily comforted by a stranger, as by their parent” (Siegler 2011, p.429). Lastly, the disorganized/disoriented attachment is another insecure attachment style in which the infant has no way of coping with stress making their behavior confusing or contradictory. Through these brief descriptions of the attachment theory, many researchers have defined the turning point in which each attachment definition can have an influence on one’s self esteem, well-being and their marital relationship.

Mankind has a natural urge for attachment. Every living person needs someone to be with, someone to confide in, someone to love. Attachment is a basic human necessity that people will fulfill with the companionship of another person, or a non – living object. But sometimes, humans attach onto other people or objects too hastily. After being with the person or object for a very short amount of time, humans feel they are connected to that person or object at a greater extent than they truly are. Sherry Turkle writes in her book Alone Together, how children get attached to toys very easily, and feel the difficulties of separation from these toys, even if they are not living creatures. Meanwhile, Barbara Fredrickson attempts to define love in her novel Love 2.0: How our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do, and Become by attempting to look at the science behind attachment and the reasons humans get attached to people and objects as quickly as they do. Attachment is something humans have no control over. Humans have no agency in the attachments they make because attachment changes how the body works by changing the body’s chemical makeup. Furthermore, humans never know when they are going to get attached to a person or object and find it difficult to let go of their attachments.

Researchers have been looking at theories to show how important relationships are in people’s lives and attachment theory has allowed them to understand human behavior in a variety of ways. Feelings, such as anger and romantic love, can be directly correlated to the attachments received as a child.

There are a lot of close relationship theory that are studied in social psychology but one of the main theory is attachment theory. This theory not only provides a framework for understanding emotional reactions in infants but also in love, loneliness, and grief in adults. In adults there are attachment styles that are a type of working model that explains certain behaviors that are developed at infancy and childhood. An infant requires two basic attitudes during their earliest interactions with adults. The first is an attitude about their self-esteem that drives from their own perspective of their self. The behavioral and emotional reactions of their caregiver gives information to the infant that they are loved, cared for, important, or on the other end they are unloved, not valued, and on important. The second is how infant’s attitudes form other people, experiences and their beliefs. The term interpersonal trust becomes very important in order to feel like their caregiver is perceived reliable or trustworthy. It is significant that these basic attitudes are acquired before a baby develops there language skills.