The Effects of Attachment Style on Adult Romantic Relationships

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.

While attachment styles displayed in adulthood are not necessarily the same as those seen in infancy, research indicates that early attachments can have a serious impact on later relationships. For example, those who are securely attached in childhood tend to have good self-esteem, strong romantic relationships and the ability to self-disclose to others. As adults, they tend to have healthy, happy and lasting relationships. For more information, see this article on attachment styles.

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.

Three predominant styles of attachment, secure, insecure-anxious and insecure-avoidant reflect expectations about the reliability and availability of attachment figures (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Individuals who portray secure attachment styles tend to value relationships that provide trust, comfort, and availability. In contrast, individuals with insecure-avoidant or insecure-anxious styles of attachment have difficulty recognizing, acknowledging, and/or valuing secure-based relationships. Avoidant individuals experience discomfort when becoming close with others. In contrast, insecure-anxious individuals report relationships as a threat,

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

This resource will apply the definitions of the differing insecure attachment styles. The insight will be shared of how individuals with insecure attachment may be less likely to be involved in supportive partner relationships (Borhani, 2013). Borhani’s research study will support these findings.

Attachment style is a profound effect not only on our emotional development, but also upon the health of our relationships. A child forms a strong emotional bond with caregivers during childhood with lifelong consequences. It is important to be aware of attachment during infancy and early childhood in order to raise secure, independent and empathetic children. A secure, trusting attachment to parents during childhood forms the basis for secure relationships and independence as adults. It affects everything from our partner selection to how well our relationships progress to, sadly, how they end. That is why recognizing our attachment pattern can help us understand our strengths and vulnerabilities in a relationship. An attachment pattern is

How separation from attachment figures and/or a lack of attachment relationships impact on later relationship development.

While there are many influences that may shape a person’s experience with love such as culture, one interesting factor is the attachment style. Called the attachment theory, this theory suggest that people used their attachment styles they had with their caregiver when they were younger and used that as a model when pursuing a romantic relationship during adulthood. There are three infant attachment classifications that may influence future relationships: secure attachment style, anxious/ambivalent attachment style, and avoidance attachment style. To further elaborate on this theory, we shall look into three people: Carly, Derek, and Jake. Each one has been exposed to different attachment styles and as a result will experience different effects on forming intimate relationships.

John Bowlby describes attachment as a “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” (Bowlby, 1979, p194). He also describes behavior in four distinctive patterns. They are known as: Secure, Avoidant, Ambivalent, Disorganized/Disoriented (Bowlby 1979).

The results confirm the essential characteristics of three attachment styles. In comparison with both insecure groups, secure subjects were relatively trusting in their romantic relationships and had high self-confidence. The two insecure groups share important features, because they got similar scores on most of the measures that separated them from the secure subjects. The two insecure groups are very different in some ways. The major characteristic of the avoidant style is the avoidance of intimacy, as these subjects responded to on the background questions. The subjects characterized in the anxious-ambivalent group were placed by dependence and by the strong desire for commitment in relationships. Their responses of love indicate endorsement of a neurotic rather than a circumspect or companionate form of love. The results also suggest implications for relationship quality. It is possible that secure subjects may be more “successful” than the other styles in their relationship and this is based of off two findings: their greater mean relationship length and their low scores on the Unfulfilled Hopes scales. These results can only prove indirect evidence concerning relationship satisfaction, and would usefully be approached by further research with more direct measures of relationship processes and

Most studies utilized the The Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998) to assess attachment style. This scale rates the two dimensions of attachment, anxious and avoidant, using a Likert Scale of 1 (disagree strongly) to 7 (agree strongly) to respond to statements such as “I often worry about being abandoned” and “I don’t feel comfortable opening up to romantic partners.” It is common for descriptive statistics to reveal average scores of a sample for attachment style to be around a midpoint or less. Consequently, many of the participants in the studies are likely relatively neutral in terms of their attachment style. Whereas this may be representative of the population at large, it may fail to give further understanding of how attachment style and co-rumination interact. A solution to this dilemma could be to screen samples first for individuals who rank relatively high on insecure attachment to see how these individuals react to

What this particular theory discusses is the “attachment bonds” between children and their parents. These two attachments connect because they both focus on peoples’ ability to form an attachment, whether is with a parent or a spouse. In the both Attachment Theories, there are four different categories people could be placed into, secure, anxious, dismissive-avoidant, and fearful-avoidant (Rholes 2012). The particular theory that is being focused on is an adult’s ability to connect with their loved ones, particularly their

Attachment styles are the way that others shape our understanding of ourselves. The self is shaped by perspectives of individuals who are significant individuals that matter to us and how early development can affect future relationship styles. The main example that will be used in this journal are caretakers, or parents, and how they can affect the attachment styles of children and their future relationships. There are four different attachment styles, secure, anxious/ambivalent, dismissive, and fearful.

Throughout the life span, attachment style is consistent; the theory of attachment, created by John Bowlby, describes attachment as “the lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” (McLeod). Attachment style forms during childhood through early school years and accommodates for experience and the environment we immerse in (Feeney & Noller, 281). Through careful study, the three different attachment styles serve as a predictor for romantic adult relationships or attachment styles. The three different attachment styles include secure, avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent. A secure attachment is when comfort is found in relationships, and there is the ability to seek support from the partner. An avoidant attachment style is consistent with a greater sense of autonomy and emotional avoidance from the partner. An anxious/ambivalent attachment style fears rejection and desires strong closeness with the partner ("What’s Your Attachment Style?”).