Adult Romantic Attachment: Theoretical Developments, Emerging Controversies, and Unanswered Questions

“When Hazan and Shaver (1987) began their work on romantic attachment, they adopted Ainsworth's three-category scheme as a framework for organizing individual differences in the way adults think, feel, and behave in romantic relationships.”

“Most empirical tests of these theoretical ideas have focused on a person’s attachment style—the systematic pattern of relational expectations, emotions, and behavior that results from internalization of a particular history of attachment experiences and consequent reliance on a particular attachment-related strategy o…”

“…are clearly separable and conceptually independent (e.g., see Bartholomew, 1990); the insecurity that a person experiences regarding attachment figures is not the same conceptual “thing” as the strategies he or she uses to regulate his or her affect and behavior (see Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Attachment theory holds that the function of attachment is to provide a secure base for exploration and achievement, as well as facilitating proximity maintenance (Bowlby, 1979; Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“…1980), Ainsworth (1991), Cassidy and Kobak (1988), Kobak et al. (1993), and Main (1995) and is a conceptual extension and re nement of previous control-systems representations of the dynamics of the attachment system presented by Shaver, Hazan, and Bradshaw (1988) and Fraley and Shaver (2000).”

“Judgments of commitment account for variation in reports of emotional experiences such as sadness and adoration that are closely related to attachment processes (90).”

“Rich descriptions of these processes have been provided by Mikulincer and Shaver (2003), Fraley and Shaver (2000), and Hazan and Shaver (1994).”

“results from a particular attachment history ( Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Hazan & Shaver, 1987).”

“2 The avoidance dimension is believed to regulate attachment-relevant behavior, particularly in highly stressful situations (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“85), and analytically, for their limited statistical power compared with dimensional measures [27].”

“…tests of these theoretical ideas have generally focused on a person’s attachment style—the systematic pattern of relational expectations, emotions, and behaviors that results from internalization of a particular history of attachment experiences (Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Shaver & Mikulincer, 2002).”

“According to Fraley and Shaver (2000) attachment-related anxiety reflects an individual’s predisposition toward “anxiety and vigilance concerning rejection and abandonment,” whereas the avoidance dimension “corresponds to discomfort with closeness and dependency or a reluctance to be intimate with others” (pp.”

“Working models are usually considered to be fairly stable within a relationship over time (Bowlby, 1973; see also Cassidy, 2000, and Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“More recent studies have relied on the two-dimensional model of individual differences in adult attachment that has become popular in the self-report literature (Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998; Fraley & Shaver, 2000 ).”

“Adult attachment theory (Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Hazan & Shaver, 1987; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2003) is an extension of Bowlby and Ainsworth’s attachment theory (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991; Bowlby, 1969), designed to explain individual diVerences in cognitions, feelings, and behaviors that occur in the…”

“A growing number of researchers have become interested in attachment in adolescence and adulthood (Bartholomew, 1993; Collins & Feeney, 2000; Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Rice, 1990) and have proposed that the parent-child attachment relationship serves as a model for all close relationships (Ainsworth,…”

“…in pair-bonded individuals makes sense when viewed through the lens of evolutionary theory, which suggests, in part, that pair bonding became adaptive under conditions in which additional parental investment was required to ensure the successful rearing of young [45] [85] [89] [105] [208].”

“Extensive research has been done on this attachment system in adults (Fraley & Shaver 2000), but this literature does not regularly distinguish between feelings of attachment and feelings of romantic love (Aron et al. 2006).”

“…as attachments, we focus on individual differences in what attachment researchers call ‘‘attachment style’’ or ‘‘attachment orientation’’ – the systematic pattern of relational expectations, emotions, and behaviors that results from a particular attachment history (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“The primary goal of the present research was to examine the relationship of adult attachment style (Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Hazan & Shaver, 1987) to a constellation of reactions to breaking up that are theoretically and empirically linked to attachment anxiety and/or avoidance.”

“…that people vary continuously with respect to attachmentrelated anxiety and avoidance and that the additive combination of those dimensions gives rise to the theoretical prototypes emphasized in categorical models (e.g., Brennan et al., 1998; Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994b).”

“This tendency may reflect highly anxious individuals’ sensitivity to cues that imply changes in perceived rejection and support from attachment figures (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Although this avoidant behavioral style may be adaptive in the short run, it may increase the risk of long-term maladaptive outcomes, such as a tendency to form insecure attachment relationships with others in later life (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“This avoidance component is usually conceptualized within a two-dimensional model contrasting attachment-related preoccupation or anxiety with the dismissive characteristics associated with attachment avoidance (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991; Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Once the attachment system is developed, attachment-related motivations, feelings, mental models of self and others, and characteristic behavioral tendencies influence the operation of the caregiving and sexual systems, which provide new arenas in which to seek gratification of attachment needs ( Fraley & Shaver, 2000…”

“In the past decade, hundreds of studies have examined hypotheses derived from Bowlby’s attachment theory by assessing a person’s attachment style—the systematic pattern of relational expectations, emotions, and behaviors that results from the internalization of a particular history of attachment experiences ( Fraley &…”

“Evidence suggests that sexual and “romantic attachment” motivations are two distinct systems but with the potential for powerful interactions between them (Diamond, 2004 ; Fraley & Shaver, 2000 ; McCall & Meston, 2006 ).”

“These models have generated much interest and have become increasingly influential (Feeney, 1999; Fraley and Shaver, 2000).”

“A central assumption of this model is that there is a cognitive process that plays a role in appraising and monitoring the environment for cues regarding the availability and accessibility of significant others (see also Bretherton, 1985; Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Pietromonaco & Feldman Barrett, 2000).”

“According to attachment theory (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991; Bowlby, 1982; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998; Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2003), individual differences in reactions to distress are a manifestation of two underlying dimensions: attachment-related anxiety (anxiety) and…”

“Hazan and Shaver’s (1987) categorical measure was used to assess attachment.”

“Adult attachment relationships mirror these early infant– caregiver bonds, possibly because of the potential evolutionary advantages of pair bonding (Fraley and Shaver 2000; Mikulincer and Shaver 2007).”

“…systems discussed by Shaver et al. (1988), the attachment system has received the overwhelming bulk of researchers’ attention (see reviews by Fraley & Shaver, 2000, and Mikulincer & Shaver, 2003), although a few studies have also related attachment style to forms of caregiving (e.g.,…”

“These models include expectations, strategies, and procedures that affect a person’s goals, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in interpersonal situations throughout life (e.g., Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Shaver & Mikulincer, 2002).”

“Adult attachment relationships often mirror infant– caregiver bond, possibly because of the potential evolutionary advantages of pair bonding (Fraley and Shaver 2000; Shaver and Mikulincer 2007).”

“…classic work on adult attachment styles, more recent theoretical and empirical research in the attachment literature (Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998; Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994) has shown that individual differences in attachment security can be represented by a single…”

“Based on this factor analysis and the theoretical views of attachment as two dimensions (Fraley & Shaver, 2000), the Close and Depend Scales were collapsed and reverse scored to create an overall Avoidant Attachment Scale, and Anxiety represented the Anxiety attachment dimension.”

“Attachment theorists claim that people differing in relationship attachment style differ in their representations of self and others (e.g., Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991; Collins & Read, 1994; Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Fraley and Shaver (2000) have proposed that the anxiety dimension regulates motivation to monitor and appraise events relevant to attachment-based goals and issues.”

“According to their adult attachment theory (updated by Fraley & Shaver, 2000, and Mikulincer & Shaver, 2003), much of people’s motivation to become involved in long-term romantic relationships and much of their behavior—and Joshua Hart, Phillip R. Shaver, and Jamie L. Goldenberg, Psychology…”

“Postinfancy bonds are also expected to manifest properties that are similar to those that characterize infants’ attachments to their parents (Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Hazan & Zeifman, 1999).”

“Based on attachment theorizing (e.g., Fraley & Shaver, 2000) and past forgiveness research, we examine rumination and empathy as potential mediators.”

“Fraley and Shaver (2000) have argued that the dimension of attachmentrelated anxiety taps variation in the operation of a critical component in the controls systems underlying attachment behavior—a component that functions to appraise the psychological availability and responsiveness of one’s…”

“Adult attachment theory has emerged as a tool to understand individual interactions and the formation of romantic relationships (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Yet a relationship need not be a true attachment in order to serve “attachment-related” functions (Fraley and Shaver 2000).”

“Adult attachment theory (e.g., Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Hazan &”

“Attachment theorists have proposed several features that distinguish attachment relationships from other kinds of relationships (Fraley and Shaver 2000).”

“…relationship in order to study the impact of short- versus long-term interest on the tendency to engage in mating (sexual intercourse) versus relating (establishing a serious romantic relationship) during the year following the speed-dating event (short- versus long-term interest hypotheses).”

“…Hamer, & Steptoe, 2011; Kiecolt-Glaser, Glaser, Cacioppo, &Malarkey, 1998) and studies have focused on heart rate, blood pressure, and electrodermal reactivity to laboratory stressors (e.g., Diamond, Hicks, & Otter-Henderson, 2006; Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000; Kim, 2006).”

“…experiences and the resulting internal working models culminate in relatively stable individual differences in attachment orientation – a habitual, ingrained pattern of expectations, needs, emotions, and behavior in interpersonal situations and close relationships (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Given that attachment is purported to be a relatively stable characteristic (65,66), it may be less likely to show reverse associations with sleep than is true for general measures of marital quality or satisfaction (i.”

“The concept of attachment is closely related to other concepts relating to interpersonal relationships, such as love and intimacy [79], and attachment theory has long since been recognized as a framework for explaining adult romantic attachment [80].”

“…research has been done on the behaviors, feelings and neural mechanisms associated with this attachment system in adult humans and other animals (Fraley and Shaver, 2000; Eisenberger et al., 2003; Panksepp, 2003a,b; Bartels and Zeki, 2004; MacDonald and Leary, 2005; Tucker et al., 2005;…”

“In addition, higher attachment anxiety suggests that individuals are more sensitive to attachment-related cues, requiring greater attention and energy from partners (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“They are less comfortable getting close to others and use avoidant (as opposed to proximity-seeking) strategies to regulate their attachment bonds (Fraley and Shaver, 2000; Mikulincer and Shaver, 2007).”

“Individuals high on attachment anxiety have low thresholds for detecting such cues, making worries about rejection and abandonment particularly salient (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Conclusions: Findings are discussed in the context of life span changes in social roles, normative personality development, and emotion regulation throughout adulthood.”

“Second, contemporary revisions to attachment theory have identified two dimensions to adult attachment: attachment-related anxiety and attachment-related avoidance (e.g., Fraley & Shaver, 2000 ).”

“As with primary caregivers, partners in adult relationships are used as a ‘safe base’ and sought to provide security and comfort (see Fraley and Shaver, 2000).”

“Alternatively, humans’ increased tendency to develop attachment relationship in adulthood and to various targets may be a by-product of their prolonged neotenous state (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Existing perspectives on felt security (e.g., Fraley & Shaver, 2000 ), perceived partner regard (Murray, Holmes, & Collins, 2006), and rejection sensitivity (Downey & Feldman, 1996) also describe ways in which the self is affected by relationship events.”

“Its parameters are gradually shaped and altered by social experiences with attachment figures, resulting eventually in fairly stable individual differences in mental representations of past attachment experiences and in a concomitant attachment style—a systematic pattern of relational expectations, emotions, and behav…”

“It is certainly possible that adult dismissive individuals have become so expert at dissipating their negative emotions that they do not need to devote substantial processing resources to do so (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“…working models, attachment researchers who study adolescents and adults have focused on attachment style—the systematic pattern of relational expectations, emotions, and behaviors that results from a particular history of attachment experiences (Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Shaver & Mikulincer, 2002).”

“…as an antecedent of leadership outcomes is based on the idea that attachment relationships are shaped with individuals that one is close to, who can provide a safe haven in times of stress, and who can be relied on to encourage and support exploration and new experiences (Fraley and Shaver 2000).”

“…patterns of relational expectations, emotions, and behaviors resulting from experiences with attachment figures in early childhood—influence their goals, cognitions, emotions, and behaviors across all interpersonal situations (e.g., Fraley & Shaver, 2000), including work (Hazan & Shaver, 1990).”

“People who are high on the avoidance dimension tend to be uncomfortable with psychological closeness and intimacy, which leads them to cope with these feelings by behaviorally distancing themselves from their partner (Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2003, 2007).”