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.”

“Attachment style is defined as a relatively stable pattern of emotions, behavior, and expectations for close relationships developed because of childhood experiences with caregivers (Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Hazan & Shaver, 1987).”

“…relationships and place emphasis on independence and interpersonal distance, which leads to perceptions of less intimacy in the relationship (Cozzarelli, Hoekstra, & Bylsma, 2000; Feeney & Noller, 1991; Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Hazan & Shaver, 1987; Levy & Davis, 1988; Shaver & Brennan, 1992).”

“In these studies, individual differences in adult attachment were characterized along two relatively independent dimensions: avoidance and anxiety (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Hence, they may have had opportunities to disconfirm their working models of the dangers of attachment (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Attachment is believed to influence individuals' interpretation and regulation of emotional experiences and ideas of self-worth, as well as the manner in which they think and feel about, and interact with, attachment figures (Eng, Heimberg, Hart, Schneier, & Liebowitz, 2001; Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Research from an attachment theory perspective has shown that romantic partners take about 2 years on average to form mature and complete attachment bonds (Fraley & Davis, 1997; Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Hazan & Zeifman, 1994).”

“…as securely attached are found to consistently experience a greater sense of connection with friends (Weimer, Kerns, & Oldenburg, 2004), greater ease with self-disclosure (Mayseless, 1993) and more satisfaction and trust in their intimate relationships (Feeney, 1999; Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“In contrast, individuals with insecure attachment styles— either high on avoidance, anxiety, or both—experience doubts about the relationship and tend to adopt defensive strategies in their interactions with romantic partners (Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Mikulincer et al., 2003).”

“Avoidantly attached individuals, on the other hand, avoid attention and proximity to the attachment figure by deactivating the attachment system and relying on themselves to cope with distress (Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2003).”

“These working models lead them to view themselvesandotherseitherpositivelyornegatively,andsuchviews develop into apattern of relating to otherswhich persists beyond childhood (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“One possible explanation for these contradictory findings is that sexual abuse by a caregiver may lead to insecure attachment (Briere, 2002; Cicchetti & Toth, 2005), resulting in difficulty trusting others (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Attachment style is believed to be organized along two dimensions: attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Highly attachment anxious individuals have higher sensitivity to threat (Fraley & Shaver, 2000) and when the attachment behavioural system is activated high attachment anxiety promotes and intensifies distress (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007).”

“Implicit in the literature discussed thus far is the notion that emotionally charged early experiences are strongly influential in determining adult attachment (see Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Security in attachment can be conceptualized as a function of two dimensions: anxiety and avoidance (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Hence, attachment research gradually developed across the lifespan including (Bretherton, 1995; Fraley and Shaver, 2000; Simpson and Rholes, 1998): (1) infant attachment; (2) childhood attachment; (3) adolescent attachment; and (4) adult attachment or intimate adult relationships.”

“According to Fraley and Shaver [17], attachmentrelated 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.”

“These mental models translate into three relational or attachment styles—secure, avoidant, and anxious-ambivalent—which are manifest from infancy and childhood in relation to caregivers (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978), and throughout adulthood in relation to one’s romantic partners (Hazan & Shaver, 1987), fr…”

“In short, the theoretical prototypes are linear combinations of anxiety and avoidance and, in certain contexts, rotating those dimensions can facilitate interpretation (see Fraley, 2006; Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Avoidant Attachment and Behavior in Close Relationships ‘‘Avoidance’’ refers to the degree to which an individual tends to shy away from intimacy with others (Campbell, Simpson, Boldry, & Kashy, 2005) and is reluctant to depend on others (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“One of the conceptual schemes used most often by researchers in personality and social psychology is a model proposed originally by Bartholomew (1990) and developed further by Fraley and Shaver (2000) and Mikulincer and Shaver (2003).”

“…Scale (AAS; Collins & Read, 1990), the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Feeney et al., 1994), Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR; R. C. Fraley & Shaver, 2000), the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA; Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) or the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI; Parker…”

“An empirically validated dimensional model of attachment suggests that insecure attachment involves two dimensions: attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“They have fears of being abandoned and a desire to be close to partners (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“…it served the function of promoting proximity between caregiver and child, ensuring safety (see Bowlby, 1969/1982); later theorists associated it with romantic relationships and pair bonds (see Hazan and Shaver, 1987; Shaver et al., 1988; Fraley and Shaver, 2000; see also Fraley et al., 2005).”

“They are apt to more closely monitor emotional closeness placing greater weight on cues of rejection than on cues of support (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Establishing and maintaining an enduring attachment bond with a romantic partner who has demonstrated commitment and availability represents an important aspect of successful adult adaptation (Crowell & Waters, 1994 ; Duemmler & Kobak, 2001 ; Fraley & Shaver, 2000 ; Weiss, 1991 ).”

“…to conceptualizing attachment styles (secure, anxious/avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent), one common conceptualization of attachment styles in adolescence and adulthood is a two dimensional model: attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance (Crowell, Fraley, & Roisman, 2016; Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“In contrast to the hyperactivating emotional style of anxiously attached individuals, people with high attachment avoidance are uncomfortable depending on others for support and use ‘deactivating’ coping strategies that inhibit or suppress distressing experiences [12,13].”

“Additionally, the adult relationship includes an element of sexual interest (Fraley and Shaver 2000; Hazan and Shaver 1994).”

“People with high attachment anxiety constantly worry about rejection and abandonment, and use ‘hyperactivating’ coping strategies such as excessive rumination and preoccupation with stressful events (Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998; Diamond, 2001; Diamond & Fagundes, 2010; Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Recent studies have provided evidence for the validity of the two-dimensional approach for adult close relationships (e.g., Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000).”

“The approach focus aims toward the attainment of goals through engagement in positive experiences and activities, while the goal of avoidance is to prevent conflict and negative outcomes (Fraley and Shaver 2000; Hazan and Shaver 1994).”

“that individuals’ representations of interpersonal relationships stem from early experiences with caretakers, and that particular patterns of relating, called adult attachment styles, develop as a result [30, 57, 64].”

“In recent years, attachment has been seen as involving two major dimensions: (a) anxiety about abandonment and (b) comfort with closeness (Bartholomew & Shaver, 1998; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998; Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“…of the child-caregiver relationship and give rise to distinct attachment styles—organized along dimensions of avoidance and anxiety—that affect the way people construe their social environments and navigate the self within them (Bowlby, 1973; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998; Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Attachment style, romantic relationships, and sexual behavior Attachment theory (Ainsworth et al., 1978; Bowlby, 1969/1982) offers a unique lens for understanding sources of individual differences in adult romantic experiences (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“This research suggests that attachment styles endure to some extent across the lifespan—a finding confirmed in much empirical work (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Unfortunately, attachment styles are largely influenced by people’s relationship with their primary caregiver, with some evidence of attachment continuity (Fraley and Shaver, 2000).”

“Attachment styles are often conceptualized as continuous features relating to three aspects (i.e., secure, avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent relationship styles; Collins and Sroufe 1999; Fraley and Shaver 2000; Hazan and Shaver 1987; 1994).”

“Generally, categorical measures lack some of the beneficial psychometric properties inherent in more dimensional scales (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“One area of research that has used a similar approach is the investigations on adult attachment (e.g., Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Our findings that adolescent attachment insecurity mediated the relationship between neglect and SRBs are consistent with attachment theory positing that working models shape behaviors later in life (Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Waters et al., 2000).”

“Persons high in anxious attachment have a persistent fear they will be rejected or abandoned by significant others; whereas persons high in avoidant attachment tend to withdraw from close relationships and are uncomfortable relying on others (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Adult attachment theory has primarily focused on ‘‘attachment relationships’’ which are predominately adult romantic relationships and other close intimate relationships (Ainsworth, 1989; Brennan et al. 1998; Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Hazan & Shaver, 1987).”

“Tests of these theoretical ideas in adults have generally focused on a person’s attachment style, which is a systematic pattern of relational expectations, emotions, and behaviors conceptualized as residuals of particular attachment histories (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“However, although Bowlby viewed the attachment system as having implications from the cradle to the grave (Cassidy, 2000 ; Fraley & Shaver, 2000 ), studies of attachment-related processes in older groups are few (Magai, 2008 ; Magai & Consedine, 2004 ) and reports focusing directly on gender differences in later life…”

“to which the caregiver or partner will be consistently responsive, warm, and nurturing to one’s needs [12,13].”

“In accordance with Bowlby’s (1980) contention that attachment behaviors continue throughout the life cycle, research on childhood attachment patterns has been extended to adult romantic relationships (Hazan & Shaver, 1987; for a review, see Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“More recently, however, researchers have found that categorical models lack reliability and validity, and a dimensional approach has been more widely adopted in which attachment is measured along two continuums of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“During adulthood, individual differences in romantic attachment are based on the differences in the pattern of relationships between children and their figures of attachment (Fraley & Shaver, 2000; Hazan & Shaver, 1987).”

“These findings support the two-dimensional conceptualization of attachment representations in that attachment anxiety involves the emotion regulatory system, whereas attachment avoidance involves the behavioral regulatory system (Fraley and Shaver 2000).”

“Indeed, attachment relationships are established with individuals that one is close to, who can provide a safe haven in times of stress, and who can be depended on to encourage and support exploration and new experiences (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“Gordon (2000) found that individuals with BN do not feel they have the capacity to be in a relationship while remaining autonomous.”

“…for interpersonal relationships and transactions; for example, attachment has been linked with interpersonal behaviors in romantic relationships (Fraley & Shaver, 2000), and social and career decision-making self-efficacy (Wright & Perrone, 2010; see Schneider, 1991, for a general review).”

“Consistently, previous studies showed that adults with less secure attachment styles are characterized by less self-confidence and higher levels of negative effect, and are more likely to ideate and attempt suicide (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”

“It yields scores for attachment avoidance (i.e., discomfort with close relationships) and attachment anxiety (i.e., fear of abandonment or rejection in close relationships), indicators of a two-dimensional characterization of individual differences in adult attachment (Fraley & Shaver, 2000).”