...Attachment Style and Relationships PSY 220 Part I: Robert Sternberg created his triangular theory of love based on three dimensions: passion, intimacy, and commitment. The degree to which a relationship demonstrates these three dimensions determines the type of love relationship. People begin love relationships with those who care for them as children. These early relationships can have a great effect on their adult relationships. Passion reflects attraction, romance, and sexual desire. A relationship that contains passion would not be a relationship that you would share with you parents or children. This is more to describe a romantic relationship that you share with another person. According to Sternberg (1998) “The key ingredients of romantic love are passion and intimacy.” Passion is what makes us want to live our lives together with somebody that we fall in love; passion is what makes us see qualities in our boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife that we like and decide that we want to live the rest of our life with them, but sometimes this same passion becomes decreased to the amount that a small decision that is not in your favor, can create a good argument and we begin to create a wall around our heart, things or decisions that we can easily compromise on in the past, we now decide to take our stand and by so doing we can create problems in our relationship. Intimacy is that feeling of being close to another person and affectionate to them as well. It can happen...
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...Attachment Style and Relationships Kathy Schwab PSY/220 July 29, 2012 Edward Billingslea Attachment Style and Relationships Part 1 Robert Sternberg’s triangular theory of love is based on three dimensions: passion, intimacy, and commitment. In Sternberg’s model passion, intimacy, and commitment each represent one side of a triangle describing the love shared by two people. Passion means strong emotion, excitement, and physiological arousal, often tied to sexual desire and attraction. Intimacy refers to mutual understanding, warm affection, and mutual concern for the other person’s welfare. Commitment is the conscious decision to stay in a relationship for the long haul. By putting together different combinations of the three ingredients, Sternberg’s model describes several varieties of love and the specific components of romantic and companionate love (Baumgardner and Crothers, 2009). Romantic love is a combination of intimacy and passion. It is more than infatuation, its liking with the added excitement of physical attraction but without commitment. Companionate love is slow-developing love built on high intimacy and a strong commitment. When youthful passions fade in a marriage, companionate love, based on deep, affectionate friendship provides a solid foundation for a lasting and successful relationship. Fatuous love combines high passion and commitment with the absence of intimacy. The commitment is based on passion and sustained solely by passion....
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...stuff of which attachment and, as we will see, love are made.” (Bolt, 2004, p. 26). I have found that few things in life are absolute, but the previous statement is one of those few. From the very beginning of our lives, our need for human contact and closeness is glaringly obvious. Our attachment styles, be they secure, avoidant, or anxious, are formed while we are just infants. These attachment styles tie directly into how we, as adults, execute the different dimensions of love (passion, intimacy, and commitment), in our various individual love relationships. Individual Attachment Styles “Both nature—the infant’s inherent need to bond and belong—and nurture—parental responsiveness—contribute to attachment.” (Bolt, 2004, p. 25). Recent research has been shown to indicate that temperament has a base in genetics and that it is not all left to nurturing, as was previously believed. Personally, I am glad that science has begun to discover what I always have suspected to be true! A parent can be warm and responsive, yet their child could still grow to have an anxious or avoidant attachment style, however the opposite is true as well. I have personal experience with this, which is why I am certain of its validity. Secure Attachment Style Our text describes the secure attachment style in the following manner: “Infants who experience warm, responsive parents show secure attachment.” (Bolt, 2004, p. 23). This is the most prevalent of the three attachment styles, with roughly...
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...Attachment Styles and Relationships Jennifer Oliver PSY/220 Adam Miller Part One When you have two individuals and they share an emotional attachment, we call this an attachment style. According to Bolt (2004), there are three main elements. Care, commitment and closeness. I like to remember them easily by calling them the 3 C’s. Attachment styles start at birth. It is important to realize that although nature and nurture are both important elements that help develop our attachment style they are not the only factors. Our parents, close relatives, even siblings can help us develop our individual attachment style. The first attachment style is closeness, from the time we are infants, we experience either the closeness of our caregivers or the absence of it. Closeness, when we are infants and even in other stages form emotional bonds. It is basic human nature to want to be close to those we feel love for. Infants who are not exposed to closeness in their early development can become anxious and scared. In some cases this is never overcome, in others as the child grows, they may experience other more stable and secure relationships and be able to overcome the closeness issues from their childhood. The second component in attachment style is care. This is a crucial element important to our development. Humans naturally want to feel safe and secure and to know that they are cared for and that there are those who would protect them at all cost. A child...
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...Parent Style Attachment An Overview of Parenting Styles and Attachment The quest to explore the connection between parenting styles and attachment styles was an eye opening journey. We have traveled with the psychologists who have helped us along the way in our pursuit to recognize the parent child dynamics, as it relates to parenting styles and attachment styles. Through the use of literature and my real world observations, I will show some links between attachment styles and parenting styles. The four basic parenting styles are as follows: Authoritative Parent An Authoritative Parent is described by Baumrind as parents who "monitor and impart clear standards for their children’s conduct. They are assertive, but not intrusive and restrictive. Their disciplinary methods are supportive, rather than punitive. They want their children to be assertive as well as socially responsible, and self-regulated as well as cooperative” (Baumrind, The Influence of Parenting Style on Adolescent Competence and Substance Use, 1991). This parenting style is the most popular in the United States, although in specific races, cultures and socioeconomic groups this parenting style may not be very popular. The authoritative parent is one who understands a child’s mind to be tabula rasa. These parents provide a positive emotional climate. They commonly use induction and socialization to mold, grow and correct a child’s behavior while preparing them to be responsible...
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...Attachment Style and Relationships Part I Robert Sternberg created a theory called the triangular theory of love. This theory is based on three dimensions called passion, intimacy, and commitment. Passion is what motivates a person to pursue someone he or she is attracted too. This motivation is a component of love attraction, romance, and sexual desire. When I think about the word intimacy it makes me think of two people close to each other. I imagine two people loving and caring for each other. These two individuals also trust each other not because they have to but because they want to. Intimacy is not something that can be forced. Commitment in my mind is a decision. It is the choice one makes to stay in a relationship. An example of a commitment would be wedding vows. I believe all three dimensions are needed to fulfill a loving and lasting relationship. Passion is what drives two individuals together. This is what starts the “getting close” step of the relationship. As the two people get to know each other they begin to get close to each other. This closeness is known as intimacy. These two individuals have complete trust in each other and can openly tell each other what they are feeling. These steps then lead to commitment. The two individuals have grown close enough to each other that they are now ready to commit themselves to each other. Sternberg’s triangular theory of love forms other types of love relationships. There are seven different types...
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...Attachment Style and Relationships Laurie Henry Psy/220 November 10, 2013 Charlene Sears-Tolbert Attachment Style and Relationships Part 1 According to the Robert Sternberg triangular theory of love the three dimensions passion, intimacy and commitment all play essential roles in forming relationships. Passion mean strong emotion, excitement, and physiological arousal, often tied to sexual desire and attraction Baumgardner & Crothers (2009). These emotions can become overpowering and create feelings of love, joy anger and hatred. Intimacy involves closeness it is a special friendship, having a feeling of connection and trust. Commitment is the conscious decision to stay in a relationship for the long haul. Committed relationships are more serious because it involves a shared decision to invest in the relationship. Relationships are a major complexity in our lives. Forming these relationships and maintaining them have a great deal to do with our early attachment styles. Depending on how secure or insecure an individual is can determine their ability to give or accept certain components that build relationships. Early life disruptions to our process of attachment with parents will have major consequences for how we as adults will then deal with attachment as adults. This may show up as diminished capacity to modulate arousal of stimulus from internal or external sources, impairment in developing healthy relationships, and the ability to cope with stress (Siegel...
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...on our lives. Our attachment styles mediate our ability to from and maintain intimate relationships and, therefore, have a profound effect on our social, psychological, and emotional well-being (Givertz, Woszidlo, Segrin, & Knutson, 2013). The purpose of this literature review is to examine the relationship between the avoidant/ insecure attachment style and intimate relationship issues. In other words, to examine the effect that a lack of trust and commitment and a high amount of fear over being abandoned has on a relationship. Attachment Styles Background Attachment style is a concept that assists in explaining the way in which we react and relate to other people and are a type...
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...Attachment Style and Relationships Anna Sylvester PSY/220 Darren Iwamoto In one’s life we all develop an attachment style based on the way we were raised as a child. There are three main attachment styles called, Secure Attachment, Avoid-ant Attachment and Anxious Attachment styles. Individuals with secure attachment tend to be more open to people. They feel more comfortable depending on others and worries less about whether they are accepted by others. Those with avoid-ant attachments are less invested in their relationships, they fear commitment and feels uncomfortable when others try to get too close to them. Then there is the anxious attachment, individuals with an anxious attachment are okay with others getting close to them, but often feel like others are reluctant to get as close to them as they would like. Anxious attachment individuals often fear that their spouse may leave them or that they may not love them. Their obsession to get really close to their partner can sometimes scare their partner away. These attachment styles shape your adult relationships and better understanding of them, can help each individual in their love relationship. Secure Attachment, a secure attachment is a bond that is developed when a child is raised with a very nurturing parents or caregivers. These parents or caregivers...
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...interactions can be reflected by their attachment style. Attachment styles affect relational quality, which leads to different relationship outcomes. The study evaluates whether partner perceptions of conflict styles and relational maintenance strategies differ as a function of attachment styles—particularly with the context of friendship. Bippus and Rollin’s article can be found in the Communication Reports inside the Sacramento State Library. This article targets the topic of conflict management in relationships by providing more information on the attachment styles that communicators may use in daily lives or conflict. Having found this article on the Sacramento State library website, the article proves credible with origin from an academic, approved journal. This study was conducted with the individual’s close friend, including their personal understandings and perspective of the relationship. The hypothesis states that individuals in relationships will be rated by their friends with more prosocial maintenance behavior than with fearfuls or dismissive qualities. It is believed that friends of securely attached individuals will report greater satisfaction in the relationship than those friends of non-securely attached individuals....
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...Attachment, in dictionary terms, means affection, fondness, or sympathy for someone or something. In psychotherapy, attachment theory refers to how those attachments impact human interpersonal relations. Attachment theory was first conceptualised by John Bowlby, a psychoanalyst who dedicated his time to studying the affectional bonds which form between a child and his primary caregiver. In Segal and Jaffe (2013), the affectional bond is simply but realistically defined as one's first love relationship. Bowlby referred to attachment as a lasting psychological connectedness between human beings. This bond is initially formed by the first attachment figure a person comes across in life. This is in most cases is the mother. In other situations, it may be a father, or where a child is orphaned or put in foster care, it could vary. It refers to anyone who remains in a central role in a child's life for at least the first three to five years. This period is crucial because it is when a child's brain rapidly develops. Bowlby (1984) says that attachment behaviour is most active and overt before the age of three but the need for attachment figures remains throughout life. Bretherton (1985) found that after three, it is less frequent and noticeable as the child gains increased abilities to protect itself and coping skills. Attachment behaviour is however more noticeable during times of exceptional stress. According to Segal and Jaffe (2013), an attachment bond shapes an infant's brain...
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...Attachment Anxiety and Attachment Avoidance in Relationship Satisfaction considering Gender Cansu Çelik, Hazal İlkem Özer Kadir Has University Abstract The present research aimed to examine how attachment style affects people’s relationship satifaction taking into account gender differences. All attachment styles indicate useful information about relationship situations. We hypothesized that, for both genders, those who have attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety were more likely to have conflicts about their partners, thus they would feel less satisfied in their relationships. We conducted a survey among male (N= 97, age M = 22) and female (N = 139, age M = 21) university students aged between 18-25. Participants were using at least one social media account such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and also answered questions about their relationship either with their romantic partner or a best friend (RAS). Regression results, as expected, indicated that participants who displayed attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety were less satisfied in their relationship Keywords: relationship satisfaction, attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, gender Attachment Anxiety and Attachment Avoidance in Relationship Satisfaction Most psychological theories indicate that an individual’s wellbeing and comfort develops and enhances by the relationships...
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...Abigail Graves Attachment Theory Paper The attachment theory is used to explain the relationships between humans. This was primarily developed by a psychoanalysis John Bowlby who raised the issue about maternal deprivation that developed into the attachment theory. It mainly focused on the idea that infants need to create a bound with their caregiver in order to develop emotionally and socially appropriately. It was not until recently that the theory was extended to attachment in adults. Through new research it was found that these early relationship can have a profound affect peer relationships at all ages, romantic and sexual attraction, and responses to the care needs of others as well. This is explained through case studies and applying the finding to the theories developed by Bowlby and Mary Main, defining the types of adult attachment and analyzing those to a personal style of attachment. With understanding the theories of attachment two psychologist decided to expand on the ideas that had been developed by others in their field. Kim Bartholomew and Leonard Horowitz’s expanded on the idea that was presented by Bowlby about how children internalize their attachment relationships with their parents, and internalize that for future relationships. They “…have only recently examined the relationship between working models of attachment and social and emotional adaptation in adults” (Bartholomew and Horowitz, 227, 1991). Meaning there is studies now that examine the way...
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...Task I Read: Ein-Dor, T., Mikulincer, M., Doron, G., & Shaver, P. R. (2010). The attachment paradox: How can so many of us (the insecure ones) have no adaptive advantages? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 123-141. Answer the following questions: 1. What is the paradox in attachment theory? The paradox in attachment theory is that insecure attachment styles such as avoidant and anxious could provide advantageous results in certain living conditions in the same way that a secure attachment style can. Although the original attachment theory according to Bowlby stated only the disadvantages of the then detrimental attachment styles (anxious and avoidant), researchers such as Belsky and Symons found there to be adaptive advantages to these styles with close regard to the fact that these styles have continued to evolve through time. In addition to this, the paradox also raises the matter that social groups containing members with different attachment patterns may be more fit for survival than those of a homogenous group of securely attached individuals. 2. To your opinion, why current theory and research in attachment fail to find adaptive advantages for insecure attachment orientations? It is clear that since the early formation of attachment theories, secure attachment has clearly proven to be the most efficient. If a child isn’t being responded to, attended, nurtured or is consistently cared for, he/she will become insecurely attached. These negative...
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...Disclosure in Groups Attachment and self disclosure can say a lot about a person. There was a study done to investigate attachment style and self disclosure in the first group counseling session. This was done in order to explain variable of group functioning. The attachment style was done by self report questionnaires and the self-disclosure was done by observations. There were more than four hundred participants that were split up into twenty seven different groups. I find taking over 400 people and placing them into twenty seven different groups is actually a quite strong way of studying attachment and disclosure. They were assessed on the basis of transcripts of the first group counseling session. As noted by the group leader and the participants, group functioning included self-disclosure, group empathy, group intimacy, and client behavior. The results indicated that a significant relationship existed between attachment and initial self disclosure. I agree with this. Many of people around the world find group counseling beneficial, but still there are some that disagree. The prediction of a person’s behavior in the group counseling process is important for the sake of both the group and the individual. This article covers the behind the scenes look at each of these behaviors and what role it has in a group. They wanted to examine whether a person’s behavior in a counseling group can be explained by means of self disclosure and attachment. I think that a person’s...
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