Adult Attachment

Question 1

Internal Working Model

Answer 1

Influences us throughout lifespan, including romantic, familial and social relationships

Patterns of behaviour learned early in life, lay foundations for future relationships

Question 2

Model of self-avoidance

Answer 2

Question 3

Adult attachment (compared to parents’)

Answer 3

Often the same (80%). When not, reactionary.

Parent’s style shows predictive validity - high levels of similarity between parent and child patterns

Question 4

Love relationships - Hazan and Shaver (1987) (general)

Answer 4

Groundbreaking analysis of love and romantic relationships

Love as an emotion - a complex pattern of appraisals and action tendencies

Relationship between love and attachment

Love is integration of behavioural systems

Question 5

Romantic love - Hazan and Shaver (1987) (elictors and reactions)

Answer 5

Elictors

Familiarity with each other

Other satisfy’s your needs

Other inspires you with trust

Reactions

Security and self-confidence

Wanting to give to each other

Wanting physical closeness

^^ All consistent with goals of attachment behaviour

Question 6

Hazen & Shaver (1987+) (Parallels)

Answer 6

Strong parallels exist between child-parent relationship and love relationships.

There are important differences - reciprocal caregiving and sexuality

Question 7

Hazan & Shaver’s proposition (3 systems)

Answer 7

1. Attachment
2. Caregiving
3. Sexuality

^ Love is an integration of three behavioural systems

Each interlocks with differing importance throughout the life cycle. Attachment is pivotal and lays foundation for the others

Question 8

Love Attachment Styles (Adult)

Answer 8

Secure – comfortable with intimacy, able to trust and depend on people

Avoidant – difficulties with depending on others, discomfort with closeness

Ambivalent – Seeking extreme closeness, fear of being abandoned or not loved sufficiently

Question 9

Adult Attachment Type A (Ds)

Answer 9

Avoidant Insecure-Dismissive

Usually attempt to down-play influence of attachment relationships in daily life.

Dismiss, devalue or deny the importance of attachment relationships.

Cut off from their feelings may need prompting to elaborate

Portray a strong theme of self-reliance and stress independence.

May sometimes openly derogate AFs while claiming personal strength and self-reliance.

Question 10

Adult Attachment Type B (F)

Answer 10

Secure - Free or Autonomous

Usually show a balanced and objective view of attachment relationships.

Largely have access to their feelings, able to reflect on good and bad prior experiences.

Able to avoid attributing feelings of shame or blame to extremes.

Able to cope with separation and display autonomy.

Coherent descriptions and relevant info

Question 11

Adult Attachment Type C (E)

Answer 11

Ambivalent/Enmeshed Insecure-Preoccupied

Entangled in their relationships and pre-occupied

Usually report being clingy and needy or coercive and manipulative as a child

Often over involved/absorbed in relationships

Discourse may be incoherent

Usually confused, un-objective and mentally entangled throughout AAI

May be unable to move beyond excessive preoccupation with past attachment relationships

Either accept it passively

Or struggle against it without success

Question 12

Adult Attachment Type D (U)

Answer 12

Disorganised/Unresolved

May show any of above patterns but usually with lapses of memory or confusion during AAI

Trauma or loss may be raised inappropriately showing inability to put them in past or resolve them in present

Display no consistent strategy

Show high distress

(Ainsworth et al., 1978; George, Kaplan & Main,1985)