Final Exam- Chapter 12 Flashcards
Intimacy
Self-disclosure and the sharing of private thoughts are hallmarks of intimacy
Erikson: Intimacy vs. Isolation
- Intimacy should occur after one is well into establishing a stable and successful identity
- Intimacy is finding oneself while losing oneself in another person; requires a commitment to another
- Failure to achieve intimacy results in social isolation
Intimacy and Independence
- Balance between intimacy and commitment, and independence and freedom
- Young adults who have not sufficiently moved away from parental ties may have difficulty in interpersonal relationships and a career
Generativity—moving toward middle adulthood
- A motive or need to contribute to society
- Can be met through one’s vocation or avocation, child rearing, community service, etc.
- Includes productivity and creativity
- Desire and accomplishment- and found that the desire for generativity is quite strong even in early adulthood and actually declines through middle and late adulthood
Researchers have linked several dimensions of childhood temperament with characteristics of adult personality
- Easy and difficult temperaments
- Inhibition
- Ability to control one’s emotions
- Link between childhood and adult temperament may depend on aspects of the environment (Wachs, 2000)
Simpson & Rholes (1998)
Provide an organizational framework to conceptualize 2 traditions
Nuclear Family Tradition
- Examines the outcome of a person’s attachment to his primary caregivers in infancy, once the person becomes an adult
- How do early attachments endure throughout life?
Peer/Romantic Partner Tradition
- Focus on peer attachments of adults
2. How do early attachments impact the quality of romantic and friendship relationships in adulthood?
Romantic partners fulfill some of the same needs for adults as parents do for children
Adults may count on their romantic partners to be a secure base
Childhood attachment is linked with adult attachment in romantic relationships
Link can be lessened by stressful and disruptive experiences (Lewis, Feiring, & Rosenthal, 2000)– death of a parent, instability of caregiving
Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
- Developed by Main and Goldwyn (1984)
- Composed of a series of 18 open-ended questions:
- memories of relationships with mother & father
- recollections of stressful events such as separations loss, harsh discipline, or abuse, interpretations of parental behaviors
- evaluations of the effects of these early events on then interviewee’s later development
Adult Attachment Styles- Main and Goldwyn (1984)
- Autonomous (secure) (also earned secure)
- Dismissing (insecure)
- Preoccupied (insecure)
- Unresolved (insecure)
- Cannot classify
- a child’s attachment status can become more or less secure if he or she has either positive or negative experiences with close relationships after the infant-toddler period
- When participants have reached adolescence or young adulthood, people can “earn” security by experiencing later supportive relationships or can develop insecure representations of attachment if they experience negative life events after early childhood
- Adults who were secure as children can later demonstrate insecure states of mind because of intervening, highly stressful events such as parental loss, divorce, abuse, illness, or psychiatric disorder
Autonomous (secure)
- Coherent & collaborative report with sufficient detail and evidence
- Ability to integrate & monitor their thinking, summarize answers, & return the conversation to the interviewer
- Less egocentric & good perspective taking skills
- Genuine & authentic expression of feelings
- Able to reflect on past difficulty realistically—called earned secure
Dismissing
- Reports marked by low levels of detail and coherence
- Describe parents as very positive or idealized, but did not support with evidence
- Tend to minimize or avoid discussion of attachment-
related issues & downplay the importance of close relationships - When discussing non-emotional topics, the person is able to talk at length
- Failure to remember is often cited for impoverished answers
- Tend to have children in the avoidance attachment category
Preoccupied
- Typically violated the rules of the collaboration with the AAI interview
- Person provided very long, incoherent, egocentric responses that shift from topic to topic
- Perform in ways that suggest that they are overwhelmed by the emotional memories elicited
- Speech may sound angry, fearful, or sad
- Parents may be remembered as intrusive or egocentric
- Enmeshment & preoccupation with parents
Unresolved
- Demonstrate marked lapses in logical thinking particularly when discussing loss or other traumatic memories
- Children of unresolved adults tend to show a higher frequency of disorganized attachment patterns
Cannot classify
- Used when protocols do no meet criteria for other categories
Adult Attachment Styles (Hazan and Shaver, 1987;1994):
- Secure Adults
- Avoidant Adults
- Anxious Adults
Secure Adults
- Have a positive view of relationships and find it easy to get close to others
- Are not overly concerned with or stressed out about romantic relationships
- Tend to enjoy sexuality in the context of a committed relationship
Avoidant Adults
- Are hesitant about getting involved in romantic relationships
- Tend to distance themselves from their partner
Anxious Adults
- Demand closeness; are less trusting
2. Are more emotional, jealous, and possessive
Bartholomew & her colleagues (1991, 1998) proposed a new conceptual framework consisting of 4 categories across 2 dimensions
People thought to develop expectations about how reliably their significant others will behave in close relationships, as well as expectations about how worthy or unworthy they are of care or support
-4 categories of attachment orientation are
defined:
◦ Secure, Dismissing, Preoccupied, and Fearful
Secure
- People have internalized a positive sense of themselves along with positive models of others
- They expect others to be available & supportive of their needs in close relationships
- Comfortable with emotional closeness, but are reasonably autonomous
Preoccupied
- Hold positive models of others, but negative models of themselves
- Marked by emotional demandingness, anxiety about gaining acceptance from others, fear of hypervigilance to cues of rejection, & excessive preoccupation with relationships.
Dismissing
- Characterized by a positive model of the self but a negative model of the other.
- Denying the need for close relationships permits these adults to maintain a sense of superiority while devaluing the importance of others to their well-being
Fearful
- Product of negative models of both self and others
- Attachments are desirable but seen as out of reach
- Their desire for close relationships is thwarted by fear of rejection, & they ultimately withdraw.
Benefits of Secure Attachment (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007)
- They have a well-integrated sense of self-
acceptance, self-esteem, and self-efficacy - They have the ability to control their emotions, are optimistic, and are resilient
- They activate cognitive representations of security, are mindful of what is happening around them, and mobilize effective coping strategies
Attachment insecurity places couples at risk for relationship problems
- Avoidant-Avoidant and Anxious-Anxious pairing are rare
- Secure-Secure and Avoidant-Anxious pairings more likely
Attachment-Relationship satisfaction
- Secure: reported more positive emotion, trust, commitment, & interdependence
- Avoidant: Less interdependence & less committed to their partners
- Anxious: relationships lacked trust
What Motivates Attraction?
- Familiarity is necessary for a close relationship
- People seek others who are similar to themselves, but opposites do attract in certain instances
- -Consensual Validation - Physical attractiveness is important, but the link is not clear-cut
- Also, standards of what is attractive change over time & across cultures
- Matching Hypothesis
Consensual Validation
Our own attitudes and values are supported when someone else’s are similar to ours
Matching Hypothesis
We tend to choose partners who match our own level of attractiveness
-Recent research suggests that once married, attractive husbands were less satisfied & both behave more positively when the wife is attractive
Types of Love
- Romantic love
2. Affectionate love
Romantic love
- passionate love, or eros
- Strong components of sexuality and infatuation
- Different emotions: anger, fear, passion, sexual desire, joy, jealousy
- Sexual desire is an important component