Type A Strategies Flashcards
What are the primary mental processes associated with the Type A attachment strategy?
The primary mental processes are (a) splitting of positive and negative features of self, others, and relationships, and (b) dismissing one’s own negative affect from mental processing and behavior while attending vigilantly to an attachment figure’s negative affect.
What functional aspects are included in the Type A strategy?
The functional aspects include (a) distancing the self from one’s own feelings, (b) dismissing negative conclusions about attachment figures, and (c) attributing negative features of relationships to the self.
What is “splitting” in the context of the Type A attachment strategy?
Splitting” is a dissociative process involving keeping some information out of further processing while other information is carried forward for further transformation.
How does the Type A strategy handle information about negative aspects of the attachment figure and negative affect of the self?
The Type A strategy omits information about negative aspects of the attachment figure and negative affect of the self from processing.
What is the result of omitting negative information in the Type A strategy?
Semantic information appears absolute (i.e., without exception) and is, therefore, distorted in the direction of idealization or exoneration of the attachment figure.
What becomes possible in the absence of displayed negative affect in the Type A strategy?
In the absence of displayed negative affect, positive feelings about experience become possible.
How are strategies within the Type A strategy dichotomized?
There is a dichotomy between strategies organized primarily around the positive qualities of the attachment figure (odd-numbered strategies) and those organized primarily around the negative qualities of the self (even-numbered strategies).
