Week 4: Adult Attatchment

Question 1

What are the 4 main functions of attatchment in adulthood?

Answer 1

Secure base
Safe heaven
Proximity maintenence
Seperation anxiety

Question 2

What is our internal working model of adult relationships?

Answer 2

Mental reporesentations of the self and others

Am i worthy of love/Is my care giver avaliable and reliable?

They guide our expectations and behaviours

Question 3

What kind of attatchment style is it when we’re high in anxiety and low in avoidance?

Answer 3

Preoccupied

Question 4

What kind of attatchment style is it when we’re high in anxiety and high in avoidance?

Answer 4

Fearful avoidant

Question 5

What kind of attatchment style is it when we’re low in anxiety and low in avoidance?

Answer 5

Secure

Question 6

What kind of attatchment style is it when we’re low in anxiety and high in avoidance?

Answer 6

Dismissing avoidant

Question 7

What kind of attatchment style is associated with higher agreeableness?

Answer 7

Low avoidence

Question 8

What kind of personality traits are associated with being securely attatched?

Answer 8

Extraversion and conscientiousness

Question 9

What kind of personality trait is associated with having a dismissing avoidant attatchment style?

Answer 9

Higher openness

Question 10

What behaviours are associated with high avoidance?

Answer 10

Being rejecting and negectful of their partner
Supressing emotions
Defensive with intimacy

Question 11

What behaviours are associated with high anxiety?

Answer 11

Inconsistancy and overprotectiveness
Clingy with a fear of abandonment
Difficulty regulating emotions

Question 12

Is high anxiety or high avoidence related to genetics?

Answer 12

High anxiety has a 40% heritability

Question 13

What is Shaver and Mikuincer’s model of attatchment functioning in adulthood?

Answer 13

The system is activated when we see signs of threat and then seek proxomity to our attatchment figure. It’s best described in a flow chart

Question 14

How does reaction time when primed with threat vary depending on attatchment style?

Answer 14

When primed with a threat, anxious participants were faster at recognising figure names in general

Avoidant participants had slower reaction times

Question 15

What mental health issues are associated with avoidance attatchment?

Answer 15

Restrictive eating disorders

Depression - overrelying on yourself

Question 16

What mental health issues are associated with anxious attatchment?

Answer 16

Anxiety disorders
Eating disorders (Binging)
Depression - overrelying on others
Boarderline personality disorder

Question 17

What are the behaviours of avoidant attatchment in romantic relationships?

Answer 17

Less likely to get involved in relationships
Less likely to open up and express themselves
Will not seek support and provides it less in others
Less satisfied, committed and trusting

Question 18

What are the behaviours of anxious attatchment in romantic relationships?

Answer 18

Commit quickly to new relationships
Compulsive caregiving
Interpret partner’s behaviour negatively
Jealousy

Question 19

How does attatchment theory explain insecure attatchments as being adaptive?

Answer 19

They develop to maximise protection and survival in infancy

Question 20

How does social defense theory explain insecure attatchments as being adaptive?

Answer 20

Anxiety means you’re faster at detecting a threat ad avoidence means you’re faster to act

Question 21

How does attatchment change as we age?

Answer 21

Anxiety decreases and avoidence lowers in long term relationships