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Research papers on Attachment theory in adult relationships

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  1. Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process.

    Cindy Hazan, Phillip R. Shaver · 1987 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 6,286 citations

    This article explores the possibility that romantic love is an attachment process--a biosocial process by which affectional bonds are formed between adult lovers, just as affectional bonds are formed earlier in life between human infants and their parents. Key components of attachment theory, developed by Bowlby, Ainsworth, and others to explain the development of affectional bonds in infancy, were translated into terms appropriate to adult romantic love. The translation centered on the three major styles of attachment in infancy--secure, avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent--and on the notion that continuity of relationship style is due in part to mental models (Bowlby's "inner working models")

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  2. Attachment style as a predictor of adult romantic relationships.

    Judith A. Feeney, Patricia Noller · 1990 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 1,218 citations

    Questionnaire measures of attachment style, attachment history, beliefs about relationships, self-esteem, limerence, loving, love addiction, and love styles were administered to 374 undergraduates. Attachment style was related in theoretically expected ways to attachment history and to beliefs about relationships. Securely attached Ss reported relatively positive perceptions of their early family relationships. Avoidant Ss were most likely to report childhood separation from their mother and to express mistrust of others. Anxious-ambivalent subjects were less likely than avoidant Ss to see their father as supportive, and they reported a lack of independence and a desire for deep commitment i

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  3. Attachment formation and transfer in young adults’close friendships and romantic relationships

    Robert Chris Fraley, Keith E. Davis · 1997 · Personal Relationships · 740 citations

    Abstract Two hundred thirty‐seven young adults from an American university completed a questionnaire designed to test several normative implications of attachment theory. As predicted, the majority of participants (60%) used their parents as primary attachment figures but were in the process of transferring attachment‐related functions from parents to peers (best friends and romantic partners). The transfer of these functions the parents to peers was found to be a function of the duration of the peer relationship. Furthermore, factors that generally promote the development of attachment formation in infancy (such as caregiving, trust, and intimate contact) were found to be positively associa

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  5. The adult attachment interview and self‐reports of romantic attachment: Associations across domains and methods

    Phillip R. Shaver, Jay Belsky, Kelly A. Brennan · 2000 · Personal Relationships · 264 citations

    Abstract Two lines of research on adult attachment have emerged; both are based on Bowlby and Ainsworth's attachment theory, which in turn relies on evolutionary theory. Investigators in one tradition use the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) to assess “state of mind with respect to attachment.” The AAI has been validated primarily by its ability to predict the attachment classification of an interviewee's child in Ainsworth's “strange situation.” Investigators in the second tradition use self‐report measures to assess romantic “attachment style.” The self‐report measures have been validated by their ability to predict features of romantic/marital relationships. Although the two constructs. s

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  6. Romantic Partners and Four-Legged Friends: An Extension of Attachment Theory to Relationships with Pets

    Lisa Beck, Elizabeth A. Madresh · 2008 · Anthrozoös · 238 citations

    The founding principle of attachment theory (Bowlby 1973) is that a secure attachment to a caregiver is one of the first and most basic needs in an infant's life. Through the decades attachment theory has expanded its scope to include central adult relationships, especially between romantic partners, and has provided a useful framework for exploring relationships with friends and family members. We seek to further extend the application of the standard model of adult attachment to another interaction that people value: relationships with pets. We compared participants' reports of their relationships with pets and relationships with romantic partners in a web-based survey of 192 pet owners. O

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  8. Attachment in Adult Romantic Relationships: Style of Conflict Resolution and Relationship Satisfaction

    M. Carole Pistole · 1989 · Journal of Social and Personal Relationships · 186 citations

    This study considers the issue of adult attachment style in relation to conflict resolution and relationship satisfaction. Subjects selected into one of three styles: secure, anxious/ambivalent, or avoidant. Analyses revealed significant differences among the groups on three styles of conflict resolution (compromising, obliging, and integrating) and on relationship satisfaction. The results are interpreted with regard to attachment theory.

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  10. Attachment and conflict communication in adult romantic relationships

    Rachel Domingue, Debra Mollen · 2009 · Journal of Social and Personal Relationships · 89 citations

    This study explored the connections between adult attachment styles (i.e., secure, preoccupied, fearful-avoidant, dismissing) and communication patterns during conflict (i.e., mutual constructive, demand-withdraw, mutual avoidance, and withholding). Specifically, this study examined how the combination of both partners’ attachment styles, or couple type (i.e., secure-secure, secure-insecure, insecure-insecure), related to self-reported conflict communication patterns. Couples had been together for at least two years (i.e., in a dating, cohabitating, engaged, or marital relationship). Participants included 43 different-sex couples and 10 same-sex couples, who lived primarily in a large metrop

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  11. Adult attachment and romantic partner preference: A review

    Bjarne M. Holmes, Kimberly R. Johnson · 2009 · Journal of Social and Personal Relationships · 88 citations

    In this literature review we explore inconsistencies in studies relating self-reported adult attachment to romantic partner preference. Such studies have tested one of three hypotheses: that individuals prefer partners with a similar attachment style, a complementary attachment style, or the attachment style most likely to offer attachment security. Consistent with all hypotheses, secure individuals prefer similarly secure partners. Discrepancies are found, however, regarding insecure individuals’ preferences. Evidence supporting similarity and attachment—security hypotheses is primarily reported in research on attraction to hypothetical partners. Evidence supporting the complementarity hypo

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  12. Adult attachment and cortisol responses to discussions with a romantic partner

    KATHRYN P. BROOKS, THEODORE F. ROBLES, CHRISTINE DUNKEL SCHETTER · 2011 · Personal Relationships · 33 citations

    This study examines the effects of actor and partner attachment security on cortisol responses to discussions of personal and relationship concerns with a romantic partner. Dating couples (N = 30) completed two 20‐min discussions and provided saliva samples at 4 time points before and after. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that among women, higher levels of partner avoidance predicted greater cortisol reactivity to both discussions and among men, higher levels of actor anxiety predicted greater reactivity to the relationship concern discussion. These findings extend previous work by demonstrating that the effects of attachment on physiology vary by gender and by discussion context, whi

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  13. Adult Attachment and Personality as Predictors of Jealousy in Romantic Relationships

    Marina Richter, Katja Schlegel, Philipp Thomas, et al. · 2022 · Frontiers in Psychology · 23 citations

    Functional relationships between romantic jealousy and traits, such as neuroticism or adult attachment styles, are well-known. For the first time, we conducted a joint analysis of the Big Five traits and attachment dimensions as predictors of jealousy, which considered gender differences as well as differences in infidelity experiences and relationship status. In 847 participants, path modeling showed that higher neuroticism, lower agreeableness, and lower openness predicted higher romantic jealousy. The attachment dimensions “anxiety” and “depend” partly mediated the effect of neuroticism and fully mediated the effect of agreeableness on romantic jealousy. The direct and indirect relationsh

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  17. Evaluation of family and romantic relationships of young adults with boarding school experience within the framework of attachment theory : A phenomenological study

    Merve Nur Güngör · 2024 · Dspace Repository (Marmara Üniversitesi)

    Bu çalışmada yatılı okul deneyimi olan genç yetişkinlerin aile ilişkileri ve romantik ilişkilerinin bağlanma kuramı çerçevesinde değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Her yıl binlerce öğrencinin eğitimini sürdürdüğü yatılı okullar, ulaşım, ekonomik imkanlar ve eğitim kalitesi göz önüne alındığında aileler ve öğrenciler için fırsat niteliğindedir. Ancak gelişimin kritik dönemlerinden biri olan ergenlik dönemini ailelerinden ayrı ve kurum otoritesi altında geçirmek öğrencilerde bazı olumsuz etkiler bırakabilmektedir. Bu çalışmada yatılı okul deneyiminin bireylerin aile ilişkileri ve romantik ilişkileri üzerindeki yansımaları üzerinde durulacaktır. Çalışmada katılımcıların yatılı okul deneyimine d

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  18. The Role of Narcissism and Attachment in Adult Romantic Relationships: A Study of Greek-speaking Adult Participants

    Eleni Ellina, Panagiotis Parpottas · 2023 · The European Journal of Counselling Psychology

    The present study examined the relationship between narcissism and attachment dimensions in adult romantic relationships. One hundred and fifty one adults from the general population completed self-report measures of attachment dimensions, grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. The results indicated that both types of narcissism were significantly correlated to insecure attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance). Additionally, the results of the hierarchical multiple regression initially showed a significant prediction of grandiose narcissism in the insecure attachment dimensions, which was then counterweighted by the stronger contribution of vulnerable narcissism. The most significant vari

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  19. Como os padrões de apego explicam a dependência emocional das mulheres nos relacionamentos afetivos: How Attachment Styles Explain Women’s Emotional Dependence in Romantic Relationships

    Natalia Benício França, Thaís Mertz de Araujo, Rosana Valinas Llausas · 2026 · RCMOS - Revista Científica Multidisciplinar O Saber

    Loving with emotional dependence generates suffering and loss of autonomy. Internal voids demand constant fulfillment, and when one attempts to fill such a void with another person’s love, one’s physical and mental health may be put at risk. In this context, the present study seeks to analyze how attachment styles, based on the theory proposed by John Bowlby, influence the development of relationships and emotional dependence in women, with the aim of reflecting on feelings and behaviors in contemporary romantic relationships. The study was characterized as exploratory research involving female participants aged between 20 and 50 years, residing in the state of São Paulo and involved in a ro

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