adult attachment styles

adult attachment styles

In , the  can be applied to adult relationships including friendships, emotional affairs, adult romantic or platonic relationships and in some cases relationships with inanimate objects (““). Attachment theory, initially studied in the 1960s and 1970s primarily in the context of children and parents, was extended to adult relationships in the late 1980s.

Four main styles of attachment have been identified in adults:

  • secure
  • anxious-preoccupied
  • dismissive-avoidant
  • fearful-avoidant

Investigators have explored the organization and the stability of mental working models that underlie these attachment styles. They have also explored how attachment impacts relationship outcomes and how attachment functions in relationship dynamics.

Based on the work of Phillip Shaver and others, Baumeister and Bushman (2014) describe four types of adult attachment styles: secure, preoccupied, dismissing avoidant, and fearful avoidant. Research has identified that these attachment styles can be readily classified (Shaver, as cited in Baumeister & Bushman, 2014).

In Robert Sternberg’s (1986) triangular theory of love, he identifies seven types of adult love based on levels of three dimensions: passion, intimacy, and commitment.

 

Types of Adult Love

 

Type of Adult Love

Dimension

 

Infatuation

Passion

 

Fatuous love

Passion and commitment

 

Liking

Intimacy

 

Empty love

Commitment

 

Romantic love

Passion and intimacy

 

Companionate love

Intimacy and commitment

 

Consummate love

Passion, intimacy, and commitment

Look in the Capella library for research articles on the topic of attachment styles in adulthood, theories of love, and the relationship between attachment styles and types of love. Select one article that considers the relationship between attachment styles and types of love to use in this discussion.

Discussion

For this discussion, consider connections between adult attachment styles and the types of love adults develop.

Using the article you selected, examine the relationship between Sternberg’s triangular theory of love and types of adult attachment described by Baumeister and Bushman. Summarize the article and describe the findings. Did the research support or negate a connection between a type or types of adult attachment and type or types of adult love?

 

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