Attachment theory proposes that early relationships with caregivers shape how individuals form attachments in future relationships. There are four main adult attachment styles - secure, preoccupied, fearful and dismissive - which are characterized by one's internal working models of self and others. While attachment styles tend to remain stable due to reinforcement effects, significant life events or relationships can also influence changes in attachment over time.

1. Attachment Theory
Relationships and Interpersonal Communication

2. Possible Movies…
 500 Days of Summer (2009)
 An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe
true love exists, and the young man who falls for her.
 Must Love Dogs (2005)
 A movie about a pre-school teacher trying to meet a guy after a
divorce.
 High Fidelity (2000)
 A young music store owner goes through a break up and reviews
the top five relationships in his life (this one is rated R, drop the F
Bomb a lot)
 Singles (1992)
 A group of twenty-something friends, most of whom live in the
same apartment complex, search for love and success in grunge-
era Seattle.

3. Distinguishing Features of
Children’s Attachment Styles
Secure Avoidant Anxious
Ambivalent
Free to explore
the environment? yes no yes and no
Anxious around
strangers? a little no a lot
Reaction to upset, little
very anxious
separation? then calm reaction
Reaction to little ambivalent
happy
reunion? reaction (relief/anger)

7. Working model continuum
 Model Of Self: the degree to which a child
develops an internalized sense of self-worth
that is not dependent on external validation
 Model Of Others: the degree to which a child
expects others to be supportive and accepting
(rather than rejecting)

8. Adult Attachment Styles
Positive Model of Others
Secure Preoccupied
(I’m okay, (I’m not okay,
Positive Negative
you’re okay) you’re okay)
Model Model
Of Self Dismissive Fearful of Self
(I’m okay, (I’m not okay,
you’re not okay) you’re not okay)
Negative Model of Others

9. SECURE: The Prosocial
Style
 High Self, High other
 self-sufficient and comfortable with intimacy
 compromise and problem-solving during conflict
 highest level of maintenance behavior
 tend to be pleasant, self-disclosive, and skilled
communicators
 Reinforcement Effect: Because secures are
confident and expressive, people react to them
positively, reinforcing positive models of self and
others

10. PREOCCUPIED: The
Emotional Style
 Low Self, High Other
 overly involved and dependent
 want excessive intimacy and worry that partners
do not care enough for them
 demanding, nagging conflict behavior
 express negative emotion with aggression or
passive aggression
 overly disclosive and overly sensitive
 Reinforcement Effect: By clinging to their partners
and escalating intimacy quickly, they push
partners away, thereby reinforcing that they are
unworthy of love

11. FEARFUL: The Hesitant
Style
Low Self, Low other
fearful of intimacy (they have often been hurt in the past and/or
fear rejection)
communication is often passive, guarded, and anxious
trouble expressing emotions and self-disclosing
relatively low levels of maintenance and nonverbal
pleasantness
Reinforcement Effect: By avoiding taking risks, they keep
themselves from developing the kind of close, positive
relationship that will help them feel better about themselves and
others

12. DISMISSIVE: The Detached
Style
 High Self, Low other
 counterdependent (self-sufficient to the point of pushing
others away)
 relationships seen as nonessential; personal goals are a
higher priority
 relatively low levels of relational maintenance, disclosure,
and emotional expression
 withdrawing conflict style with more interruptions
 Reinforcement Effect: By learning to get along on their own,
they reinforce the idea that they do not need other people to
be happy

13. Are our attachment styles stable
over time?
Explanations for Stability
 Interactions with caregivers have an especially strong effect on a
person’s social development.
 The reinforcement effect
Explanations for Change
 Significant life/relationship events
 The partner’s attachment style
 Variability across relationship types