Attachment Styles and the Implications for Adult Relationship Formation

1. Attachment Styles and the Implications for Adult Relationship Formation Kirsty Carter, Ashleigh Formanowicz, Bhavisha Sookha 30 July 2008

2. An Introduction to Attachment Theory • Bowlby: Infant’s internalize the emotional attachment formed between themselves and their primary caregiver – create a model against which to screen all later relationships • Purpose of attachment: to ensure the survival of one’s species by engaging in behaviours that re-establish a connection with a subjective source of physical or psychological security in times of insecurity or threat

3. Attachment Theory cont. (1) • Internal working models - cognitive representations of the self and others - develop around the 7th month of life, proximity seeking - infant’s expectations of: others (reliable + trustworthy), and self (lovable + worthy) • Positive or Negative models • Response options for caregiver’s absence / return • Interpretation of interactions

4. Attachment Classification • Technique used for measuring quality of attachment is Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation. • Involves the observation, recording and analyzing of an infant’s response to a series of activities: - exploratory activities - reactions to strangers - separation and behaviour when reunited with parent

5. Attachment Theory cont. (2) • Principles of relationship formation differ from person to person, fluctuate / modified according to individual beliefs, life experiences or gender-role socialization, similarly • Internal working models may change according to life experiences.

6. Attachment Classification (Cont.)

8. Parental qualities with regard to attachment • Emotionally available, responsive and perceptive parents often have securely attached infants • Parents who are perceptive, responsive but inconsistently available and impose their mental states on their children have resistantly/ambivalently attached infants • Emotionally unavailable, imperceptive, rejecting and unresponsive parents have infants who are avoidantly attached • Parents who show frightened, frightening or disoriented communication tend to have infants who are identified as disorganized/disoriented infants

9. Attachment Styles – Infancy cont. • Extreme social deprivation and absence of attachment figure = Unattached infant • Develop normally up to 6 months of age • Muddled behaviour: - shy away from social contact - do not cry or babble - appear rigid - perform poorly on linguistic/intelligence tests • Social and behavioural problems

10. Effects of Severe Social Deprivation (1) • Reactive Attachment Disorder ~ markedly disturbed and developmentally inappropriate social relatedness – 5 years ~ unable to form a secure attachment • Learned Helplessness ~ respond inappropriately in social environments due to previous exposure to uncontrollable incidents in similar situations

11. Effects of Severe Social Deprivation (2) • Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis ~ inappropriate development due to a lack of attachment to a single, warm and loving caregiver • Social Stimulation Hypothesis ~ inappropriate development due to a lack of social stimulation and caregiver responsiveness

12. Recovery from Social Deprivation • Capacity for recovery from dramatic effects of early deprivation in unattached infant, if placed within a socially stimulating, responsive, emotionally stable and loving home environment within the first two years of life

13. What about you? • A “It is easy for me to become emotionally close to others. I am comfortable depending on them and having them depend on me. I don’t worry about being alone or having others not accept me.” • B “I am uncomfortable getting close to others. I want emotionally close relationships, but I find it difficult to trust others completely, or to depend on them. I worry that I will be hurt If I allow myself to become too close to others.” • C “I want to be completely emotionally intimate with others, but I often find that others are reluctant to get as close as I would like. I am uncomfortable being without close relationships, but I sometimes worry that others don’t value me as much as I value them.” • D “I am comfortable without close emotional relationships. It is very important to me to feel independent and self-sufficient, and I prefer not to depend on others or have others depend on me.”

14. Attachment Styles - Adulthood • Implications of dissolution or establishment of future secure adult relationships – early internal conceptualizations • Behaviours characterizing early stages of adult sexual relationship likened to contact between a mother and her infant • Neural motivational system of midbrain and release of hormone Oxytocin • Oxytocin = “feel good” hormone

15. Attachment Styles – Adulthood cont. • 4 Styles of attachment: (1) Secure - autonomous attachment style formed, capable of retaining objectivity in relationships or events - typically enjoy close, comfortable, contented and fulfilling relationships - Romantic: closeness, high levels of intimacy (2) Ambivalent-resistant - preoccupied attachment style formed, characterized by preoccupation with past experiences and relationships - obsession exacerbated by fear of rejection and abandonment - seek approval; often angry or fearful - Romantic: possessive in nature, unsatisfactory sexual relationships - associated with elevated levels of neurotransmitters dopamine and norephinephrine, and decreased levels of serotonin

16. Attachment Styles – Adulthood cont. (3) Avoidant - dismissing attachment style, characterized by hostility in interpersonal relations, denial of vulnerability - Romantic: aloof and cold, fear of intimacy – overemphasize achievement and self-reliance, tend to view sexual relations devoid of love as acceptable (4) Disorganized / Disoriented - Unresolved attachment style, characterized by an excessive fear of rejection, unstable sense of self, emotional volatility expressed through indirect aggression - individual considered to be moody, unfriendly and overly dependent - Romantic: fear of closeness, lack of intimacy, many impersonal sexual relations

18. Attachment Styles – Adulthood cont. • Caregiver in infancy = secure base and safe base • Adult relationships = caregiver ~ romantic partner • Primal mating compulsion promotes proximity of partners, facilitates formation of new attachment bond • Commitment ~ important

19. Negative Consequences of Insecure Attachment~ Substance Abuse • Dependency on substances, such as alcohol – means of coping with skewed ability to form healthy adult relationships • Low self-esteem, negative affect, stress • Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) - lack of caregiver response - in adult context ~ dysfunctional interpersonal relationships / lack of ability in establishing close relationships - control issues ~ play havoc with intimacy and trust, constant frustration and lack of relaxation

20. Negative Consequences of Insecure Attachment ~Neurobiological Damage • Lasting effects on brain chemistry and brain functioning, include: (1) changes in the levels of available oxytocin (2) corticosteroid-induced neuronal damage from dendritic atrophy of the hippcampal neurons (3) reductions of serotonergic functioning (4) blunted cortisol responses to stress – physiological responses

21. Negative Consequences of Insecure Attachment ~Neurobiological Damage (2) • Sexual offenders • Attachment characterized by: - parental physical, emotional or sexual abuse - rejection - violence - neglect - disruption - poor relationship with one’s mother - affectionless control style of parenting • Deficits of functioning include: - Difficulty with self-regulation - Peculiar sexual interests and forms of sexual arousal - Problems in socio-emotional functioning - Attitudes encouraging of sexual assault

22. Negative Consequences of Insecure Attachment ~Neurobiological Damage (3) • Pubertal release of hormones ~ sexually abusive tendencies • Sexual offence = type of insecure attachment • Disorganized / Disoriented: impersonal sexual acts, “one-night stands” • Avoidant: hostility towards others, demonstrate sexually-charged violence against women (rape) • Ambivalent-resistant: possessive in their sexual nature, constantly seek approval, distorted beliefs over their entitlements – sexual contact with children (paedophilia), attempt to create an adult-like relationship

23. Treatment of deviant sexual behaviour • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) • Psychotherapy • Serotonin Selective Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), eg: Flouextine, Clomipramine • Effects: - decreased interests in deviant sexual fantasies - less sexual obsession -significant reductions in paraphilic and nonparaphilic behaviours • General sex drive and conventional sexual behaviour is not affected • General effectiveness: reduction of the motivation for engagement in deviant sexual behaviour

24. Final words • Formation of a secure attachment with an infant’s primary caregiver represents the foundations of maturational necessity • This attachment has the potential to affect the overall capacity of an individual’s functioning within the constraints of societal obligations and expectations

25. THANK YOU