ATTACHMENT STYLES IN ADULT RELATIONSHIPS

Abstract

Attachment is a deep emotional relationship that is formed between primary caregiver, usually the mother
and the child in early childhood and lasts throughout life, as a permanent psychological bond established between
two people. It is an important strong bond for every child’s normal emotional and social development. Essentially, it
is thought that our adult attachment style mirrors the way our parents cared for us when we were infants and
children and its determinates our adult relationships, starting from who we choose as a partner to how our
relationships will end. According to the creator of attachment theory, Jon Bowlby, attachment is formed through the
way of how primary caregiver is dealing with the child, the way of responding or not responding to the child's needs
and signals. If the answers to the child’s needs are timely and adequate and the child shares strong emotional bond
with the caregiver, the child will develop a secure attachment that will make it have a positive attitude towards life
and develop a feeling of safety. If the answers to the child’s needs are inadequate, untimely, absent or even
frightening and the child shares week emotional bond with the caregiver, it will develop insecure attachment that
will make it fill insecure, negative, and have negative mind set throughout life. The attachment theory postulates that
forming a secure attachment helps child to develop a sense of security, by knowing that he has safe place to return to
and this child will become adult with a positive and confident attitude and with a feeling of independence about the
exploration of the world around him. Nonetheless, if the bonding attachments in the early stages of life are not firm,
there can be a feeling of uncertainty and the child may become anxious adult or with avoidant personality, or both;
this will block the trust in humanity and his environment, and it will become negative and reserved. Depending what
kind of care the child receives, there can be established four patterns of attachment: secure attachment, anxious
attachment, avoidant attachment, and disorganized attachment. All those patterns of attachment in childhood affects
the attachment style of the adult life, the way one form a love relationship, and the emotional response when a loved
person leaves. In this paper we theoretically explore the adult attachment styles aiming to summarize the knowledge
about their characteristics and relation to child attachment styles. We begin with summarizing exploration of the
development of attachment theory, then explore the relationship between early childhood attachment, and finally
recapitulate the four types of adult attachment to gain a clearer picture of their characteristics. This paper represents
theoretical background for the ongoing research on adult attachment styles.