Attachment Styles in Relationships

Attachment Styles

• Secure: Feeling comfortable with intimacy, independence, and emotional expression. Relationships are stable and fulfilling.
• Anxious-Preoccupied: Fear of abandonment, clingy, and overly dependent on partner. Relationships are marked by anxiety and uncertainty.
• Dismissive-Avoidant: Fear of intimacy, emotional unavailability, and independence. Relationships are superficial and lack emotional connection.
• Fearful-Avoidant: Fear of intimacy and abandonment, leading to emotional unavailability and difficulty in forming close relationships.

Love and Intimacy

• Triangular Theory of Love: Intimacy, passion, and commitment are the three components of love.
• Intimacy: Emotional closeness, trust, and vulnerability.
• Passion: Physical attraction, romance, and desire.
• Commitment: Long-term investment, loyalty, and dedication.

Conflict and Communication

• Conflict Styles: Competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating.
• Active Listening: Giving full attention to partner, maintaining eye contact, and paraphrasing.
• Effective Communication: Expressing feelings and needs clearly, using "I" statements, and avoiding blame.

Interpersonal Attraction

• Proximity: Physical closeness increases attraction and familiarity.
• Similarity: Shared interests, values, and personality traits increase attraction.
• Reciprocity: Mutual interest and liking increases attraction.
• Physical Attractiveness: Attraction to physical appearance and characteristics.

Social Exchange Theory

• Costs: Time, effort, and resources invested in a relationship.
• Rewards: Benefits and satisfaction gained from a relationship.
• Comparison Level: Expectations of what a relationship should provide.
• Comparison Level for Alternatives: Evaluation of alternative relationships.

Evolutionary Psychology

• Mate Selection: Choosing a partner based on characteristics that increase survival and reproductive success.
• Parental Investment: Investing resources in offspring to ensure survival and success.
• Sexual Strategies: Mating strategies, such as short-term vs. long-term, and their implications for relationships.

Attachment Styles

• Secure attachment style: characterized by feeling comfortable with intimacy, independence, and emotional expression, leading to stable and fulfilling relationships.
• Anxious-Preoccupied attachment style: marked by fear of abandonment, clinginess, and over-dependency on partner, resulting in anxious and uncertain relationships.
• Dismissive-Avoidant attachment style: characterized by fear of intimacy, emotional unavailability, and independence, leading to superficial relationships lacking emotional connection.
• Fearful-Avoidant attachment style: marked by fear of intimacy and abandonment, resulting in emotional unavailability and difficulty forming close relationships.

Love and Intimacy

• Triangular Theory of Love: consists of three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment, which together form a complete and fulfilling romantic relationship.
• Intimacy: emotional closeness, trust, and vulnerability in a relationship.
• Passion: physical attraction, romance, and desire in a relationship.
• Commitment: long-term investment, loyalty, and dedication in a relationship.

Conflict and Communication

• Conflict styles: five different styles of handling conflict, including competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating.
• Active listening: giving full attention to partner, maintaining eye contact, and paraphrasing to ensure effective communication.
• Effective communication: expressing feelings and needs clearly, using "I" statements, and avoiding blame to resolve conflicts.

Interpersonal Attraction

• Proximity: physical closeness increases attraction and familiarity in relationships.
• Similarity: shared interests, values, and personality traits increase attraction and bonding in relationships.
• Reciprocity: mutual interest and liking increases attraction and intimacy in relationships.
• Physical attractiveness: attraction to physical appearance and characteristics plays a role in interpersonal attraction.

Social Exchange Theory

• Costs: time, effort, and resources invested in a relationship, which affect the balance of costs and rewards.
• Rewards: benefits and satisfaction gained from a relationship, which affect the balance of costs and rewards.
• Comparison level: expectations of what a relationship should provide, influencing an individual's satisfaction.
• Comparison level for alternatives: evaluation of alternative relationships, influencing an individual's satisfaction with their current relationship.

Evolutionary Psychology

• Mate selection: choosing a partner based on characteristics that increase survival and reproductive success, such as good health, youth, and attractiveness.
• Parental investment: investing resources in offspring to ensure their survival and success, influencing mate selection.
• Sexual strategies: short-term and long-term mating strategies, which have different implications for relationships and reproductive success.

Identify your attachment style and understand how it affects your relationships. Learn about secure, anxious-preoccupied, dismissive-avoidant, and fearful-avoidant attachment styles.