Attachment Approaches (6)

On to Adults

Attachment is a theory of communication and environment: a baby's personality depends on what happens, not who he or she is biologically, or any supposed drives. It is dependent on observation rather than literary questioning and theorising. It is also a theory that extends to adult behaviour, so that romantic love is a behaviour-adaptive system (Hazan and Shaver).

• Secure adults with confident freedoms (60%)
• Anxious-resistant adults who are clingy and wonder if they are loved (20%)
• Avoidant adults who like distance in the relationship denying dependency (20%)

This relies much on adult answers and therefore subjective impressions than observations!

The question is, are the two connected? Is the baby experience with the carer and more a determinant of the adult relationship that takes place? (Hazan and Shaver 1987) (Feeney & Noller, 1990)

This question is somewhat speculative.