An overview of adult attachment Theory

Abstract

Bowlby and Ainsworth's attachment theory (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Bowlby, 1969/1982) is one of the most successful psychological theories of the past half century. It has generated thousands of published studies and scores of books. It has appealed to all kinds of psychologists, including developmentalists, clinicians, personality and social psychologists, and even psychologists who study groups and organizations (see Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007, for a broad overview). There are several reasons for the theory's success. First, attachment theory has roots in psychoanalysis, cognitive-developmental psychology, control systems theory, and primate ethology. No other theory is so deeply and broadly grounded in earlier conceptualizations of the social aspects of the human and nonhuman primate mind. Second, the theory was expounded unusually clearly and systematically by Bowlby in his Attachment and Loss trilogy (Bowlby, 1969/1982, 1973, 1980). Most other psychoanalytic theorists had written (perhaps deliberately) in a convoluted and opaque manner, and their concepts (e.g., the id, cathexes, the death instinct) were difficult for researchers to operationalize. Bowlby reviewed diverse bodies of research and theory, somehow integrating them seamlessly and retaining both the depth and complexity of psychoanalytic ideas without losing track of the need for empirical grounding. Even Bowlby's boldest speculations were solidly rooted in established science. Third, although Bowlby was primarily a clinician and a clinical theorist rather than a researcher, his close collaboration with Ainsworth resulted in measures and research paradigms that appealed to less clinical but empiri-Obegi, J. H., & Berant, E. (Eds.). (