THEORIES SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

The Different Types of

Attachment Styles
By Kendra Cherry Updated on May 26, 2022

Medically reviewed by David Susman, PhD

Attachment styles are characterized by

di2erent ways of interacting and behaving
in relationships. During early childhood,
these attachment styles are centered on
how children and parents interact.

In adulthood, attachment styles are used

to describe patterns of attachment in
romantic relationships. The concept of
attachment styles grew out the
attachment theory and research that
emerged throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
Today, psychologists typically recognize
four main attachment styles.

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Attachment Styles
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234 - What’s Your Attachment
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Amy Morin interviews Amir Levine about
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What Is Attachment?
Attachment is a special emotional
relationship that involves an exchange of
comfort, care, and pleasure. The roots of
research on attachment began with
Freud's theories about love, but another
researcher is usually credited as the father
of attachment theory.

John Bowlby devoted extensive research to

the concept of attachment, describing it as
a "lasting psychological connectedness
between human beings." [1] Bowlby shared
the psychoanalytic view that early
experiences in childhood are important for
in]uencing development and behavior
later in life.

Our early attachment styles are

established in childhood through the
infant/caregiver relationship. In addition
to this, Bowlby believed that attachment
had an evolutionary component; it aids in
survival. "The propensity to make strong
emotional bonds to particular individuals
[is] a basic component of human nature,"
he explained.

1 Characteristics of
Attachment
Bowlby believed that there are four
distinguishing characteristics of
attachment:

Proximity maintenance
maintenance: The desire
to be near the people we are attached
to.

Safe haven
haven: Returning to the
attachment bgure for comfort and
safety in the face of a fear or threat.

Secure base
base: The attachment bgure
acts as a base of security from which
the child can explore the surrounding
environment.

Separation distress
distress: Anxiety that
occurs in the absence of the
attachment bgure.

Bowlby also made three key propositions

about attachment theory. First, he
suggested that when children are raised
with conbdence that their primary
caregiver will be available to them, they
are less likely to experience fear than
those who are raised without such
conviction.

Secondly, he believed that this conbdence

is forged during a critical period of
development, during the years of infancy,
childhood, and adolescence. The
expectations that are formed during that
period tend to remain relatively
unchanged for the rest of the person's
life. [1]

Finally, he suggested that these

expectations that are formed are directly
tied to experience. In other words,
children develop expectations that their
caregivers will be responsive to their
needs because, in their experience, their
caregivers have been responsive in the
past.

Related: Warning Signs of Reactive

Attachment Disorder in Children

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2 Ainsworth's Strange
Situation Assessment
During the 1970s, psychologist Mary
Ainsworth further expanded upon
Bowlby's groundbreaking work in her
now-famous "Strange Situation" study. [2]
The study involved observing children
between the ages of 12 to 18 months
responding to a situation in which they
were brie]y left alone and then reunited
with their mother. Ainsworth's Strange
Situation Assessment followed this basic
sequence:

1. Parent and child are alone in a room.

2. The child explores the room with

parental supervision.

3. A stranger enters the room, talks to

the parent, and approaches the child.

4. The parent quietly leaves the room.

5. The parent returns and comforts the

child.

Based on these observations, Ainsworth

concluded that there were three major
styles of attachment: secure attachment,
ambivalent-insecure attachment, and
avoidant-insecure attachment.

Researchers Main and Solomon added a

fourth attachment style known as
disorganized-insecure attachment. [3]
Numerous studies have supported
Ainsworth's conclusions and additional
research has revealed that these early
attachment styles can help predict
behaviors later in life.

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3 Attachment Through
Life
Before you start blaming relationship
problems on your parents, it is important
to note that attachment styles formed
during early childhood are not necessarily
identical to those demonstrated in adult
romantic attachments. A great deal of
time has elapsed between infancy and
adulthood, so intervening experiences also
play a large role in adult attachment
styles.

Those described as ambivalent or avoidant

during childhood can become securely
attached as adults, while those with a
secure attachment in childhood can show
insecure attachment patterns in
adulthood. Basic temperament is also
thought to play a partial role in
attachment.

So what role might factor such as divorce

or parental discord play in the formation
of attachment styles? In one study, Hazan
and Shaver found that parental divorce
seemed unrelated to attachment style. [4]

Instead, their research indicated that

the best predictor of adult attachment
style was the perceptions that people
have about the quality of their
relationships with their parents as
well as their parent's relationship
with each other.

But research in this area does indicate that

patterns established in childhood have an
important impact on later relationships.
Hazan and Shaver also found varied
beliefs about relationships amongst adults
with di2ering attachment styles.

Securely attached adults tend to believe

that romantic love is enduring.
Ambivalently attached adults report
falling in love often, while those with
avoidant attachment styles describe love
as rare and temporary.

While we cannot say that early attachment

styles are identical to adult romantic
attachment, research has shown that early
attachment styles can help predict
patterns of behavior in adulthood.

4 Secure Attachment
Characteristics
Children who are securely attached
generally become visibly upset when their
caregivers leave and are happy when their
parents return. When frightened, these
children will seek comfort from the parent
or caregiver.

Contact initiated by a parent is readily

accepted by securely attached children and
they greet the return of a parent with
positive behavior. While these children
can be comforted to some extent by other
people in the absence of a parent or
caregiver, they clearly prefer parents to
strangers.

Parents of securely attached children tend

to play more with their children.
Additionally, these parents react more
quickly to their children's needs and are
generally more responsive to their
children than the parents of insecurely
attached children.

Studies have shown that securely attached

children are more empathetic during later
stages of childhood. [5] These children are
also described as less disruptive, less
aggressive, and more mature than
children with ambivalent or avoidant
attachment styles.

As Children
Separates from parent

Seeks comfort from parents

when frightened

Greets return of parents with

positive emotions

Prefers parents to strangers

As Adults
Have trusting, lasting
relationships

Tend to have good self-esteem

Share feelings with partners and

friends

Seek out social support

While forming a secure attachment with

caregivers is normal and expected, as
Hazan and Shaver have noted, it doesn't
always happen. Researchers have found a
number of di2erent factors that
contribute to the development (or lack
thereof) of secure attachment, particularly
a mother's responsiveness to her infant's
needs during the brst year of a child's life.

Mothers who respond inconsistently or

who interfere with a child's activities tend
to produce infants who explore less, cry
more, and are more anxious. Mothers who
consistently reject or ignore their infant's
needs tend to produce children who try to
avoid contact.

As adults, those who are securely attached

tend to have to trust, long-term
relationships. Other key characteristics of
securely attached individuals include
having high self-esteem, enjoying
intimate relationships, seeking out social
support, and an ability to share feelings
with other people.

In one study, researchers found that

women with a secure attachment
style had more positive feelings about
their adult romantic relationships
than other women with insecure
attachment styles. [6]

How many people classify themselves as

securely attached? In a classic study by
Hazan and Shaver, 56% of respondents
identibed themselves as secure, while
25% identibed as avoidant, and 19 percent
as ambivalent/anxious. [7]

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5 Ambivalent
Attachment
Characteristics
Children who are ambivalently attached
tend to be extremely suspicious of
strangers. These children display
considerable distress when separated from
a parent or caregiver, but do not seem
reassured or comforted by the return of
the parent. In some cases, the child might
passively reject the parent by refusing
comfort, or may openly display direct
aggression toward the parent.

According to Cassidy and Berlin,

ambivalent attachment is relatively
uncommon, with only 7 to 15 percent of
infants in the United States displaying this
attachment style. [8] In a review of
ambivalent attachment literature, Cassidy
and Berlin also found that observational
research consistently links ambivalent
insecure attachment to low maternal
availability. As these children grow older,
teachers often describe them as clingy and
over-dependent.

As Children
May be wary of strangers

Become greatly distressed when

parents leave

Do not appear comforted when

parents return

As Adults
Reluctant to become close to
others

Worry that their partner does

not love them

Become very distraught when

relationships end

As adults, those with an ambivalent

attachment style often feel reluctant about
becoming close to others and worry that
their partner does not reciprocate their
feelings. This leads to frequent breakups,
often because the relationship feels cold
and distant.

These individuals feel especially

distraught after the end of a relationship.
Cassidy and Berlin described another
pathological pattern where ambivalently
attached adults cling to young children as
a source of security.

6 Avoidant Attachment
Characteristics
Children with avoidant attachment styles
tend to avoid parents and caregivers. This
avoidance often becomes especially
pronounced after a period of absence.

These children might not reject attention

from a parent, but neither do they seek
out comfort or contact. Children with an
avoidant attachment show no preference
between a parent and a complete stranger.

As Children
May avoid parents

Do not seek much contact or

comfort from parents

Show little or no preference for

parents over strangers

As Adults
May have problems with
intimacy

Invest little emotion in social

and romantic relationships

Unwilling or unable to share

thoughts or feelings with others

As adults, those with an avoidant

attachment tend to have dinculty with
intimacy and close relationships. [9] These
individuals do not invest much emotion in
relationships and experience little distress
when a relationship ends.

They often avoid intimacy by using

excuses (such as long work hours) or may
fantasize about other people during sex.
Research has also shown that adults with
an avoidant attachment style are more
accepting and likely to engage in casual
sex. Other common characteristics include
a failure to support partners during
stressful times and an inability to share
feelings, thoughts, and emotions with
partners.

Related: What Is Dismissive Avoidant

Attachment?

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7 Disorganized
Attachment
Characteristics
Children with a disorganized-insecure
attachment style show a lack of clear
attachment behavior. Their actions and
responses to caregivers are often a mix of
behaviors, including avoidance or
resistance. These children are described as
displaying dazed behavior, sometimes
seeming either confused or apprehensive
in the presence of a caregiver.

At Age 1
Show a mixture of avoidant and
resistant behavior

May seem dazed, confused, or

apprehensive

At Age 6
May take on a parental role

Some children may act as a

caregiver toward the parent

Main and Solomon proposed that

inconsistent behavior on the part of
parents might be a contributing factor in
this style of attachment. [10] In later
research, Main and Hesse argued that
parents who act as bgures of both fear
and reassurance to a child contribute to a
disorganized attachment style. Because
the child feels both comforted and
frightened by the parent, confusion
results.

A Word From Verywell

While adult romantic attachments may
not exactly correspond with early
childhood attachments, there is no
question that our earliest relationships
with caregivers play a role in
development. By better understanding the
role of attachment, you can gain a greater
appreciation of how the earliest
attachments in your life may impact adult
relationships.

Read Next: A Father's Adult Attachment

Style May Be Directly Related to Anxiety in
Children

10 Sources

By Kendra Cherry
Kendra Cherry, MS, is the author of
the "Everything Psychology Book
(2nd Edition)" and has written
thousands of articles on diverse
psychology topics. Kendra holds a
Master of Science degree in
education from Boise State
University with a primary research
interest in educational psychology
and a Bachelor of Science in
psychology from Idaho State
University with additional
coursework in substance use and
case management.

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