Essay On Attachment Styles

Attachment plays a large role in relationships. Attachment is the relationship that one makes with a parent, sibling, friend, or partner. Tai Mendenhall defines attachment as “a special emotional relationship that involves an exchange of comfort, care, and pleasure”. Attachment is established in early childhood between a child and their caregiver which usually is their parents. A child’s attachment style usually suggests the type of attachment style someone will have as an adult. Adult attachment styles are very complex. Although they are usually set in place, attachment styles can change. There are four types of attachment styles. The first style is secure. Tai describes secure attachment as “easy to become emotionally close with others, comfortable depending on …show more content…
Many people who have an anxious/preoccupied attachment appear clingy in a relationship. One thing that makes this style different from a secure attachment is that they have a negative view of themselves and a positive view of their partner. Tai describes a person who has this type of attachment as having “high levels of emotional expressiveness, worry, and impulsivity in relationships”. The third type of adult attachment is dismissive/avoidant. People with this style are okay without a close intimate and emotional relationship. They do not like others to depend on them and they feel the need to be self-sufficient. To put it shortly, they like to be independent. A person with this style has a positive view of themselves, but they do not have a positive view of their partner. Tai describes a person with this style as someone who “tends to suppress and hide feelings and deals with rejection by distancing”. Avoidant individuals view others as untrustworthy and dishonest. This means that they rarely express their emotions and feelings. The last style is