Romantic Attachment Theory Essay

1626 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Attachment theory in romantic relationships

Understanding and evaluating different theories regarding romantic attachments within the perimeters of psychology. Theories and ideologies as to how people fall in love and the reasoning behind this is one of the broadest subjects one can come across in psychology. To make things easier theorists and psychologists have broken all these romantic attachment reasons into categories. The following essay will be tackling two of various major theories that are known to be the reason behind romantic attachments. The argument formed is that the theories objections or opposite actions are just as successful for romantic attachment. The two theories that will make up this essay are; “Interpersonal theories of attraction” and “Cross culture theories …show more content…

According to most if not all psychologists it has been proven that we as humans have the need to fulfil our psychological needs; Maslow’s theory. Under interpersonal theories of attractions one could easily describe this idea by using the scaling method. So this means that we as humans weigh out certain situations and judge them from smallest to biggest and choose largest cut of scale, according to what best suits ones needs and wants. So basically partners evaluate each-others characters and every point under your partner’s character is rated on a scale of one to ten and ranked according to your character. Therefore when a woman chooses her partner or vice versa she or he chooses them according to their highest forms of similarities. This though is just a general, basic and very underlining explanation of this, the whole idea and definition of “interpersonal theories of attractions” gets deeper. With that being said when one closely looks at all the opinions or points under interpersonal theories of attractions it is easy to spot out the main goal of these theories. The main goal being ‘input and output’ or ‘costs and income’. So the in a nut shell interpersonal theories of attractions say that humans choose their partners according to the benefits and detriments of the relationship. The higher the benefits, regardless the theory, the more likely the person is

Show More
Related

  • Jungle Fever Research Paper

    1593 Words  | 4 Pages

    "Romantic love has been the norm since eighteenth-century Europe, when we began connecting marriage with romance." If people did not love each other, then there would be no relationship. Sure, they could try to make it happen, but what would be the point of having the relationship in the first place? If they are trying to escape from something and are not actually motivated by love, they are just creating a new entity to eventually want to escape from. Only love will cause people to remain and stay together in a relationship. According to a study done at Grand Valley State University, titled "The Social Psychology of Love and Attraction", it's true that "shared traits including similarity, religion, ethnic group and race were important features of the other person for over half the participants [in the study]. Each of these traits is linked to a commonality in background. People are subconsciously drawn to others who have the same familial background." This study shows that people do consider factors such as race and cultural identity when seeking a potential partner for a relationship. However, the study also shows that the most important factor in attracting a potential mate is personality. The second most is physical attractiveness. These traits are more important in deciding a potential mate than anything

    Read More

  • Can Attachment Theory Explain All Our Relationships, By Bethany Saltman

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Attachment theory could be considered one of the most important aspects of how we develop starting out as an infant. In the article “Can Attachment Theory Explain All Our Relationships” By: Bethany Saltman, she explains to us her personal experience and struggles raising her daughter, and her experience as a child and her own attachment. There are three types of attachment types, secure, avoidant, and resistant and the trouble with today is that only 60% of people are considered “secure”. There also subgroups that are called disorganization. Attachment will often pass generation to generation, so it is likely that if someone has an insecure attachment because of the way they were raised they will struggle to create a secure attachment for their own children. Although it can be reversed and changed with the

    Read More

  • Critical Evaluationg of Psychological Theories of Interpersonal Attraction

    1998 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wilson (1986) argues that sexual attraction can be explained through an understanding of ‘survival efficiency’. By way of ‘bargaining’ between men and women, our relationships have become defined and characterised. It is in the ‘Interest’ of males to impregnate as many women as possible because he is capable of producing many sperm, whereas the women’s best chance of her genes surviving is to ensure the healthy survival of the relatively few offspring she is capable of mothering... ... middle of paper ... ... In Gender Learning, Pacific Grove, USA: Brooks Cole Ridley, M. (1993)

    Read More

  • Differences in Relationships Between Western and Non-Western Cultures

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    Differences in Relationships Between Western and Non-Western Cultures Most of the research on interpersonal attraction has been carried out in Western societies, especially the United Kingdom and United States. This limitation is very important as it argues that the behaviour and communication need to be understood within the context in which they occur, and this context considerably differs from one culture to another. Therefore we can readily accept that there are large differences in interpersonal relationships between cultures. Its quite easy to assume that what is true in our own culture about interpersonal attraction is likely to be true in other cultures as well. However, the factors influencing whether someone is seen as physically attractive can sometimes be by the current standards of the social group, which are considered sub-cultures.

    Read More

  • Essay On Attachment Theory

    1794 Words  | 4 Pages

    For example, Magai & Passman (1997) discovered a strong relationship between secure attachments and emotional well-being of middle aged adults, which extends to individuals later in life. Understanding the role of attachment and its psychosocial impact during later life is an important area that needs further research. In regards to TMT, close relationships offer security, protection, and give meaning to life (Mikulincer, Florian, & Hirschberger, 2003).

    Read More

  • Sexual Strategies Theory: Choosing a Mate

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article the researchers were trying to challenge the sexual strategies theory. It seems as though sexual strategies theory is different genders having different preferences when choosing a mate, in the case of long and short term relationships. The hypothesis at first was that both boys and girls felt that attractiveness was important. Girls would be more inclined to date someone because of social status and that boys would be the complete opposite. They also expected that social status would only become important when the person is attractive and social status would be important no matter if the person is attractive on no for girls. The last thing that was tested was according to Ha (2009) “the potential moderator effects of self-perceived mate value on adolescents desire to date with an attractive person.” Also according to Ha (2009) “They hypothesized that boys and girls preference for attractiveness and high social status would be independent of their own perceived mate value.” The information used to come to result of the theory has been known to be collect using surveys ...

    Read More

  • Attachment Theory Essay

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his original thesis, Bowlby (1969) never formalized an extension of his theory of attachment beyond childhood, but he clearly implied an extension should be sought. Perhaps his clearest statements regarding this extension involved his suggestions that people change to whom they are primarily attached as they age. He argued that in adolescents it was likely that peers played an increasingly important role in their attachment lives, and in adulthood, people would become primarily attached to a spouse or mate. Only in the last thirty years have scholars made a serious attempt to extend the ideas in attachment theory to adult relationships. One influential attempt came from Hazan and Shaver’s (1987) assertion that the attachment system is at least partially responsible for the adult romantic bond. Indeed multiple parallels have been drawn between the behavior in infant-caregiver interactions and adult romantic partner interactions. Zeifman and Hazan (1997) offer a fairly extensive account of the commonalities in adult romantic and infant-caregiver attachment. They note that cer...

    Read More

  • Attachment Theory

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cassidy, J., & Shaver, P.R. (1999). Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Read More

  • Attachment Patterns Essay

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    Attachment patterns of a child are developed by the use of strange situation protocol where the attachment of a child is assessed between 12 months and 20 months of the child development. This procedure is not clinical and is used only to supplement the clinical diagnosis procedure called Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), which will be discussed at a later stage of this essay. In the strange situation protocol, a child, and the caregiver are put in an environment with varying conditions and the attachment behaviour of the child is observed. Through this protocol there are there organized attachment categories, which are observed in a child, which include secure attachment, avoidant/attachment and resistant/

    Read More

  • The Attachment Theory

    1811 Words  | 4 Pages

    Attachment is an emotional bond that is from one person to another. The attachment theory is a psychological, an evolutionary and an ethological theory that is concerned with relationships between humans, specifically between mother and infant. A young infant has to develop a relationship with at least one of their primary caregivers for them to develop socially and emotionally. Social competence is the condition that possesses the social, emotional and intellectual skills and behaviours, the infant needs these to success as a member of society. Many studies have been focused on the Western society, but there are many arguments to whether or not this can be applicable to other cultures, such as the poorer countries.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Sexual Permissiveness

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    This paper describes the potential study in how the societal norm of sexual permissiveness hampers the elusive attraction of “playing hard to get” within the genders. This is important in the advancement of social psychology in terms of situational factors influencing gender attraction qualities. This potential study may advance the concept of situational factors sometimes overpowering attribution factors when a population has a surplus of marriageable women, leading to a societal norm of sexual permissiveness and delayed marriages (Gutentag, and Secord, 1983). Hatfield, Walster, Piliavin, and Schmidt (1973) described “playing hard to get” as an attribution quality in that the women who is hard to get is a more desirable catch than the women who is too eager for an alliance. This paper analyzes studies and literatures on the impact of elusive attraction, sexual temptations, and situational factors that create attraction between the genders. It examines the elusive phenomenon, when does “playing hard to get” increase romantic attraction, sex differences in succumbing to temptations and the sex ratio question. After this examination, it will suggest the need for a study in how the societal norm of sexual permissiveness hampers the elusive attraction of “playing hard to get” within the genders.

    Read More

  • The Internet's Effects on Social and Cognitive Abilities

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lenton, A. P., & Francesconi, M. (2010). How humans cognitively manage an abundance of mate options. Psychological Science, 21(4), 528-533.

    Read More

  • The Evolution of Human Mating

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    It may seem obvious to some why people mate, however there are many facets to human mating. Psychology has shown that reasons for mating have gone beyond the scope of love and physical attractiveness. People may search for mates who resemble archetypical images of the opposite-sex parent, mates with characteristics that are either complementary or similar to one's own qualities, or mates with whom to make an exchange of valuable resources (Buss 238). Although these theories play a key role in understanding patterns in human mating preferences, evolutionary psychology and sexual selection theory provide more concrete frameworks for explaining human mating.

    Read More

  • Journalism Of Attachment Essay

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this era of globalization, news reporting is no longer just a means of communications, but it has also developed into a tool for change. Prominent journalists like Julian Assange, Nick Davies, Sir Charles Wheeler and many more has changed the landscape and outcomes of information, war and news reporting itself. But Martin Bell has challenged the fundamentals of journalism that is to be balanced and impartial with what he calls ‘Journalism of Attachment’. He even coined the phrase, ‘bystanders’ journalism’ for continuing the tradition of being distant and detached (Bell 1997), which he criticizes “for focusing with the circumstances of violence, such as military formations, weapons, strategies, maneuvers and tactics” (Gilboa 2009, p. 99). Therefore it is the aim of this essay to explain whether it is ethical for reporters to practice what Martin Bell calls the Journalism of Attachment by evaluating its major points and its counterarguments, and assessing other notions of journalism such as peace journalism.

    Read More

  • Speed Dating Essay

    1374 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bd 3. Kurzban, R., & Weeden, J. (2004, August 24). HurryDate: Mate preferences in action. Retrieved June 9, 2015, from http://www.sas.upenn.edu/psych/PLEEP/pdfs/2005 Kurzban & Weeden EHB.pdf 4.

    Read More

More about Romantic Attachment Theory Essay

Open Document