Key points

Attachment styles are not fixed for life.

Attachment styles can change depending on context.

We can have different attachment styles with different people.

Adult attachment styles are derived from the work of John Bowlby , Mary Ainsworth, and other researchers throughout the 1960s-90s who identified distinct patterns of emotional responses in babies to their mothers when the latter left and returned to a room. These patterns were categorized into infant attachment styles (secure, insecure-avoidant, and insecure-resistant; later, disorganized) that were subsequently developed and refined into adult attachment styles.

Today, adult attachment styles are commonly categorized as the following (with synonyms and explanations of behavioral trademarks):

Secure (aka free or au

See Full Page