Enhancing the “Broaden and Build” Cycle of Attachment Security in Adulthood: From the Laboratory to Relational Contexts and Societal Systems

Abstract

Attachment theory emphasizes both the importance of the availability of caring, supportive relationship partners, beginning in infancy, for developing a sense of safety and security, and the beneficial effects of this sense of security on psychosocial functioning and physical and mental health. In this article, we briefly review basic concepts of attachment theory, focusing on the core construct of attachment security and present evidence concerning the ways in which this sense can be enhanced in adulthood. Specifically, we review findings from laboratory experiments that have momentarily enhanced the sense of attachment security and examined its effects on emotion regulation, psychological functioning, and prosocial behavior. We then review empirical findings and ideas concerning security enhancement by actual relationship partners, non-human symbolic figures, and societal systems in a wide variety of life domains, such as marital relationships, psychotherapy, education, health and medicine, leadership and management, group interactions, religion, law, and government.

Pathways to connection: An intensive longitudinal examination of state and dispositional hope, day quality, and everyday interpersonal interaction

“…Hope theorists argue that secure interpersonal relationships provide a foundation upon which hope can be built (Snyder & Feldman, 2000). This perspective also resonates with recent work linking attachment theory to the “broaden and build” cycle activated by rewarding social and relational interaction (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2020). Positive daily interactions might help create the emotional and cognitive conditions necessary for hopeful thinking to flourish, just as hope might support people’s ability to experience positive daily interaction.…”

“…Thus, using experience sampling, we tested if hope is linked to moments of relational connection in daily life. Not only might hope facilitate connection through the achievement of relational goals (Merolla, 2014), but connection might also facilitate hope by contributing to perceptions of a secure base (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2020). H9: Dispositional pathways hope (H9a) and state pathways hope (H9b) are positively associated with feelings of relational connection throughout the day. H10: Dispositional agency hope (H10a) and state agency hope (H10b) are positively associated with feelings of relational connection throughout the day. …”

When a Head Is about to Burst: Attachment Mediates the Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Migraine

“…Patients with a higher level of attachment insecurity (especially those with a high level of both anxiety and avoidance) can be very persistent and insistent in their pain complaints. The integration of an attachment-based approach in the treatment of patients with attachment insecurity can help to better understand their problematics and manage treatment [92,93]. A psychodynamic approach, with identifying of conflicts in close relationships and negative emotional states which contribute to the daily distress in people with migraine, has been shown to be effective in improving the disease parameters [94].…”

Fostering Existential Maturity to Manage Terror in a Pandemic

“…Child observation studies support that this kind of development of internal self structure, including the capacity for ''affect management,'' possible because of the parent figure. 44 The infant appears to learn from the parent figure how to ''metabolize'' the essential existential fear of being separated from birth, and the child continues to learn how to recognize and navigate all kinds of sensations thereafter. Psychologists and others widely recognize the panoramic influence of this style on people's approach to living and relating well beyond childhood into the rest of their lives.…”