Psychology Unplugged

Holing On and Letting Go: The Psychology of Attachment

Oct 5, 2025
Delve into the fascinating world of attachment theory and its profound impact on personality development. Discover how early relationships shape our fears, loves, and intimacy styles. Learn about the groundbreaking work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation experiment that reveals attachment patterns. Examine the nuances of secure, avoidant, anxious, and disorganized attachment styles. Explore the effects of parenting styles, emotional mirroring, and the influence of social media on confidence. Uncover how attachment ties into personality disorders and the importance of repairing parental mistakes.
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INSIGHT

Attachment As The Blueprint Of Relationships

  • Attachment shapes how we learn to love, handle fear, and respond to loss from early life onward.
  • It creates a blueprint for how we interpret safety, trust, and emotional regulation in relationships.
INSIGHT

Bowlby: Attachment Is Innate Survival Wiring

  • Bowlby proposed attachment is biologically hardwired and driven by survival needs like proximity to caregivers.
  • A child's early 'working model' answers whether they are lovable and whether the world is safe.
INSIGHT

Four Attachment Styles And Adult Patterns

  • Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation revealed four attachment styles: secure, avoidant, anxious, and disorganized.
  • Each style maps to predictable adult patterns in intimacy, dependence, and emotion regulation.
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