On Attachment #202: How Attachment Styles Influence Friendship Dynamics
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Aug 19, 2025 Dive into the intriguing world of how attachment styles shape our friendships. Explore why feeling anxious or hurt in friendships can be just as profound as in romances. Discover the dynamics of anxious, avoidant, and fearful avoidant individuals and how they influence interactions. Learn the importance of honest communication for overcoming conflicts and deepening connections. Reflect on your own friendship experiences and find strategies to navigate your emotional needs with clarity and compassion.
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Attachment Concepts Extend To Friendships
- Attachment theory wasn't originally about friendships but its core lessons apply to platonic bonds too.
- Viewing attachment broadly reveals how coping strategies and wounds shape friendships as well as romances.
Anxiety Drives Over-Investment
- Anxiously attached friends often over-invest and perceive imbalance in effort and reciprocity.
- They read cancellations or distance as personal rejection and fear exclusion or not belonging.
Avoidant Patterns Favor Surface-Level Bonds
- Dismissive-avoidant friends often keep many casual, low-depth relationships that suit their preference for space.
- They avoid emotional reliance and retreat when friendships feel too intense or one-sided.