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Adult Attachment Patterns and Social Support Processes

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Sourcebook of Social Support and Personality

Abstract

In this chapter, we explore the links between individual differences in adult attachment and social support processes. First, we review attachment theory and research, and the theoretical and empirical links between attachment and social support in adulthood. We then present a model of the processes through which attachment may impact upon various aspects of social support. Drawing on this model, we describe how we expect each of four distinct attachment patterns to be associated with social support processes, incorporating case studies to illustrate our hypotheses. Finally, we discuss the limitations of our model.

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Bartholomew, K., Cobb, R.J., Poole, J.A. (1997). Adult Attachment Patterns and Social Support Processes. In: Pierce, G.R., Lakey, B., Sarason, I.G., Sarason, B.R. (eds) Sourcebook of Social Support and Personality. The Springer Series in Social/Clinical Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1843-7_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1843-7_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-1845-1

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