Definition
In the normative course of development, individuals gradually transfer attachment functions from the child-caregiver relationship to peer relationships, principally to romantic relationships. According to the prototype hypothesis, early attachment experiences influence the development and quality of subsequent close relationships. Drawing on this hypothesis, it has commonly been thought that individual variations in romantic attachment partly reflect individual variations in early caregiving experiences.
Introduction
Romantic attachment denotes an individual’s stance regarding attachment-related aspects of romantic relationships, as manifest, for example, in the ways in which one uses the partner, and allows the partner to use oneself, as a safe haven for regulating distress, and as a base of security when exploring. Individual variations in romantic attachment have been found to exert...
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Hammarlund, M., Forslund, T., Granqvist, P. (2019). Romantic Attachment and the Prototype Hypothesis. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3591-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3591-1
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