Psychology: Human Relationships

 

 

Introduction

Human beings depend on one another for their well-being both physically and psychologically. Individuals are born with needs for love, friendship, and a sense of belonging. On the other hand, human beings have a fear of being lonely, being rejected, and being disapproved by other individuals. Human beings are social creatures that depend on one another to survive.

According to Meyer et al. (2015), human beings are steered biologically to connect or get attached to another individual. For infants to survive after being born, they have to get attached to someone who is their parent or their caregiver. Through this attachment, the caregiver can satisfy the emotional and physical needs of the infant. There are four types of attachment styles which include anxious-avoidant which foregoes the dismissive style. There is a secure style that remains the same, anxious resistant, disorganized disoriented, and the fearful style. The attachment styles were applied to intimate relationships implying how people relate emotionally to their partners.

Avoidance and being anxious are behaviors that are connected to the attachment that produce the four styles of attachment (Meyer et al. 2015). Anxiety is associated with how an individual perceives themselves in the relationship. People who are more anxious in terms of the romantic relationship may fear to be rejected and may interpret their self -worth through the relationship. Avoidance is a feature that is associated with the perceptions of their romantic partner. People who have more of this feature may not wish to be involved in a relationship because they may have a fear of intimacy and be not be comfortable with emotional attachments. Increased anxiety and avoidance both define the fearful style. Increased avoidance with less anxiety defines the contemptuous style. Increased anxiety and less avoidance define the preoccupied style. Less anxiousness and less avoidance define a secure pattern.

To manage their emotions, individuals who are in intimate relationships and have different patterns of attachment use different strategies. Meyer et al. (2015) state that the first strategy occurs when an individual is undergoing emotional or physical intimidation, and they confide in the person they are attached to for solace, and closeness. In the other strategy, an individual is aware of and able to manage their distress through the availability and secure attachment figures. Individuals whose attachment is secure can feel defended. The last strategy is when an individual tries to get assistance and accessibility to the person they are attached to but minimizes the suffering when disappointed by trying to get close to the attachment person.  Persons get to know of the intimidation, disloyalty, and disconnections and therefore reduced attempts to avoid closeness, intimacy and depending on closeness.

The anxious and avoidant styles of an individual in a relationship reduce physical and psychological space from the person of attachment when the person does not respond to their needs. These individuals escalate negative effects, worsen negative memories, and allow stress to affect their life. (Meyer et al. 2015). How an individual regulates their emotions whenever there are conflicts between partners, has an impact on the quality of the interaction for them.

Conclusion.

Human beings need to be loved and they also have a fear of being rejected. This explains the different attachment styles that different individuals have and use to relate to their partners. Some tend to be anxious in the relationship, others are avoidant, and others are secure. Each of the styles has an impact on the outcome of the relationship. Individuals who use the secure style to relate to their partner have a more lasting and satisfaction in their romantic relationship

References

Meyer D.D, Jones M., Rorer A., and Maxwell K. (2015) Examining the Associations Among

Attachment, Affective State, and Romantic Relationship Quality: The Family Journal:

Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families 2015, Vol. 23(1) 18-25