Attachment in Platonic vs Romantic Relationships Essay

The emotional mechanism known as "attachment" has an impact on everything from how we choose partners to how successfully our relationships proceed and, unfortunately, how they end.  Early childhood attachment patterns are developed and serve as a functioning model for adult partnerships. The attachment model has an impact on how we respond to our needs and how we go about fulfilling them. When a person has a secure attachment pattern, they are confident and self-assured, and they can effortlessly engage with people while addressing their own and others' needs. When a person has an anxious or avoidant attachment pattern and chooses a partner who fits that dysfunctional pattern, they are likely to make a poor decision. As a result, analyzing these attachment patterns might assist us in better understanding our relationship's strengths and weaknesses (Attachment behavioral system).

Since the early 1990s, attachment has been studied and numerous hypotheses have been developed. Attachment research has been traced all the way back to mother-baby connections, or, more neutrally, child-caretaker ties. The attachment hypothesis, for example, was created in 1991 by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. This suggests that we are born with an intrinsic need to develop bonds with our caregivers. Within the first six months of a child's existence, this attachment is developed. The state of panic is linked to attachment. When a child is separated from his or her mother or caregiver, the child will cry or fear until they are reunited (What was John Bowlby's concept of attachment? - the handy psychology answer book). If they aren't, the child will look for other ways to feel comfortable. This pattern of behavior typically follows us into other aspects of our lives. In more modern terminology, an attachment bond is formed when a couple begins a relationship, whether it is romantic or platonic.

Secure, anxious-ambivalent, disorganized, and avoidant attachment patterns are the four types of attachment. When a parent leaves, children who have an anxious-ambivalent connection are severely disrupted. These kids can't rely on their primary caregiver to be there when they need them because of insufficient parental availability (Blank). Children with avoidant attachment shun their parents or caregivers, showing no preference between them and a stranger. Neglective or abusive caregivers may have played a major part in this attachment type. The child will learn not to seek for help in the future and will become primarily self-sufficient (Cherry 2022). Children with disorganized attachment exhibit a complex mix of behaviors that make them appear disoriented, dazed, or puzzled. They can try to get away from you or fight you. A lack of a consistent attachment pattern is probably connected to inconsistent caregiver activity. Parents may serve as both a source of comfort and a source of anxiety in such situations, resulting in disturbed behavior (Blank). Children who can trust their caregivers form secure attachments. When they are separated from them, they experience sadness, and when they are reunited, they experience joy. Even if the child is enraged, the caregiver is certain to return. When children have a strong bond with their caretakers, they can seek reassurance from them (Ganz 2022).

    Humans are also born with natural reflexes that help us build attachment ties with our caretakers. Oxytocin is a chemical messenger released in the brain in response to human interaction, although it is more visible when skin-to-skin contact occurs. This hormone-like chemical enhances bonding patterns and produces a desire for more interaction with the individuals who cause it to be released (Palmer 2002). The oxytocin levels in a mother's body causes her to become familiar with her newborn infant's specific odor and, once drawn to it, prefers it above all others'. The mother has imprinted on the baby, who shares her sensations of calm and pain relief. When the infant is born, the odor of his amniotic fluid will have already imprinted on him.  The posterior pituitary gland creates oxytocin, which is then released into the bloodstream. The electrical activity of neurons in the hypothalamus controls secretion, which allows it to be released into the bloodstream (Palmer 2002).

In a more romantic sense, attachment is the last stage of falling in love. It is the most important aspect in any relationship's long-term success. The attachment stage defines the growth of a romantic relationship from initial attraction to complete love (Cherry 2022). The two main hormones involved in the attachment period are oxytocin and vasopressin. The neuropeptides oxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP), in addition to their traditional roles in labor and lactation management and blood pressure regulation, are also involved in sexual behavior, social recognition, and stress response (Wójciak et al., 2012, 1052). After orgasm, men's vasopressin levels rise, while women's oxytocin levels rise.  Emotions of closeness are established following sexual activity Men and women may feel strongly bonded to a long-term relationship or partner while feeling desire for another person, as well as sex drive in contexts unrelated to either partner. We have the physiological capability of "loving" numerous people at once (Fisher, 2019).

The cerebral cortex covering the front section of the frontal lobe is known as the prefrontal cortex (PFC). This part of the brain has been linked to complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision-making, and social behavior regulation (Prefrontal cortex). The development, integration, and functioning of the prefrontal cortex may be influenced by a child's trauma and attachment experience, according to scientific data (Creeden, 2009). This leads us back to the question of if someone becomes emotionally attached to their partner with an anxious attachment style, how would they cope once the relationship is over? One common response is to seek for substitutes for their previous comfort in the form of other people, drugs, or even other objects. That feeling of security can be so overwhelming that your body will go to any length to reclaim it. "The available evidence for interventions for attachment disorders is limited (Turner, 2011)." Overall, it is both fascinating and frightening to see how a strong attachment to a person, thing, or even a mood may become so powerful in one's life that it can overpower our emotions.

Furthermore, the concept that loving relationships can take the form of attachment relationships has had a considerable impact on current short-term relationship research. The thought has at least three major ramifications. First and foremost, since individual romantic relationships reflect attachment relationships, we should look for similar types of personal distinctions in them. People have learned to rely on others and have others rely on them to feel comfortable in relationships. People with anxious-preoccupied attachment styles are more likely to be in unhappy long-term partnerships (Attachment insecurity and the distinction between unhappy spouses). Anxious-preoccupied connection types can necessitate feelings of abandonment and worries about one's value in the relationship. The authors of Attachment Styles and Personal Growth following Romantic Breakups: The Mediating Roles of Distress, Rumination, and the Tendency to Rebound, conducted a study to determine connections between attachment anxiety and avoidance and personal growth after a breakup, as well as breakup distress, rumination, and the tendency to rebound with new partners. Attachment anxiety was connected to increased breakup suffering, whereas avoidance was linked to less. These differences in suffering reflect anxious and avoidant people's predisposition for attachment system overexpression versus inactivation. Breakup misery was also linked to personal development (Marshall et al.).

Childhood attachment links are clearly created and continue to develop in daily relationships. To familiarize oneself with attachment links, we concentrate on attachment in partnerships. Furthermore, how individuals are compelled to form attachments to their partners or other connections in their lives, and how their separation affects them. People today clearly value the state of their relationships. The attachment, whether romantic or platonic, develops with time.