Adult Attachment: A Concise Introduction to Theory and Research is an easy-to-read and highly accessible reference on attachment that deals with many of the key concepts and topics studied within attachment theory. This book is comprised of a series of chapters framed by common questions that are typically asked by novices entering the field of attachment. The content of each chapter focuses on answering this overarching question.
Topics on the development of attachment are covered from different levels of analysis, including species, individual, and relationship levels, working models of attachment, attachment functions and hierarchies, attachment stability and change over time and across situations, relationship contexts, the cognitive underpinnings of attachment and its activation of enhancement via priming, the interplay between the attachment behavioral system and other behavioral systems, the effects of context on attachment, the contribution of physiology/neurology and genetics to attachment, the associations/differences between attachment and temperament, the conceptualization and measurement of attachment, and the association between attachment and psychopathology/therapy.
TEDx talk: The Power of (Secure) Love by Omri Gillath: https://youtu.be/PgIQv-rTGgA
- Uses a question-and-answer format to address the most important topics within attachment theory
- Presents information in a simple, easy-to-understand way to ensure accessibility for novices in the field of attachment
- Covers the main concepts and issues that relate to attachment theory, thus ensuring readers develop a strong foundation in attachment theory that they can then apply to the study of relationships
- Addresses future directions in the field of attachment theory
- Concisely covers material, ensuring scholars and professionals can quickly get up-to-speed with the most recent research
Omri Gillath, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and the Hoglund Brain Imaging Center at the University of Kansas. His work focuses on human pair-bonding and the effects of personality on cognition and behavior. He uses diverse methodologies including neuroimaging, gene mapping, and advanced cognitive techniques to explore the associations between attachment style and cognitive performance, sexual motivation and behavior, mating strategies, and caregiving behavior. He has published extensively on the topic of interpersonal relationships and relationship neuroscience in leading academic journals (e.g., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience), and has given invited lectures at national and international conferences on these topics. Dr. Gillath is an associate editor of Personal Relationships, a member of the editorial board of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, and Journal of Research in Personality, and a fellow of the Society for Experimental Psychology. Dr. Gillath won the 2012 IARR Gerald R. Miller Award for Early Career Achievement, the 2011 Caryl Rusbult Close Relationships Early Career Award, the Sage 2010 Young Scholar Award, and the J. Michael Young academic advisor award at the University of Kansas.
Gery C. Karantzas is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Deakin University. He is currently the convenor of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Psychology of Relationships Interest Group. He has published numerous studies in the area of close personal relationships with a specific interest in investigating couple and family relationships during transitions and in adult attachment. He received his PhD from La Trobe University in 2008. His research activities have been funded by grants from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Research Medical Council, the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, the Office of Learning and Teaching, and beyondblue. He is the recipient of numerous university and national awards for his research and teaching into the science of relationships including the 2010 Australian Psychological Society Early Career Teaching Award and the 2011 Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for Distinguished Teaching.
R. Chris Fraley is a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his PhD from the University of California, Davis in 1999 in Social-Personality Psychology. In 2007 he received the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology in the area of Individual Differences. Fraley's research involves the study of attachment processes in close relationships, personality dynamics and development, and research methods. He is also broadly interested in issues at the interface of social cognition, development, evolution, and psychodynamics.
