Synthesizing a vast body of empirical research and organizing it around a comprehensive conceptual model, this book is recognized as the definitive reference on adult attachment. The authors explain how what began as a theory of child development is now used to conceptualize and study nearly all aspects of social functioning across the lifespan, including mental representations of self and others, emotion regulation, personal goals and strivings, couple relationships, caregiving, sexuality, psychopathology, psychotherapy, and organizational behavior. The origins and measurement of individual differences in adult attachment are examined, as is the question of whether and how attachment patterns can change.
New to This Edition:
*Reflects major advances, including hundreds of new studies.
*Clarifies and extends the authors' influential model of attachment-system functioning.
*Cutting-edge content on genetics and on the neural and hormonal substrates of attachment.
*Increased attention to the interplay among attachment and other behavioral systems, such as caregiving and sexuality.
*Expanded discussion of attachment processes in counseling and psychotherapy.
*Additional coverage of leadership, group dynamics, and religion.
Mario Mikulincer, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Academic Director of the Israel Center for Addiction and Mental Health at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research interests include attachment processes in adulthood, terror management theory, personality processes in interpersonal relationships, evolutionary psychology, human learned helplessness and depression, trauma and posttraumatic processes, and coping with stress. Dr. Mikulincer is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He is a recipient of Israel’s EMET Prize for Art, Science, and Culture and of the Berscheid–Hatfield Award for Distinguished Mid-Career Achievement from the International Association for Relationship Research.
Phillip R. Shaver, PhD, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. He has published numerous books, including Handbook of Attachment, and over 400 journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Shaver’s research focuses on attachment, human motivation and emotion, close relationships, personality development, and the effects of meditation on behavior and brain. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science and is past president of the International Association for Relationship Research, from which he received the Distinguished Career Award. He has also received an honorary doctorate from Stockholm University and Distinguished Career Awards from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
