Attachment Theory and Research: New Directions and Emerging Themes

Jeffry A. Simpson, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Doctoral Minor in Interpersonal Relationships at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on adult attachment processes, human mating, idealization in relationships, empathic accuracy in relationships, social influence in relationships, and how interpersonal experiences earlier in life affect adult health and relationship outcomes. He is a recipient of the Berscheid-Hatfield Award for Midcareer Achievement in the Study of Relationships from the International Association for Relationship Research and of the Carol and Ed Diener Award for Midcareer Achievement in Social Psychology from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Dr. Simpson is the President of the International Association for Relationship Research.

W. Steven Rholes, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Psychology at Texas A&M University, where he has served as both department head and associate dean. He has conducted research in social cognition, children’s social development, and adult attachment. In 1992, Dr. Rholes, with Jeffry A. Simpson, published one of the first studies to confirm predictions about avoidant attachment style, using behavioral observations as evidence. For more than 20 years, the impact of attachment styles on emotional support sought and provided by members of romantic couples has been the central focus of his research, with more recent research focusing on couples during the transition to parenthood.