Does Rearing Environment Shape Romantic Attachment Style? Using Siblings to Test for Shared Environmental Influences

Abstract

Attachment research began when John Bowlby recognized the importance of the bonds, or "attachments," formed between infants and their caregivers. In the late 1980s, psychologists extended Bowlby's research into the domain of adult romantic love by proposing that romantic love can be conceptualized as a process of becoming attached (e.g., Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Since Hazan and Shaver's (1987) initial conceptualization of romantic love as an attachment process, researchers have documented links between attachment dimensions and memories of one's relationships with parents during childhood, parental relationship status (e.g., divorced), and one's own current and past romantic relationship experiences. Research has not, however, determined the causes of individual differences in romantic attachment style. A series of studies were conducted to explore the possibility that romantic attachment style is transmitted via the family, either through shared genes or shared rearing environment.