secure attachment
attachments rooted in trust and marked by intimacy
preoccupied attachment
attachments marked by a sense of one's own unworthiness and anxiety, ambivalence, and possessiveness
dismissing avoidant attachment
style of attachment in which people are low on anxiety but high on avoidance; they tend to view partners as unreliable, unavailable, and uncaring
fearful avoidant attachment
style of attachment in which people have both high anxiety and high avoidance; they have low opinions of themselves and keep others from getting close
commitment
A pledge or promise
communal relationships
relationships in which people's primary concern is being responsive to the other person's needs
exchange relationships
Relationships governed by the need for equity (i.e., for an equal ratio of rewards and costs)
companionate love
the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined
affectionate love
Also called companionate love; love that occurs when individuals desire to have another person near and have a deep, caring affection for the person.
investment model
the theory that people's commitment to a relationship depends not only on their satisfaction with the relationship, but also on how much they have invested in the relationship that would be lost by ending it
relationship-enhancing style of attribution
tendency of happy couples to attribute their partner's good acts to internal factors and bad acts to external factors
distress-maintaining style of attribution
tendency of unhappy couples to attribute their partner's good acts to external factors and bad acts to internal factors
self-acceptance
regarding yourself as being a reasonably good person as you are