Comparing Attachment Theory and Buddhist Psychology

Abstract

We focus on some similarities and differences between attachment theory and Buddhist psychology. Both systems highlight the importance of giving and receiving love and of minimizing anxious clinging or avoidant aloofness and suppression of unwanted mental experiences. However, the two differ in their conception of security in adulthood. Attachment theory suggests that security is rooted in mental representations of a self that has been reliably loved and cared for in close relationships. In Buddhist psychology, security is conceptualized as freedom from static or rigid views of self and others, and is cultivated by countering, often through formal meditation practices, our habitual tendencies of reifying or solidifying aspects of our ever-changing phenomenal experience. “Nonattachment” or release from mental fixations is a key construct in this process. It is empirically distinct from its Western counterpart of felt security. We discuss implications of the two systems for a unified model of optimal adult development and beneficial interventions involving social and introspective routes to reduced defensiveness, greater self- and other-oriented compassion, greater mental clarity, and more prosocial behavior.