Implications for Reward Processing in Differential Responses to Loss: Impacts on Attachment Hierarchy Reorganization

Abstract

When an attachment relationship is severed, so is homeostatic maintenance, leading to dysregulation of multiple physiological systems. Expanding upon Sbarra and Hazan’s original model, we suggest that the degree to which an individual’s physiological systems remain dysregulated depends on the state of one’s attachment hierarchy—namely, whether an individual continues to seek a lost partner for support as their primary attachment figure. To recover from the loss of a romantic partner, an individual’s attachment hierarchy must be reorganized. Our model proposes that an individual will go through a series of physiological changes before their attachment hierarchy is reorganized, which can either help or hinder their recovery. We consider the role of reward processing, including endogenous opioids, in this recovery process. Along the way, we identify mechanisms for continued dysregulation of biological systems among those who take longer to recover from a loss.