Is Secure Attachment the Antidote to Everything that Ails Us?

Abstract

There are two remarkable things about the empirical findings summarized by Mikulincer and Shaver. One is that meaningful benefits emerge not only from actual secure attachments in real-life relationships, but also from the mere activation of attachment-connoting con cepts into working memory. The second remarkable finding is that these beneficial effects are found across such a diverse range of meaningful outcomes. The cog nitive priming of attachment security makes people healthier. It leads them to be more compassionate and helpful to others. It reduces prejudice. Future research will, no doubt, discover yet more benefits that emerge from the simple priming of attachment security. I'm tempted to believe that a sense of secure attachment may be the psychological equivalent of a broadband antibiotic-a sort of universal antidote to everything that ails us. But first, before I yield to this idealistic temptation, perhaps I should ask a couple of questions.