50 pages 1 hour read

Amir Levine, Rachel S.F. Heller

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2010

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Part 1, Chapters 3-4

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Your Relationship Toolkit – Deciphering Attachment Styles”

Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary: “Step One: What Is My Attachment Style?”

Chapter 3 begins with a questionnaire designed to help determine the reader’s attachment style. Levine and Heller provide an overview of the history of the questionnaire, which is based on the Experience in Close Relationship (ECR) questionnaire. They include a modified version to the questionnaire within the text and supply a link to the “fully validated adult attachment questionnaire” for readers to reference (40).

The questionnaire asks readers to mark statements about their romantic relationships as either true in column A, false in column B, or neither in column C. Each column corresponds to an attachment style. After completing the questionnaire, readers add up their responses in each column and identify their attachment style. A majority of responses in column A represents an anxious attachment style while a majority of responses in column B represents a secure attachment style. Column C represents an avoidant attachment style. At the end of the questionnaire, Levine and Heller provide an overview of each style. Those with an anxious attachment style crave intimacy with partners but struggle to overcome feelings of inadequacy. Those with a secure attachment style exude warmth and navigate relationships with grace and open communication.