one of the greatest questionnaires in the history of 20th century psychology had a modest start in the pages of a local Colorado newspaper the Rocky Mountain News in July 1985 the work of two University of Denver psychologists Cindy Hassan and Phillip shaver the questionnaire asked readers to identify which of three statements most closely reflected who they were in love to hugely improve our chances of thriving in relationships we should dare to take the same test option a I find it relatively easy to get close to others and uncomfortable depending on them and having them depend
on me I don't worry about being abandoned or about someone getting too close to me option B I find that others are reluctant to get as close as I would like I often worry that my partner doesn't really love me or won't want to stay with me I want to get very close to my partner and this sometimes scares people away option C I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to others I find it difficult to trust them completely difficult to allow myself to depend on them I'm nervous when anyone gets too close and often others
want me to be more intimate than I feel comfortable being which of these options applies to you a B or C behind the scenes the options refer to the three main styles of relating to other people first identified by the English psychologist John Bowlby the inventor of attachment theory in the 1950s and 60s option a signals what is known as a secure pattern of attachment whereby love and trust come easily option B refers to what's known as the anxious pattern of attachment where one longs to be intimate with others but is continuously scared of letdown
and often precipitates crises in relationships through counterproductive ly aggressive Avia option c is what is known as the avoidant pattern of attachment where it feels much easier to avoid the dangers of intimacy through solitary activities and emotional withdrawal questionnaires in newspapers are rarely of much use but Hassan and shavers is the momentous exception if there is one thing we should do to improve our relationships it is to know ahead of time which of the three categories we predominantly belong to a B or C and to deploy the knowledge in love so as to warn ourselves
and others of the traps we might fall into we then need a little training because half of us at least are not secure in love we belong in the camps of either the avoidant or the anxious and we have to complicate matters an above-average propensity to fall in love with someone from the other damaged side thereby aggravating our insecurities and defences in the process here is a brief list of what avoidance and anxious types should keep in mind in their relationships if you are an avoidant with someone anxiously attached well recognize the extent to which
you check out emotionally when things are intense particularly when there is an offer of closeness recognize how you will tend to prefer sex and closeness with strangers and how nervous you will be around cuddles and kissing you probably don't want to keep the light on either watch are you sabotage long-term intimacy have compassion that you are afraid of what you really want think back to how in your past closeness would have been frightening because people let you down and observe how you adopted a strategy of removal to protect yourself you are hurt not bad remind
yourself that the present is different from the past and that you are ruining the present by bringing to it fear Laden dynamics that don't actually belong there it may feel like your partner is being aggressive and ill-tempered with you for no reason they are at heart upset and unable to express their needs in any other way they want you and that's why they are behaving as they are look beneath their nagging and their accusations and believe in their underlying goodwill when they attack you see they're longing for love do that very frightening thing extend reassurance
and explain calmly the appeal of the cave if you are an anxious person with an avoidant partner here are some other things to bear in mind things are not necessarily as bad as they seem the other person's quiet might just be quiet not a lack of love their distance isn't necessarily meanness it might be their way of maintaining equilibrium on the other hand you are not demented or needy to want more but your way of dealing with what you legitimately need may be aggravating things hugely you might be triggering your partner by asking for intimacy
too directly and also probably with too much anger realize that you need to tread lightly and to be a little distant in requesting closeness your partner isn't mean or freakish merely damaged as a you and that's very normal a full forty percent of the population are in your positions either in securely attached or anxiously attached knowing whether we can be classed as secure avoidant or anxious in love should be a basic fact we grasp about ourselves the next step is to accept with grace that if we are either avoidant or anxious we're going to need
considerable emotional schooling to get out of scratchy patterns and stand a chance of building up a good enough relationship our relationships book calmly guides us with calm and charm through the key issues of relationships to ensure that success in love need not be a matter of good luck for more click the link now
