Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Attachment, 4 of 100, or "Why 'Your Mom' Jokes are so painful"

"Our sense of self is closely dependant on the few intimate attachment relationships we have or have had in our lives, especially our relationship with the person who raised us.  These potent relationships, whether secure or insecure, loving or neglectful, have a profound significance for us and we need to protect our idealised perception of them vigorously; they may not be much, but they're all we've got!

Humans seem to have evolved an innate capacity to detect anything that could destabilise these vital attachment relationships, and unconscious defences seem to be activated..."

- Richard Bowlby, from his Introduction to The Making and Breaking of Affectional Bonds by John Bowlby (2004)

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