Attachment dispositions and human defensive behavior

• Each attachment disposition confers adaptive advantages in promoting survival.
• Attachment anxiety relates to quicker and more accurate detection of threats.
• Attachment avoidance relates to rapid responses in times of danger.

Bowlby’s (1982) attachment theory has generated an enormous body of research and conceptual elaborations. Although attachment theory and research propose that attachment security provides a person with many adaptive advantages, during all phases of the life cycle, numerous studies indicate that almost half of the human species can be classified as insecurely attached or insecure with respect to attachment. To date, the mainstream view in attachment theory and research is that attachment insecurity incurs only disadvantages. I, however, argue that each attachment disposition – security, anxiety, avoidance – has unique adaptive advantages in promoting survival. In making this argument, I extend the scope of attachment theory and research by considering a broader range of adaptive functions of insecure attachment strategies, and present data to support my argument.