Enhancing the "broaden-and-build" cycle of attachment security as a means of overcoming prejudice, discrimination, and racism

Attachment theory emphasizes both the importance of supportive relationship partners, beginning in infancy, for developing a sense of security, and the adaptive benefits of this sense. In this article, we consider bolstering the sense of attachment security as a means of reducing and overcoming prej...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Attachment & human development 2022-06, Vol.24 (3), p.260-273
Main Authors: Mikulincer, Mario, Shaver, Phillip R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attachment
Attitude
Humans
intergroup relations
Object Attachment
prejudice
Racism
security
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Attachment theory emphasizes both the importance of supportive relationship partners, beginning in infancy, for developing a sense of security, and the adaptive benefits of this sense. In this article, we consider bolstering the sense of attachment security as a means of reducing and overcoming prejudice, discrimination, and racism. We review basic concepts of attachment theory, focusing on what we call the broaden-and-build cycle of attachment security. We review studies showing that the sense of attachment security is associated with reduced prejudice and less discriminatory attitudes and behavior toward people outside one's own social or racial group. Finally, we propose theoretical ideas and research suggesting that attachment security can protect against the adverse psychological effects of others' acts of prejudice and discrimination toward oneself. We conclude that, despite large gaps in the research literature, attachment theory is a useful conceptual framework for understanding and combatting prejudice, discrimination, and racism.
ISSN:1461-6734
1469-2988
DOI:10.1080/14616734.2021.1976921