The attachment construct has been held as the principle means for explaining variation in the impact of relationship disruption. The construct has been criticized recently and there is evidence that theorists would welcome its reformulation. In the present study attachment is reformulated as an outcome of "symbolic interdependence," an organismic construct describing the extent to which a couple has constructed a shared view of the world. Predictions which follow from this reformulation were tested in a longitudinal study of break-ups within a sample of premarital couples.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Timothy Stephen (1984) studied this question.