Editing Attachment theory (section)

=== Assessing and measuring attachment ===

Two main aspects of adult attachment have been studied. The organization and stability of the mental working models that underlie the attachment styles is explored by social psychologists interested in romantic attachment.<ref name="Fraley, Shaver, 2000">{{cite journal |vauthors=Fraley RC, Shaver PR |year=2000 |title=Adult romantic attachment: Theoretical developments, emerging controversies, and unanswered questions |journal=Review of General Psychology |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=132–54 |citeseerx=10.1.1.471.8896 |doi=10.1037/1089-2680.4.2.132|s2cid=15620444 }}</ref><ref name="Pietro">{{cite journal |vauthors=Pietromonaco PR, Barrett LF |s2cid=17413696 |year=2000 |title=The internal working models concept: What do we really know about the self in relation to others? |journal=Review of General Psychology |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=155–75 |doi=10.1037/1089-2680.4.2.155}}</ref> Developmental psychologists interested in the individual's state of mind with respect to attachment generally explore how attachment functions in relationship dynamics and impacts relationship outcomes. The organization of mental working models is more stable while the individual's state of mind with respect to attachment fluctuates more. Some authors have suggested that adults do not hold a single set of working models. Instead, on one level they have a set of rules and assumptions about attachment relationships in general. On another level they hold information about specific relationships or relationship events. Information at different levels need not be consistent. Individuals can therefore hold different internal working models for different relationships.<ref name="Pietro" /><ref name="Rholes, Simpson, 2004">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2004 |title=Attachment theory: Basic concepts and contemporary questions |encyclopedia=Adult Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Implications |publisher=Guilford Press |location=New York |pages=3–14 |isbn=978-1-59385-047-0 |vauthors=Rholes WS, Simpson JA |veditors=Rholes WS, Simpson JA}}</ref>

There are a number of different measures of adult attachment, the most common being self-report questionnaires and coded interviews based on the [[Attachment measures#Adult Attachment Interview .28AAI.29|Adult Attachment Interview]]. The various measures were developed primarily as research tools, for different purposes and addressing different domains, for example romantic relationships, platonic relationships, parental relationships or peer relationships. Some classify an adult's state of mind with respect to attachment and attachment patterns by reference to childhood experiences, while others assess relationship behaviours and security regarding parents and peers.<ref name="crofrasha">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2008 |title=Measurement of Individual Differences in Adolescent and Adult Attachment |encyclopedia=Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research and Clinical Applications |publisher=Guilford Press |location=New York and London |pages=599–634 |isbn=978-1-59385-874-2 |vauthors=Crowell JA, Fraley RC, Shaver PR |veditors=Cassidy J, Shaver PR}}</ref>