Glossary
Secure Attachment
What is secure attachment?
Secure attachment is confidence that an important attachment figure will be available when needed. In adult relationships, it generally involves comfort with closeness and relying on others while also maintaining independence.
How it is described
Bartholomew and Horowitz included a secure pattern in their model of adult attachment. Questionnaires that measure attachment on continuous scales generally associate security with lower anxiety and avoidance. Fraley and colleagues also identified limits in how precisely those scales measure this end of the range.
Why it matters
Security describes a pattern, not a perfect relationship. A securely attached person can still feel insecure or struggle to express a feeling. Adult questionnaires and observations of infant attachment also measure attachment in different ways.