Phillip R. Shaver

Bio: Phillip R. Shaver is an academic researcher from University of California, Davis. The author has contributed to research in topics: Attachment theory & Object Attachment. The author has an hindex of 113, co-authored 357 publications receiving 73624 citations. Previous affiliations of Phillip R. Shaver include University of Maryland, College Park & University of California, Berkeley.

Romantic Love Conceptualized as an Attachment Process

Abstract: This article explores the possibility that romantic love is an attachment process--a biosocial process by which affectional bonds are formed between adult lovers, just as affectional bonds are formed earlier in life between human infants and their parents. Key components of attachment theory, developed by Bowlby, Ainsworth, and others to explain the development of affectional bonds in infancy, were translated into terms appropriate to adult romantic love. The translation centered on the three major styles of attachment in infancy--secure, avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent--and on the notion that continuity of relationship style is due in part to mental models (Bowlby's "inner working models") of self and social life. These models, and hence a person's attachment style, are seen as determined in part by childhood relationships with parents. Two questionnaire studies indicated that relative prevalence of the three attachment styles is roughly the same in adulthood as in infancy, the three kinds of adults differ predictably in the way they experience romantic love, and attachment style is related in theoretically meaningful ways to mental models of self and social relationships and to relationship experiences with parents. Implications for theories of romantic love are discussed, as are measurement problems and other issues related to future tests of the attachment perspective.

Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes

Abstract: J.P. Robinson, P.R. Shaver, and L.S. Wrightsman, Criteria for Scale Selection and Evaluation. D.L. Paulhus, Measurement and Control of Response Bias. F.M. Andrews and J.P. Robinson, Measures of Subjective Well-Being. J. Blascovich and J. Tomaka, Measures of Self-Esteem. M.R. Leary, Social Anxiety, Shyness, and Related Constructs. P.R. Shaver and K.A. Brennan, Measures of Depression and Loneliness. M. Seeman, Alienation and Anomie. L.S. Wrightsman, Interpersonal Trust and Attitudes Toward HumanNature. H.M. Lefcourt, Locus of Control. R. Christie, Authoritarianism and Related Constructs. E. Lenney, Sex Roles: The Measurement of Masculinity, Femininity, and Androgyny. V.A. Braithwaite and W.A. Scott, Values. Index.

Attachment in Adulthood: Structure, Dynamics, and Change

Abstract: The attachment behavioral system: basic concepts and principles -- A model of attachment-system functioning and dynamics in adulthood -- Normative attachment processes -- Measurement of attachment-related constructs in adulthood -- Individual differences in attachment-system functioning: development, stability, and change -- Attachment-related mental representations of self and others -- Attachment processes and emotion regulation -- Attachment orientations, behavioral self-regulation, and personal growth -- An attachment perspective on interpersonal regulation -- Attachment processes and couple functioning -- Relations between the attachment and caregiving systems -- Attachment and sex -- Attachment bases of psychopathology -- Implications of attachment theory and research for counseling and psychotherapy -- Applications of attachment theory and research in group and organizational settings -- Reflections on attachment security.

Handbook of attachment : theory, research, and clinical applications

Abstract: Part 1. Overview of Attachment Theory. Cassidy, The Nature of the Child's Ties. Kobak, Madsen, Disruptions in Attachment Bonds: Implications for Theory, Research, and Clinical Intervention. Shaver, Fraley, Attachment, Loss, and Grief: Bowlby's Views and Current Controversies. Weinfield, Sroufe, Egeland, Carlson, Individual Differences in Infant-caregiver Attachment: Conceptual and Empirical Aspects of Security. Bretherton, Munholland, Internal Working Models in Attachment Relationships: Elaborating a Central Construct in Attachment Theory. Part 2. Biological Perspectives. Simpson, Belsky, Attachment Theory within a Modern Evolutionary Framework. Polan, Hofer, Psychobiological Origins of Infant Attachment and Its Role in Development. Suomi, Attachment in Rhesus Monkeys. Vaughn, Bost, van IJzendoorn, Attachment and Temperament: Additive and Interactive Influences on Behavior, Affect, and Cognition During Infancy and Childhood. Fox, Hane, Studying the Biology of Human Attachment. Coan, Toward a Neuroscience of Attachment. Part 3. Attachment in Infancy and Childhood. Marvin, Britner, Normative Development: The Ontogeny of Attachment. Belsky, Fearon, Precursors of Attachment Security. Howes, Spieker, Attachment Relationships in the Context of Multiple Caregivers. Berlin, Cassidy, Appleyard, The Influence of Early Attachments on Other Relationships. Thompson, Early Attachment and Later Development: Familiar Questions, New Answers. Kerns, Attachment in Middle Childhood. Solomon, George, The Measurement of Attachment Security in Infancy and Early Childhood. Part 4. Attachment in Adolescence and Adulthood. Allen, The Attachment System in Adolescence. Zeifman, Hazan, Pair Bonds as Attachments: Reevaluating the Evidence. Feeney, Adult Romantic Attachment: Developments in the Study of Couple Relationships. Mohr, Same-sex Romantic Attachment. Mikulincer, Shaver, Adult Attachment and Affect Regulation. Magai, Attachment in Middle and Later Life. Hesse, The Adult Attachment Interview: Protocol, Method of Analysis, and Empirical Studies. Crowell, Fraley, Shaver, Measurement of Individual Differences in Adolescent and Adult Attachment. Part 5. Psychopathology and Clinical Applications of Attachment Theory and Research. DeKlyen, Greenberg, Attachment and Psychopathology in Childhood. Lyons-Ruth, Jacobvitz, Attachment Disorganization: Genetic Factors, Parenting Contexts, and Developmental Transformation from Infancy to Adulthood. Dozier, Rutter, Challenges to the Development of Attachment Relationships Faced by Young Children in Foster and Adoptive Care. Dozier, Stovall-McClough, Albus, Attachment and Psychopathology in Adulthood. Berlin, Zeanah, Lieberman, Prevention and Intervention Programs for Supporting Early Attachment Security. Slade, The Implications of Attachment Theory and Research for Adult Psychotherapy: Research and Clinical Perspectives. Fonagy, Gergely, Target, Psychoanalytic Theory from the Viewpoint of Attachment Theory and Research. Johnson, Couple and Family Therapy: An Attachment Perspective. Part 6. Systems, Culture, and Context. George, Solomon, The Caregiving System: A Behavioral Systems Approach to Parenting. K. Grossmann, K. E. Grossmann, Kindler, Zimmermann, A Wider View of Attachment and Exploration: The Influence of Mothers and Fathers on the Development of Psychological Security from Infancy to Young Adulthood. van IJzendoorn, Sagi-Schwartz, Cross-Cultural Patterns of Attachment: Universal and Contextual Dimensions. Granqvist, Kirkpatrick, Attachment and Religious Representations and Behavior. Feeney, Monin, An Attachment-Theoretical Perspective on Divorce. Rutter, Implications of Attachment Theory and Research for Child Care Policy.

Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation.

Abstract: People in different cultures have strikingly different construals of the self, of others, and of the interdependence of the 2. These construals can influence, and in many cases determine, the very nature of individual experience, including cognition, emotion, and motivation. Many Asian cultures have distinct conceptions of individuality that insist on the fundamental relatedness of individuals to each other. The emphasis is on attending to others, fitting in, and harmonious interdependence with them. American culture neither assumes nor values such an overt connectedness among individuals. In contrast, individuals seek to maintain their independence from others by attending to the self and by discovering and expressing their unique inner attributes. As proposed herein, these construals are even more powerful than previously imagined. Theories of the self from both psychology and anthropology are integrated to define in detail the difference between a construal of the self as independent and a construal of the self as interdependent. Each of these divergent construals should have a set of specific consequences for cognition, emotion, and motivation; these consequences are proposed and relevant empirical literature is reviewed. Focusing on differences in self-construals enables apparently inconsistent empirical findings to be reconciled, and raises questions about what have been thought to be culture-free aspects of cognition, emotion, and motivation.

The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.

Abstract: A hypothesized need to form and maintain strong, stable interpersonal relationships is evaluated in light of the empirical literature. The need is for frequent, nonaversive interactions within an ongoing relational bond. Consistent with the belongingness hypothesis, people form social attachments readily under most conditions and resist the dissolution of existing bonds. Belongingness appears to have multiple and strong effects on emotional patterns and on cognitive processes. Lack of attachments is linked to a variety of ill effects on health, adjustment, and well-being. Other evidence, such as that concerning satiation, substitution, and behavioral consequences, is likewise consistent with the hypothesized motivation. Several seeming counterexamples turned out not to disconfirm the hypothesis. Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation.

How Many Interviews Are Enough?: An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability

Abstract: Guidelines for determining nonprobabilistic sample sizes are virtually nonexistent. Purposive samples are the most commonly used form of nonprobabilistic sampling, and their size typically relies on the concept of “saturation,” or the point at which no new information or themes are observed in the data. Although the idea of saturation is helpful at the conceptual level, it provides little practical guidance for estimating sample sizes, prior to data collection, necessary for conducting quality research. Using data from a study involving sixty in-depth interviews with women in two West African countries, the authors systematically document the degree of data saturation and variability over the course of thematic analysis. They operationalize saturation and make evidence-based recommendations regarding nonprobabilistic sample sizes for interviews. Based on the data set, they found that saturation occurred within the first twelve interviews, although basic elements for metathemes were present as early as six...

The Benefits of Being Present: Mindfulness and Its Role in Psychological Well-Being

Abstract: Mindfulness is an attribute of consciousness long believed to promote well-being. This research provides a theoretical and empirical examination of the role of mindfulness in psychological well-being. The development and psychometric properties of the dispositional Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) are described. Correlational, quasi-experimental, and laboratory studies then show that the MAAS measures a unique quality of consciousness that is related to a variety of well-being constructs, that differentiates mindfulness practitioners from others, and that is associated with enhanced selfawareness. An experience-sampling study shows that both dispositional and state mindfulness predict self-regulated behavior and positive emotional states. Finally, a clinical intervention study with cancer patients demonstrates that increases in mindfulness over time relate to declines in mood disturbance and stress. Many philosophical, spiritual, and psychological traditions emphasize the importance of the quality of consciousness for the maintenance and enhancement of well-being (Wilber, 2000). Despite this, it is easy to overlook the importance of consciousness in human well-being because almost everyone exercises its primary capacities, that is, attention and awareness. Indeed, the relation between qualities of consciousness and well-being has received little empirical attention. One attribute of consciousness that has been much-discussed in relation to well-being is mindfulness. The concept of mindfulness has roots in Buddhist and other contemplative traditions where conscious attention and awareness are actively cultivated. It is most commonly defined as the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present. For example, Nyanaponika Thera (1972) called mindfulness “the clear and single-minded awareness of what actually happens to us and in us at the successive moments of perception” (p. 5). Hanh (1976) similarly defined mindfulness as “keeping one’s consciousness alive to the present reality” (p. 11). Recent research has shown that the enhancement of mindfulness through training facilitates a variety of well-being outcomes (e.g., Kabat-Zinn, 1990). To date, however, there has been little work examining this attribute as a naturally occurring characteristic. Recognizing that most everyone has the capacity to attend and to be aware, we nonetheless assume (a) that individuals differ in their propensity or willingness to be aware and to sustain attention to what is occurring in the present and (b) that this mindful capacity varies within persons, because it can be sharpened or dulled by a variety of factors. The intent of the present research is to reliably identify these inter- and intrapersonal variations in mindfulness, establish their relations to other relevant psychological constructs, and demonstrate their importance to a variety of forms of psychological well-being.

Conservation of resources. A new attempt at conceptualizing stress.

Abstract: Major perspectives concerning stress are presented with the goal of clarifying the nature of what has proved to be a heuristic but vague construct. Current conceptualizations of stress are challenged as being too phenomenological and ambiguous, and consequently, not given to direct empirical testing. Indeed, it is argued that researchers have tended to avoid the problem of defining stress, choosing to study stress without reference to a clear framework. A new stress model called the model of conservation of resources is presented as an alternative. This resource-oriented model is based on the supposition that people strive to retain, project, and build resources and that what is threatening to them is the potential or actual loss of these valued resources. Implications of the model of conservation of resources for new research directions are discussed.