Avery Fansler

Dr. Jizi
UWRT 1104
04 November 2016

Double Entry Journal

Citation:

Weston, Rebecca. "Insecure Attachment Mediates Effects of Partners' Emotional Abuse

and Violence on Women's Relationship Quality." Journal of Family Violence 23.6 (2008):
483-93. Print.
Source: Quote (Page# or Paragraph #)

Responses

It may be that emotional and physical

abuse have a negative effect on attachment
similar to the demonstrated effects on
mental health, self-esteem and selfconcept.

That is a great point to bring attachment into

the picture. The attachment in a relationship
is something that could always have a very
positive effect, or a very negative effect.

Alternatively, like other relationship factors,

perceptions of partners emotional abuse
and violence may vary with womens
attachment style, affecting the way they
perceive and interpret mens abuse, thereby
mediating effects on relationship outcomes.

Some women know when to stand up for

themselves, but many women who are in
emotionally abusive relationships are scared
to leave, or feel as if they may hurt their
partner if they do leave, therefore the
attachment is preventing them from leaving,
and allowing the abuse to continue.

Emotional abuse may have a greater

impact than violence in relationship
outcomes. For example, emotional abuse,
but not violence, predicted divorce in one
sample (Jacobson et al. 1996).

I have to agree with the statement because

emotional abuse is something that I feel like
can be tolerated longer, but can do greater
damage on an individual, thus leading to a
divorce.

In general, the relationships of securely

attached individuals are less turbulent and
more satisfying than those insecurely
attached individuals (e.g., Collins and read
1990; Simpson et al. 1999).

I wonder if a womans attachment style is just

something that they are born with, or if it is
based on growing up seeing their parents
attachment style towards each other.
Probably their parents attachment style,
which may be why those who grow up with a
violent household, end up being violent as the
start their own family.

They [individuals with insecure attachment

styles] trust their partners less than those

I agree, if a woman is insecure about herself

and about the relationship she has with her

who are securely attached (Hazan and

Shaver 1987) and tend to be more jealous
(Hazan and Shaver 1993).

man, jealousy can be a huge issue and can

becoming controlling of the relationship.

The well-documented pervasive effects of

abuse on women may extend to the
attachment style. Thus, experiencing
violence and emotional abuse may alter
aspects of womens attachment style.

A woman attachment to their partner may

change based on the fact if they experience
violence, or emotional abuse. I suppose the
woman will become less attached to their
partner.

Alternatively, womens attachment style

likely affects the way they perceive and
interpret their partners violence and
emotional abuse. These attachment-based
perceptions and interpretations would then
affect relationship outcomes.

Above, I feel like the woman would leave the

relationships, but if another woman have a
different attachment style, they may not leave
the relationship because of what she feels are
her needs.

For example, partner violence has been

associated with low self-esteem, negative
self-views, and stress among women.

The last article I read said that stress would

be a huge determining factor in emotional
abuse.

Yet, Follingstad et al. (1990) and Marshall

(1999) showed that emotional abuse had a
more severe impact than physical violence.
Others have found emotional abuse alone
impacts womens general functioning
(Tolman and Bhosley 1991), self-esteem
(Marshall 1999), and mental health
(American Psychological Association 1996;
National Research Council 1996).

I feel like the mental health of women who

receive emotional abuse is constant tested
due to the abuse, which is what might lead to
the attachment issues. A women may not be
mental stable and may find it hard to stand on
her own because of this instability.

Because insecurely attached individuals

report less relationship satisfaction (Collins
and Read 1990) and quality (freeney and
Noller 1990) than those who are securely
attached, a history of abuse may affect
future relationship quality.

Again, may point was proven about if

someone had experience negative views of
attachment when they were little, then they
already have the insecure attachment style,
thus bringing those prior problems into their
ongoing relationship.