Intimate Relationships Exam 3 Practice

Attachment styles shape how people cope with closeness and threats in romantic relationships. Insecure styles—anxious and avoidant—create patterns that undermine stability. Anxious individuals fear abandonment and seek constant reassurance, sometimes turning to others for validation or misreading partner signals, which can increase opportunities for infidelity or provoke reactive, damaging responses when infidelity occurs. Avoidant individuals minimize closeness and suppress needs, which can erode trust and satisfaction, again raising the risk of infidelity or triggering maladaptive ways of handling it. Because these dynamics undermine trust and effective communication, insecure attachment is linked to higher vulnerability to infidelity or to problematic responses when fidelity is questioned. Secure attachment tends to be associated with healthier relationship functioning and lower risk, but no pattern guarantees safety from infidelity.