Attachment and Spiritual Maturity 24
when there was an inability to re-evoke the feelings associated with negative experiences
in childhood. Thirdly, the presentation of an over-idealized picture of parents was
viewed as insecure because of the fear of portraying reality. Finally, continuing
preoccupation with parents associated with confused, incoherent concepts, and
unresolved anger was labeled insecure. It was shown that healthy personality
development is related to the access ofmemories of painful experiences. These memories
enable individuals the ability to come to terms with them and to integrate them into a
positive view of the self (Fonagy, Steele, & Steele, 1991).
Main et al. (1985) and her colleagues discovered adult discourse strategies in the
AAI that paralleled Ainsworth's infant classifications. Through detailed analysis of
mothers' AAI transcripts, Main identified dismissing, free to evaluate, and preoccupied
'states ofmind' that match the infants' classifications avoidant, secure, and
anxious/resistant, respectively (Main et al., 1985). These parallels between infant
behavior and adult discourse point to a continuity in strategies for regulating the
attachment system. Kobak et al. (1993) was able to show this same continuity of strategies between
adult relationships and childhood strategies. He showed that affectional bonds provide a
way of specifying common principles that organize both infants' attachment behavior and
adults' processing ofattachment information. Despite enormous developmental change,
attachment remains a goal-corrected system that continually monitors the availability of
the caregiver (Bowlby, 1969; Bretherton, 1980; Waters & Dean, 1985). When adults
sense a discrepancy between desired availability and current circumstances, they will
strive through a variety of processes, to reduce this discrepancy. Kobak et al. (1993)
argued that such strivings are guided by working models of attachment figure response
Kobak et al. (1993) described these attachment model responses and labeled them.
These childhood responses were then correlated with adult attachment responses in the
AAI. The findings suggest that when a child's working model predicts effective caregiver
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