CRITIQUING ATTACHMENT THEORY: A Collectivist Society Perspective

DESCRIPTION

Does your upbringing create an attachment style?
Do avoidant people feel love?
How do I become more secure in my attachment?
How much of attachment theory is applicable to any person outside of the Americas and Europe?

Attachment theory, developed in Western, individualist contexts, posits that early childhood attachment templates transfer to adult romantic relationships. This session tests the universality of this model by comparing collectivist societies to individualist societies. We hypothesize that in the collectivist context, attachment transfer will be minimal due to structural incompatibility between parent-child and romantic attachment roles.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. At the end of the session, attendees will be able to critically examine the origins of attachment theory in post-WWII Western Europe/USA and its foundational reliance on specific racial and socioeconomic populations.
2. At the end of the session, attendees will be able to analyze the claim that Western attachment patterns (e.g., Ainsworth’s Strange Situation) are universal benchmarks of “security,” identifying how this excludes cultural practices like communal caregiving.
3. At the end of the session, attendees will be able to define how Eurocentric parenting ideals (e.g., heavy emphasis on individual dyadic relationships) can lead to the pathologizing of interdependence seen in many non-white cultural frameworks.

AVAILABLE ON

ErosCoaching	AASECT CE · Standard Access	Access Now
The Elsewheres	AASECT CE · Collective Access	Access Now
Forbidden Tickets	Community Access	Access Now
Eventbrite	Open Access	Access Now

Learn More about AASECT.

Access Key
Standard Access: Full course access with AASECT Continuing Education credits. Ideal for licensed clinicians and certified professionals fulfilling CE requirements (First-come, first-served).
Collective Access: Full course access with AASECT Continuing Education credits, offered at a lower price point to support decolonial participation across professional communities (First-come, first-served).
Community Access: Full course access without AASECT CE credits, designed for BIPOC, queer, kink+, and sex-positive community members engaging outside of a clinical or certification context.
Open Access: Registration open to all, including international students. No AASECT CE credits issued. Suitable for anyone curious about the subject matter regardless of professional background.

EDUCATOR BIO