Synthesizing a vast body of empirical research and organizing it around a comprehensive conceptual model, this book is recognized as the definitive reference on adult attachment. The authors explain how what began as a theory of child development is now used to conceptualize and study nearly all aspects of social functioning across the lifespan, including mental representations of self and others, emotion regulation, personal goals and strivings, couple relationships, caregiving, sexuality, psychopathology, psychotherapy, and organizational behavior. The origins and measurement of individual differences in adult attachment are examined, as is the question of whether and how attachment patterns can change.

New to This Edition:
*Reflects major advances, including hundreds of new studies.
*Clarifies and extends the authors' influential model of attachment-system functioning.
*Cutting-edge content on genetics and on the neural and hormonal substrates of attachment.
*Increased attention to the interplay among attachment and other behavioral systems, such as caregiving and sexuality.
*Expanded discussion of attachment processes in counseling and psychotherapy.
*Additional coverage of leadership, group dynamics, and religion.

Mario Mikulincer, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Provost of the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya in Israel. His research interests include attachment styles in adulthood, terror management theory, personality processes in interpersonal relationships, evolutionary psychology, human learned helplessness and depression, trauma and posttraumatic processes, coping with stress, qualitative research on emotional states, and mental rumination and self-focused attention. Dr. Mikulincer is a fellow of the American Psychological Society and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He is a recipient of Israel's EMET Prize for Art, Science, and Culture.

Phillip R. Shaver, PhD, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. He has published several books, including Handbook of Attachment, Third Edition, and over 250 journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Shaver's research focuses on attachment, human motivation and emotion, close relationships, personality development, and the effects of meditation on behavior and brain. He is a fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science and is past president of the International Association for Relationship Research, which honored him with its Distinguished Career Award. He has also received Distinguished Career Awards from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Stockholm, Sweden. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.