I. Attachment Formation in Adult Attachment Relationships Ii. Theoretical Framework

From an unknown other to an attachment figure: How do mental representations change as attachments form? Abstract Mental representations are the building blocks that guide affect, thought, and behaviors within adult attachment relationships. To date, research has focused on how individual differences in mental representations meaningfully relate to a person's chronic attachment style and the attachment dynamics of a specific relationship, as well as their effects on perception, behavior, physiology, well-being, and other consequential outcomes. In the present paper, we address a fundamentally different question: How do mental representations change as two individuals develop an attachment bond in adulthood? We propose a social cognitive framework for understanding how mental representations of others and self change over time as a function of various relationship turning points and lead to the formation of a full-fledged attachment bond. We propose that the positive psychological and physical outcomes, as well as the emotion regulatory effects, observed in pair bonds occur as a result of the two people forming over time a linked or " coupled " cognitive system. This " coupled " or " interlocked " system reflects enduring changes at the level of mental representations in the minds of both individuals, including elaboration and increased chronic accessibility of the partner mental representation, increased interconnectedness between self and partner representation, and automaticity of behavioral scripts. We review literature from diverse fields, including social and cognitive psychology and neuroscience, and integrate it within this social cognitive approach. We end by identifying questions and avenues for future research. 3 In adulthood, long-term pair bonds confer a number of beneficial psychological and physical benefits. Irrespective of level of relationship satisfaction, partners are capable of regulating each other's physiological systems, daily mood and affective states, as well as eating and sleeping patterns (Selcuk, Zayas, & Hazan, 2010). Most important, partners in long-term pair-bonds are capable of alleviating physiological and psychological distress and promoting feelings of security in each other—such emotion regulation benefits is one of the defining features of attachment bonds. A key and well-supported assumption in the literature is that these observable manifestations of adult pair bonds reflect the functioning of mental representations, or internal working models. Mental representations are the residue of past experiences with the particular partner, as well as experiences from other past and present relationships experienced directly or indirectly, stored in memory. Mental representations are powerful because they implicitly affect perceptions and expectations …