Partnerin Tampon İşlevi: Kavramsal Bir Derleme

Öz

Bağlanma kuramı, bireylerin çocukluk dönemlerinde geliştirdikleri ilişki kalıplarını yaşam boyu sürdüğünü ortaya koymaktadır. Bu bağlamda, bireylerin bağlanma stilleri; güvenli, kaygılı ya da kaçıngan biçimlerde şekillenebilir ve bu stiller romantik ilişkilerin işleyişinde belirleyici rol oynar. Özellikle güvensiz bağlanma stillerine sahip bireylerin romantik ilişkilerinde zorlanma yaşadığı ve bu durumun romantik ilişkiye yansımalarının olduğu görülmektedir. Son yıllarda bu konuda geliştirilen yaklaşımlardan biri olan partnerin tampon işlevi (partner buffering), bireylerin güvensiz bağlanma stilinden kaynaklı zorlanmalarını partnerlerinin desteğiyle aşabileceğini öne sürmektedir. Ayrıca kavram romantik ilişkide yaşanan herhangi bir duygusal sıkıntı karşısında partnerlerden birinin bu sıkıntıyı gidermek amacıyla giriştiği destekleyici davranışları ifade etmektedir. Bu yaklaşım, bir ilişkide yalnızca bireyin değil, partnerin de aktif bir rol üstlendiğini ve ilişkisel sürecin karşılıklı düzenlemeyle şekillendiğini vurgulamaktadır. Böylece partnerler, birbirlerinin zorluklarını hafifletme, duygusal yüklerini dengeleme ve güven ortamını güçlendirme konusunda işlevsel bir rol oynayabilmektedirler. Bu derlemede, partnerin tampon işlevi kavramı ele alınmış, literatürde yer alan temel çalışmalar incelenmiştir. Amaç, romantik ilişkilerde güvensiz bağlanma stillerinin neden olduğu olumsuzlukların nasıl düzenlenebileceğini ortaya koymak ve bu yeni kuramsal yaklaşımın ilişkisel dinamiklere nasıl katkı sunduğunu açıklamaktır. Sonuç olarak partnerin tampon işlevi kavramı bireysel değil karşılıklı bir süreç olarak ele alındığında, romantik ilişkilerde güvensiz bağlanma stillerinin etkilerini ne derece azalttığını ortaya koymaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Partnerin Tampon İşlevi
• Bağlanma Stilleri
• Çift İlişkisi

Partner Buffering: A Conceptual Review

Abstract

Attachment theory posits that the relational patterns individuals develop during childhood tend to persist throughout life. In this context, attachment styles—secure, anxious, or avoidant—play a decisive role in shaping the functioning of romantic relationships. Individuals with insecure attachment styles often experience difficulties in their romantic relationships, and these challenges are reflected in relational dynamics. One of the approaches developed in recent years to address such difficulties is the partner buffering concept, which suggests that individuals may overcome challenges arising from insecure attachment through the regulatory support of their partners. The concept also refers to the supportive behaviors enacted by one partner to alleviate the other’s emotional distress in the context of a romantic relationship. This approach emphasizes that within a relationship, not only the individual but also the partner assumes an active role, and that relational processes are shaped through mutual regulation. Thus, partners play a functional role in alleviating each other’s difficulties, balancing emotional burdens, and strengthening the sense of security within the relationship. In this review, the concept of partner buffering is examined, and key studies in the literature are analyzed. The aim is to demonstrate how the negative effects of insecure attachment styles in romantic relationships can be regulated and to explain how this emerging theoretical framework contributes to relational dynamics. In conclusion, when the partner buffering function is understood as a reciprocal rather than an individual process, it becomes evident that it can substantially mitigate the impact of insecure attachment in romantic relationships.

Keywords

• Partner Buffering
• Attachment Styles
• Couple Relationship

References

1. Ainsworth MDS, Blehar MC, Waters E, Wall SN (1978) Patterns of attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. New York, Psychology Press.
2. Altman I, Taylor DA (1973) Social Penetration: The Development of Interpersonal Relationships. New York, Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
3. Arriaga XB, Eller J, Kumashiro M, Rholes WS, Simpson JA (2020) Self-efficacy and declines over time in attachment anxiety during the transition to parenthood. Soc Psychol Personal Sci, 12:658-666.
4. Atak H, Taştan N (2012) Romantik ilişkiler ve aşk. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar, 4:520-546.
5. Barrett LF, Gross JJ (2001) Emotional intelligence: a process model of emotion representation and regulation. In Emotions: Current Issues and Future Directions (Eds TJ Mayne, GA Bonanno):286-310. New York, Guilford Press.
6. Birnbaum GE (2007) Attachment orientations, sexual functioning, and relationship satisfaction in a community sample of women. J Soc Pers Relat, 24:21-35.
7. Bowlby J (1958) The nature of the child’s tie to his mother. Int J Psychoanal, 39:350-373.
8. Bowlby J (1969) Attachment and Loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. New York, Basic Books.

9. Carmichael CL, Goldberg MH, Coyle MA (2020) Security-based differences in touch behavior and its relational benefits. J Pers Soc Psychol, 12:550-560.
10. Collins NL, Ford MB, Feeney BC (2011) An attachment-theory perspective on social support in close relationships. In Handbook of Interpersonal Psychology: Theory, Research, Assessment, and Therapeutic Interventions (Eds L Horowitz, S Strack):209-232. Hoboken NJ, Wiley.
11. Collins NL, Feeney BC (2004) Working models of attachment shape perceptions of social support: evidence from experimental and observational studies. J Pers Soc Psychol, 87:363-383.
12. Collins NL, Read SJ (1990) Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples. J Pers Soc Psychol, 58:644-663.
13. Davis D, Shaver PR, Widaman KF, Vernon ML, Follette WC, Beitz K et al. (2006) “I can’t get no satisfaction”: insecure attachment, inhibited sexual communication, and sexual dissatisfaction. Pers Relatsh, 13:465-483.
14. Downey G, Freitas AL, Michaelis B, Khouri H (1998) The self-fulfilling prophecy in close relationships: rejection sensitivity and rejection by romantic partners. J Pers Soc Psychol, 75:545-560.
15. Eller J, Simpson JA. (2020) Theoretical boundary conditions of partner buffering in romantic relationships. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 17:6880.
16. Farrell L, Fry TRL, Risse L (2016) The significance of financial self-efficacy in explaining women's personal finance behaviour. J Econ Psychol, 54:85-99.
17. Feeney BC, Thrush RL (2010) Relationship influences on exploration in adulthood: the characteristics and function of a secure base. J Pers Soc Psychol, 98:57-76.
18. Fraley RC, Shaver PR (2000) Adult romantic attachment: theoretical developments, emerging controversies, and unanswered questions. . Rev Gen Psychol, 4:132-154.
19. Girme YU, Overall NC (2023) Greater average levels of relatedness need fulfilment across daily and monthly life predict lower attachment insecurities across time. J Soc Pers Relat, 42:1127-1148.
20. Girme YU, Overall NC, Simpson JA (2013) When visibility matters: short-term versus long-term costs and benefits of visible and invisible support. Pers Soc Psychol Bull, 39:1441-1454.
21. Johnson S (2019) Attachment in action-changing the face of 21st century couple therapy. Curr Opin Psychol, 25:101–104.
22. Karpuz A, Çelik Özkan G (2024) Görünmez sınırlar: mikro aldatma ve romantik ilişkilerdeki ince çizgiler. Turkish Academic Research Review, 9:188-204.
23. Kesebir S, Kavzoğlu SÖ, Üstündağ MF (2011) Bağlanma ve psikopatoloji. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar, 3:321-342.
24. Kim KJ, Feeney BC, Jakubiak BK (2018) Touch reduces romantic jealousy in the anxiously attached. J Soc Pers Relat, 35:1019-1041.
25. Le BM, Impett EA, Lemay EP Jr, Muise A, Tskhay KO (2018) Communal motivation and well-being in interpersonal relationships: an integrative review and meta-analysis. Pers Soc Psychol Bull, 144:1-25.
26. Lemay EP Jr, Dudley KL (2011) Caution: fragile! regulating the interpersonal security of chronically insecure partners. J Pers Soc Psychol, 100:681-702.
27. Lemay EP Jr, Neal AM (2014) Accurate and biased perceptions of responsive support predict well-being. Motiv Emot, 38:270-286.
28. Little KC, McNulty JK, Russell VM (2010) Sex buffers intimates against the negative implications of attachment insecurity. Pers Soc Psychol Bull, 36:484-498.
29. Mikulincer M, Shaver PR (2003) The attachment behavioral system in adulthood: activation, psychodynamics, and interpersonal processes. Adv Exp Soc Psychol, 35:53-152.
30. Mikulincer M, Shaver PR (2007) Attachment in Adulthood: Structure, Dynamics, and Change. New York, Guilford Press.
31. Mikulincer M, Gillath O, Shaver PR (2002) Activation of the attachment system in adulthood: threat-related primes increase the accessibility of mental representations of attachment figures. J Pers Soc Psychol, 83:881-895.
32. Mikulincer M, Shaver PR (2016) Attachment in Adulthood, 2nd ed. New York, Guilford Press.
33. Mohr JJ, Fassinger RE (2003) Self-acceptance and self-disclosure of sexual orientation in lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults: an attachment perspective. J Couns Psychol, 50:482-495.
34. Nakamura MS, Simpson JA, Overall NC (2020) Partner buffering in interdependent relationships: an attachment perspective. In Interdependence, Interaction, and Close Relationships (Eds LV Machia, CR Agnew, XB Arriaga): 144-159. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
35. Overall NC, Simpson JA, Struthers H (2013) Buffering attachment-related avoidance: softening emotional and behavioral defenses during conflict discussions. J Pers Soc Psychol, 104:854-871.
36. Overall NC, Simpson JA (2015) Attachment and dyadic regulation processes. Curr Opin Psychol, 1:61-66.
37. Overall NC, Pietromonaco PR, Simpson JA (2022) Buffering and spillover of adult attachment insecurity in couple and family relationships. Nat Rev Psychol, 1:101-111.
38. Park Y, Impett EA, MacDonald G, Lemay EP Jr (2019) Saying “thank you”: partners’ expressions of gratitude protect relationship satisfaction and commitment from the harmful effects of attachment insecurity. J Pers Soc Psychol, 117:773-806.
39. Pepping CA, Davis PJ, O’Donovan A (2013) Individual differences in attachment and dispositional mindfulness: the mediating role of emotion regulation. Pers Individ Dif, 54:453-456.
40. Pietromonaco PR, Carnelley KB (1994) Gender and working models of attachment: consequences for perceptions of self and romantic relationships. Pers Relatsh, 1:63-82.
41. Raposo S, Muise A (2021) Perceived partner sexual responsiveness buffers anxiously attached individuals’ relationship and sexual quality in daily life. J Fam Psychol, 35:500-509.
42. Reis HT, Clark MS (2013) Responsiveness. In The Oxford Handbook of Close Relationships Eds JA Simpson, L Campbell):400-423. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
43. Reis HT, Shaver P (1988) Intimacy as an interpersonal process. In Handbook of Personal Relationships: Theory, Research and Interventions (Eds S Duck, DF Hay, SE Hobfoll, W Ickes, BM Montgomery):367-389. Chichester, Wiley.
44. Rholes WS, Simpson JA, Orina MM (1999) Attachment and anger in an anxiety-provoking situation. J Pers Soc Psychol, 76:940-956.
45. Salvatore JE, Kuo SI, Steele RD, Simpson JA, Collins WA (2011) Recovering from conflict in romantic relationships: a developmental perspective. Psychol Sci, 22:376-383.
46. Schachner DA, Shaver PR (2004) Attachment dimensions and sexual motives. Pers Relatsh, 11:179-195.
47. Shaver PR, Mikulincer M (2002) Attachment-related psychodynamics. Attach Hum Dev, 4:133-161.
48. Simpson JA, Overall NC (2014) Partner buffering of attachment insecurity. Curr Dir Psychol Sci, 23:54-59.
49. Simpson JA, Rholes WS, Nelligan JS (1992) Support seeking and support giving within couples in an anxiety-provoking situation: the role of attachment styles. J Pers Soc Psychol, 62:434-446.
50. Simpson JA, Rholes WS (2012) Adult attachment orientations, stress, and romantic relationships. In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Vol.45 (Eds P Devine, A Plant):279-328. San Diego, Academic Press.
51. Sroufe LA, Waters E (1977) Attachment as an organizational construct. Child Dev, 48:1184-1199.
52. Stanton SCE, Campbell L (2014) Psychological and physiological predictors of health in romantic relationships: an attachment perspective. J Pers, 82:528-538.
53. Tracy JL, Shaver PR, Albino AW, Cooper ML (2003) Attachment styles and adolescent sexuality. In Adolescent Romantic Relations and Sexual Behavior: Theory, Research, and Practical Implications (Ed P Florsheim):137-159. Mahwah NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
54. Tran S, Simpson JA (2009) Prorelationship maintenance behaviors: the joint roles of attachment and commitment. J Pers Soc Psychol, 97:685-698.
55. Ybema JF, Kuijer RG, Hagedoorn M, Buunk BP (2002) Caregiver burnout among intimate partners of patients with a severe illness: an equity perspective. Pers Relatsh, 9:73-88.