Intersubjectivity and romantic attachment in newly committed couples

Intersubjective perspective is developed around a relational matrix which implies an on-going co-construction of intrapsychic and interpersonal elements that are dynamics part of a unique open system: the caregiver-child dyad (Stern, 1995; Beebe & Lachmann, 2002). This coordination of the Self with a significant Other is also explored in the field of romantic relationships; thus, we apply in this study the intersubjectivity construct to the study of close relationships. In this way, our interest is to explore the possible connections between couple intersubjectivity and romantic attachment in order to identify the main factors implied in couple maintenance and quality. According to Bowlby definition (1969, 1982), attachment system is focused to maintain closeness to a significant person which is able to give support and protection in dangerous situations. Moreover, Bowlby (1969) theorized that a couple relationship might lead to the "co-construction" of a new attachment representational model, based on the repeated interactions with the romantic partner throughout the course of their adult life. In this direction, we evaluated the attachment style using the ECR-R (Fraley, Waller & Brennan, 2000) and Couple Intersubjectivity Scale (Chiarolanza, 2015) on a sample of 81 newly committed couples (max 3 years of relation). Our findings showed that romantic attachment could be considered as a predictor of intersubjectivity. So, the possibility of tuning emotions and feelings in the couple is facilitated by considering own partner as a secure base.