Cindy Hazan | |
|---|---|
| Education | University of Denver (BA, 1982) University of Denver (MA, 1986) University of Denver (PhD, 1988) |
| Known for | Attachment in adults |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | Cornell University |
Cynthia Hazan is an American psychologist whose interest is human mating and pair bonding, known for her influential research on attachment in adults. [1] [2] [3] [4] Hazan is credited (along with Phillip Shaver) as discovering that adult relationships share similarity with a child's attachment to a parent. [4] [5] [6] She currently teaches at Cornell University, where she was awarded the Andrew H. & James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professorship for excellent undergraduate education. [7] [8]
Hazan holds a BA in psychology, and an MA and PhD in social and personality psychology, all from the University of Denver. [1] [2]
Most of Hazan's research has used the framework of ethological attachment theory. [2] This theory was initially developed by John Bowlby, and then Mary Ainsworth, focusing on how infants behave with their caregivers. [4]
Hazan's research on the subject of adult attachment began in 1987, with the journal article "Romantic Love Conceptualized as an Attachment Process" which expanded the concept of "attachment" to adult relationships. [9] [3] [10] The article (coauthored with Phillip Shaver) was so influential that it became one of the top ten most-cited articles in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . [3] In 2012, Hazan & Shaver were awarded the Scientific Impact Award by the Society of Experimental Social Psychology for their work on this. [3]
She developed the course "Human Bonding" at Cornell University, which she has taught for over 25 years. [3] The psychologist Lisa Diamond has commented on Hazan's influence over her own career (having taken the course), saying "By the end of the course, I was completely besotted with the science of intimate relationships". [11]
Dr. Hazan is an internationally recognized scholar whose seminal work on affectional bonds helped define a new field of study in social and personality psychology. Her 1987 article (coauthored with Phillip R. Shaver) "Romantic Love Conceptualized as an Attachment Process" provided a theory, a methodology, and an empirical foundation for an approach to understanding the thoughts, behaviors, and emotions that humans call "love." The attachment approach proved a valuable tool for scientists studying all aspects of adult relationships, making the 1987 article one of the ten most-cited articles published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. In 2012, Drs. Hazan and Shaver were awarded the Scientific Impact Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology in recognition of the profound influence of their work.