Don’t have a significant other? Blame your mother!
Overbearing parents breed relationship-phobic young adults, a new study claims.
Tel Aviv University researchers say “over-intrusive parenting” makes 20-somethings fear commitment.
The study of the romantic histories of 58 men and women in their 20s found that nearly a quarter were raised by controlling parents and now have “anxiety about intimacy.”
Many described their lovers as “clingy.”
The study weighed “attachment theory,” which says parents shape kids’ personalities by how they offer support in stressful times.
Being “overly intrusive,” the theory holds, makes kids fear love later in life as they try to satisfy “unmet childhood needs.”
Such children end up reluctant to share things with their partners and are likelier to suffer from physical illnesses and less likely to lead fulfilling lives, the research shows.
They also grow up to seek out lovers who will “validate them,” said Sharon Dekel, the psychologist who spearheaded the research.
Professors from Columbia University contributed to the study.