Edelstein and colleagues assessed changes in estradiol, a steroid hormone associated with attachment and care giving. Estradiol plays important roles in parent-infant bonding, as well as romantic relationships involving adults....
"Our findings demonstrate that, for some people, viewing emotionally intimate stimuli can increase estradiol levels, but this was not the case for women who are more detached from close relationships," said Edelstein....
The fact that estradiol responses among women who are emotionally detached are similar to other women's after viewing neutral or positive stimuli suggests that emotionally detached women may be selectively inattentive to emotional intimacy.
