Trauma Bonding

A strong emotional attachment to a person who causes harm, formed through cycles of abuse followed by positive reinforcement (affection, apology, gifts, calm). The intermittent reinforcement creates a neurological attachment that is unusually strong, similar to the psychology behind gambling. Explains why people stay in or repeatedly return to harmful relationships despite knowing the harm. The concept was first described by Donald Dutton and Susan Painter (1981) in research on battered women, identifying power imbalance and intermittent good-bad treatment as the two key ingredients; Patrick Carnes later expanded and popularized it. Often compared to Stockholm Syndrome, though that is a popular analogy rather than the research origin.

Origin

Dutton & Painter, 1981; expanded by Patrick Carnes