Amy Gahran, “Stepping Off the Relationship Escalator: Uncommon Love and Life”

Emotional attachment

Emotional attachment can be a feature, not a bug.

For instance, emotional attachment can support empathy — as well as motivation to work through difficulties, offer support in hard times, or commit to shared projects or goals. These things can become especially important off the Escalator, where emotional attachment can be what primarily sustains relationships which have little or no external reinforcement, such as legal marriage, a shared household or logistical or financial entanglement.