As Simpson describes it, partner buffering is a set of behaviors one partner engages in that eases the concerns or worries of the other partner, who is vulnerable given their history. Partner buffering shows if you have an insecure attachment history, you can be very well-adjusted in your adult life with the right kind of partner. Thanks to certain data from The Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, which focuses on how the way people are treated as children affects the way they behave as adults in relationships, Simpson has been able to examine this dynamic more closely. Dr. Jeffry Simpson’s book integrates theoretical and empirical advances into the theory of attachment. “We’ve been trying to understand the legacy of early experience and what role that plays in setting people up to either have a happier romantic life later on, depending on who the partner is, or a more difficult one,” he said. For example, in part of his research, Simpson and his colleagues knew going into it one person in a relationship either had a secure or insecure attachment history as a child, so they were able to use that information to compare it to what that person’s partner does to respond to him or her when dealing with conflicts in a relationship as an adult.