ABSTRACT
The chapter is devoted to the phenomenon of attachment, the understanding of this construct in the context of changes to which man is subject in the era of digitization. It juxtaposes the existing theoretical concepts of attachment with contemporary research on this construct, both in terms of secure and insecure attachment. It deals with the topic of cultural attachment as a starting point for a discussion on the change that attachment undergoes in offline-online human functioning. The last part of the chapter is an invitation to consider to what extent the assumption about transferring the pattern of attachment developed in the real world to the attachment structure presented in the virtual world is fully justified. Research on how attachment is formed in the virtual world is not only discussed in the context of the use of electronic media but also other Information and Communications Technology (ICT) achievements (such as contact with avatars). It introduces the concept of E-attachment, as a proposal of a symbolic approach to the complexity of the construct in question in relation to traditional descriptions of attachment, and at the same time emphasizing its new, more complex dimension, shaped in the dynamically changing offline-online reality. The proposed model of thinking invites you to pose specific questions about the nature of attachment in the contemporary world as directions of future research in this field.
