The Ex-Factor: Attachment Anxiety and Social Comparisons Across Romantic Relationships

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simran Hingorani ◽  
Rebecca T. Pinkus
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Social Comparison ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Social Comparisons ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Self Perceptions ◽  
Current Partner

AbstractIndividuals high in attachment anxiety often experience persistent negative self-perceptions and heightened sensitivity toward perceived relationship threats. These characteristics may extend into past romantic relationships. This study examined whether individual differences in attachment style predict self-evaluations and relationship social comparison frequency. Two hundred and fifty-nine individuals rated themselves, their partner, and their current partner's ex-partner (CPE) or their ex-partner's current partner (ECP) on several dimensions. Individuals high in attachment anxiety experienced more relationship uncertainty but were not less satisfied than individuals low in attachment anxiety. They also made more comparisons in general and to relationships involving an ex-partner, and viewed themselves less positively than they viewed their CPE/ECP. Findings are discussed with respect to the influence that past relationships might hold over anxiously attached individuals’ current relationships.

Touch me just enough: The intersection of adult attachment, intimate touch, and marital satisfaction

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1945-1967
Author(s):  
Samantha A. Wagner ◽  
Richard E. Mattson ◽  
Joanne Davila ◽  
Matthew D. Johnson ◽  
Nicole M. Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Marital Quality ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Marital Functioning ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Physical Affection ◽  
The Individual

Nonsexual physical affection plays an important role in marital functioning, but not all individuals are satisfied with the intimate touch they receive from their partner. Differences in adult attachment tendencies may be one way to understand the individual differences in touch satisfaction. Using a sample of 180 different-sex married couples, we explored how attachment associates with touch satisfaction in marriage in a cross-sectional investigation. Consistent with predictions, we found that husbands with greater attachment anxiety were less satisfied with touch, except when engagement in routine affection was relatively high, but especially when low. Lower routine affection diminished touch satisfaction regardless of attachment style, but greater avoidance appeared to buffer this effect for wives. However, wives with greater avoidance had husbands who reported lower touch satisfaction. We also explored the interplay of touch satisfaction and marital quality, finding that they associated positively, even when routine affection is statistically controlled. Lastly, our exploratory analyses suggest that touch satisfaction may serve as a mediating link between anxiety and marital quality. Overall, our findings support that attachment insecurities associate with engagement in and satisfaction with touch and that these processes are relevant to the overall marital quality.

Women's Adult Romantic Attachment Style and Communication by Cell Phone with Romantic Partners

2012 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 281-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Weisskirch
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Cell Phone ◽  
Cell Phones ◽  
Romantic Attachment ◽  
Romantic Partners ◽  
Text Messages ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Romantic Partner ◽  
Attachment Avoidance

Cell phones have become important communication media for individuals in romantic relationships. The frequency of and methods used for communication may vary by adults' style of romantic attachment. Female university students ( N = 31) currently in romantic relationships responded to a questionnaire. They estimated the frequency of calls and text messages received from and made to their romantic partners and completed the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised instrument, a measure of attachment anxiety and avoidance. Also, the participants reviewed their cell phones' memories and provided accurate frequency of communication to and from the romantic partner. Attachment anxiety was associated with more estimated text messages sent to and received from the romantic partners and actual text messages sent to and received from the romantic partners. Attachment avoidance was associated ( r = −.38) with fewer estimated calls made to the romantic partners and fewer actual calls made to the romantic partners ( r = −.34).

scholarly journals The Link between Attachment Style and Self-Reported Olfactory Ability: A Preliminary Investigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1367
Author(s):  
Amy Shell ◽  
Anna Blomkvist ◽  
Mehmet K. Mahmut
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Romantic Relationship ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Relationship Maintenance ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Olfactory Ability

Individuals in healthy romantic relationships gain significant benefits to their psychological wellbeing and physiological health. Notably, the majority of relationship research has focused on how adult attachment influences these relationship outcomes while the role of olfaction remains an emerging research focus. The aim of the current study was to bring together these seemingly unrelated factors–attachment and olfaction–in an online quasi-experimental design. The participants were 401 undergraduate students, predominantly females, ranging in age from 17 to 70 years. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires that evaluated their attachment tendencies, olfactory ability and experiences in romantic relationships. Results indicated that attachment insecurity, across both attachment anxiety and avoidance, was associated with decreased olfactory functioning for females. These findings provide preliminary evidence that olfaction is related to romantic relationship maintenance and suggests that body odors could be fundamental for evoking the attachment system. These findings also elicit enticing new avenues of research which can assist psychologists to provide targeted treatments to individuals with olfactory deficits and insecure attachment tendencies.

scholarly journals Crying and Attachment Style: The Role of Romantic Relationships

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine L Fiori ◽  
Jessica Buthmann ◽  
Christy A Denckla
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Romantic Attachment ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Relationship Status ◽  
Attachment Behavior ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Attachment Figure ◽  
First Year College ◽  
First Year College Students

Crying is an attachment behavior that functions to elicit support from others (Nelson, 1998); the context in which the crying occurs is important in understanding whether it is adaptive or maladaptive (Hendriks & Vingerhoets, 2006). However, very little research has examined whether and how attachment style is associated with adult crying, and if this association might vary by an individual’s relationship status. Using a sample of 305 first-year college students and a series of hierarchical regressions, we examined the moderating effect of relationship status on the associations between attachment style (measured using the Revised Experiences in Close Relationships Scale; Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000) and crying frequency and tendency. We found that attachment anxiety was positively associated with both crying frequency and tendency, whereas attachment avoidance was negatively associated with crying tendency. However, we found moderation effects only in the case of attachment avoidance; specifically, we found that attachment avoidance was associated with a lower frequency of crying and tendency to cry only for those individuals involved in romantic relationships. Attachment anxiety, on the other hand, was associated with greater crying frequency and tendency regardless of relationship status. These results demonstrate not only that crying may act as an attachment behavior, but also that the activation or deactivation of this particular attachment behavior may be dependent on the existence of a romantic attachment figure.

Envy and Social Comparison

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels van de Ven ◽  
Marcel Zeelenberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Comparison ◽  
Social Comparisons ◽  
Past Work ◽  
Good Fortune ◽  
Malicious Envy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Upward Social Comparison

Upward social comparison can give rise to the emotion of envy: the pain caused by the good fortune of others. We explain what envy is, and what the possible function of envy is to an organism experiencing it. We provide an overview of past work on envy, the distinction between two subtypes (benign and malicious envy), possible antecedents of envy, possible consequences of envy, and the responses to being envied by others. In each of these areas there are clear links to research on social comparison, and research on envy has greatly benefitted from insights from the social comparison literature. Given the surge in research on envy in the last decade, we hope that the findings on envy can also inspire those investigating social comparisons.

scholarly journals Machine learning uncovers the most robust self-report predictors of relationship quality across 43 longitudinal couples studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (32) ◽  
pp. 19061-19071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Joel ◽  
Paul W. Eastwick ◽  
Colleen J. Allison ◽  
Ximena B. Arriaga ◽  
Zachary G. Baker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Individual Difference ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Individual Difference Variables ◽  
Partner Satisfaction

Given the powerful implications of relationship quality for health and well-being, a central mission of relationship science is explaining why some romantic relationships thrive more than others. This large-scale project used machine learning (i.e., Random Forests) to 1) quantify the extent to which relationship quality is predictable and 2) identify which constructs reliably predict relationship quality. Across 43 dyadic longitudinal datasets from 29 laboratories, the top relationship-specific predictors of relationship quality were perceived-partner commitment, appreciation, sexual satisfaction, perceived-partner satisfaction, and conflict. The top individual-difference predictors were life satisfaction, negative affect, depression, attachment avoidance, and attachment anxiety. Overall, relationship-specific variables predicted up to 45% of variance at baseline, and up to 18% of variance at the end of each study. Individual differences also performed well (21% and 12%, respectively). Actor-reported variables (i.e., own relationship-specific and individual-difference variables) predicted two to four times more variance than partner-reported variables (i.e., the partner’s ratings on those variables). Importantly, individual differences and partner reports had no predictive effects beyond actor-reported relationship-specific variables alone. These findings imply that the sum of all individual differences and partner experiences exert their influence on relationship quality via a person’s own relationship-specific experiences, and effects due to moderation by individual differences and moderation by partner-reports may be quite small. Finally, relationship-quality change (i.e., increases or decreases in relationship quality over the course of a study) was largely unpredictable from any combination of self-report variables. This collective effort should guide future models of relationships.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document