Associations of attachment avoidance and anxiety with life satisfaction, satisfaction with singlehood, and desire for a romantic partner

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff MacDonald ◽  
Yoobin Park
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Romantic Partner ◽  
Attachment Avoidance

No effect of attachment avoidance on visual disengagement from a romantic partner’s face

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 2166-2183
Author(s):  
Shayne Sanscartier ◽  
Jessica A. Maxwell ◽  
Penelope Lockwood
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Romantic Partner ◽  
Saccadic Reaction Time ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Emotional Faces ◽  
Attachment Orientations ◽  
Romantic Attachments ◽  
Visual Disengagement

Attachment avoidance (discomfort with closeness and intimacy) has been inconsistently linked to visual disengagement from emotional faces, with some studies finding disengagement toward specific emotional faces and others finding no effects. Although most studies use stranger faces as stimuli, it is likely that attachment effects would be most pronounced in the context of attachment relationships. The present study ( N = 92) combined ecologically valid stimuli (i.e., pictures of romantic partner’s face) with eye-tracking methods to more precisely test whether highly avoidant individuals are faster at disengaging from emotional faces. Unexpectedly, attachment avoidance had no effect on saccadic reaction time, regardless of face type or emotion. Instead, all participants took longer to disengage from romantic partner faces than from strangers’ faces, although this effect should be replicated in the future. Our results suggest that romantic attachments capture visual attention on an oculomotor level, regardless of one’s personal attachment orientations.

scholarly journals Are one’s attachment avoidance toward a particular person and his/her placement of this particular person in the attachment hierarchy inversely overlapping? Four bifactor-analysis studies

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0244278
Author(s):  
Tomotaka Umemura ◽  
Aneta Siroňová ◽  
Lenka Lacinová ◽  
Emiko Taniguchi ◽  
Tatsuya Imai
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Individual Difference ◽  
Romantic Partner ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Attachment Relationships ◽  
Normative Characteristic

Do one’s hierarchical preference for attachment support from a particular person over other people (attachment hierarchy) and his/her discomfort with closeness and uneasiness about being dependent on that particular person (attachment avoidance) inversely overlap? These two constructs have been distinctly conceptualized. Attachment hierarchy has been regarded as a normative characteristic of attachment relationships, while attachment avoidance has been considered to reflect an individual difference of relationship quality. Employing bifactor analyses, we demonstrated a unidimensional general factor of these two concepts in four studies exploring Czech young adults’ relationships with mother, father, friends, and romantic partner (Study 1); U.S. young adults’ relationships with a romantic partner (Study 2); Czech adolescents’ relationships with mother, father, and friends (Study 3); and Japanese young adults’ relationships with mother, father, and romantic partner (Study 4). These convergent results provide the replicable and generalizable evidence that one’s attachment avoidance toward a particular person and her/his placement of that particular person in the attachment hierarchy are inversely overlapping.

Attachments to Mother, Father, and Romantic Partner as Predictors of Life Satisfaction

2021 ◽  
pp. 106648072110641
Author(s):  
Hanna Zagefka ◽  
Natalya Andrew ◽  
Brigitte Boelen ◽  
Olivia Cummings ◽  
Ruby Denton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Romantic Partner ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
General Life Satisfaction ◽  
Attachment To Mother

Two correlational survey studies were conducted among adult samples (Ns  =  205; 697) to test the effects on general life satisfaction of attachment to three close others: mother, father, and romantic partner. Results showed that attachment to mother and father also matter in adulthood, in that they are associated with adult life satisfaction. Secure attachments to mother and father were positively associated with life satisfaction, and anxious and avoidant attachments to mother and father were negatively associated with life satisfaction. Moreover, attachment to the romantic partner was also related to life satisfaction, so that secure attachment was positively related to life satisfaction, and anxious and avoidant attachments were negatively related to the outcome variable. Importantly, attachment to mother and father were still significant predictors of life satisfaction when effects of attachment to the current romantic partner were controlled for. The effects of parental attachments on life satisfaction were not mediated by attachment to the romantic partner. Theoretical and applied implications of the findings are discussed.

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).

Associations of Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance With Male- and Female-Perpetrated Sexual Coercion in Romantic Relationships

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1176-1192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Barbaro ◽  
Andrew M. Holub ◽  
Todd K. Shackelford
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Sexual Coercion ◽  
Romantic Attachment ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Romantic Partner ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Ongoing Relationship ◽  
Attachment Dimensions

Few studies have investigated the associations between romantic attachment dimensions and sexual coercion perpetration. The present study aimed to address methodological limitations in previous studies, and to more accurately identify the associations between romantic attachment and sexual coercion perpetration in romantic relationships. Data from 284 individuals (56% men) were secured via an online self-report survey. Participants completed assessments of romantic attachment to their current romantic partner, and reported the frequency with which they perpetrated 34 acts of sexual coercion against their romantic partner. Attachment anxiety was a positive predictor of sexual coercion perpetration for men and women. Additionally, for men only, the association between attachment anxiety and sexual coercion perpetration was stronger for individuals with greater attachment avoidance. The results of the study present a clearer picture of the associations between attachment and sexual coercion, and accord with modern theoretical perspectives positing that romantic attachment regulates reactions to acute and ongoing relationship threats.

Threats to Parental and Romantic Attachment Figures' Availability and Adult Attachment Insecurity

2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas B. Holman ◽  
Richard C. Galbraith ◽  
Nicole Mead Timmons ◽  
April Steed ◽  
Samuel B. Tobler
Keyword(s):  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Romantic Relationship ◽  
Romantic Attachment ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Romantic Partner ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Theoretical Idea ◽  
Attachment Insecurity ◽  
Parental Availability ◽  
The Impact

This study tested hypotheses based on the theoretical idea that threats to parental availability would have a direct effect on later adult attachment insecurity and that this relationship would be partially, but not fully, mediated by threats to the availability of a romantic partner. Participants were 1,063 individuals in a married or unmarried romantic relationship. Individuals completed a questionnaire on threats to attachment figures' availability and completed another questionnaire about attachment insecurity (avoidance and anxiety) approximately 1 year later. In both models, the greater the threats to attachment figures' (parents' or current partners') availability, the greater the attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety. Consistent with theorizing in the literature, the impact of remembered threats to parental availability on adult attachment avoidance and anxiety, although not eliminated, was greatly reduced by the inclusion of current partner's availability in the model.

scholarly journals The Positive Side of Negative Interactions: Anxious and Avoidant Attachment as Moderators

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan E Parmenter ◽  
Katherine L Fiori
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
First Year ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Social Exchanges ◽  
First Year College ◽  
Positive Side ◽  
Negative Social Exchanges ◽  
First Year College Students ◽  
Negative Interactions

Although research has historically focused on the positive aspects of social ties, relationships inevitably involve a combination of positive as well as negative interactions. For the present study, we conducted a series of hierarchical linear regressions using longitudinal data from 108 first-year college students to test whether attachment anxiety and avoidance acted as moderators of the association between positive and negative social exchanges (assessed with the PANSE; Newsom et al., 2005) and changes in life satisfaction across the first year of college. We found that for individuals high on attachment avoidance or attachment anxiety, negative social exchanges were associated with increases in life satisfaction. In addition, whereas positive exchanges were associated with increases in life satisfaction among participants low on attachment avoidance, they were associated with decreases in life satisfaction among participants high on avoidance. Follow-up analyses using the subscales of the PANSE revealed the specific types of positive and negative exchanges driving these associations. Our findings highlight the relevance of attachment for understanding the role of social exchanges during the college transition.

Different Future Time Perspectives Interplay in Predicting Life Satisfaction

GeroPsych ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minjie Lu ◽  
Angel Y. Li ◽  
Helene H. Fung ◽  
Klaus Rothermund ◽  
Frieder R. Lang
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Hong Kong Chinese ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Time Perspectives ◽  
Time Extension ◽  
Future Self ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. This study addresses prior mixed findings on the relationship between future time perspective (FTP) and well-being as well as examines the associations between three aspects of FTP and life satisfaction in the health and friendship domains. 159 Germans, 97 US Americans, and 240 Hong Kong Chinese, aged 19–86 years, completed a survey on future self-views (valence) and life satisfaction. They also reported the extent to which they perceived future time as expanded vs. limited (time extension) and meaningful (openness). Findings revealed that individuals with more positive future self-views had higher satisfaction. However, those who perceived their future as more meaningful or perceived more time in their future reported higher satisfaction even when future self-views were less positive.

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