Adult attachment style and individual differences in functional versus dysfunctional experiences of anger.

Three studies examined the association between adult attachment and anger. Study 1 examined attachment-style differences in self-reports of anger-proneness, anger expression, anger goals, and responses to anger. Study 2 assessed attachment style, physiological signs of anger, and attribution of hostile intent. Study 3 used a lexical-decision task for studying attachment-style differences in expected anger outcome. Secure persons scored lower in anger-proneness, endorsed more constructive anger goals, reported more adaptive responses and more positive affect in anger episodes, attributed less hostile intent to others, and expected more positive outcomes than insecure persons. For ambivalent persons, the anger experience also included lack of anger control and anger-in. For avoidant persons, it included high hostility, escapist responses, and lack of awareness of physiological signs of anger. The underlying action of working models is emphasized in the discussion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Role of Outcome Expectations and Attitudes on Decisions to Seek Professional Help.

Two studies examined the predictors of seeking psychological services. Study 1 examined the role of attitudes in mediating the relationship between 11 psychological factors and intent to seek help for 3 psychological problems. The results demonstrated that (a) the psychological factors and attitudes predicted 62% of the variance in intent to seek help for interpersonal problems and 18% of the variance for drug problems and (b) attitudes toward counseling mediated most of the relationships between the different psychological factors and help-seeking intent. Study 2, in turn, demonstrated that (a) anticipated outcomes of talking with a counselor were associated with the use of psychological services and (b) anticipated risks of disclosing emotions were salient for those having experienced a distressing event. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult attachment style and affect regulation: Strategic variations in subjective self–other similarity.

Six studies examined the link between adult attachment style and subjective self–other similarity. In Studies 1–3, data were collected on representations of self–other similarity in the realms of traits and opinions. Studies 4–5 examined the effects of affective inductions on the link between attachment and self–other similarity. Study 6 examined the cognitive maneuvers people differing in attachment style use for changing self–other similarity upon distress arousal. Whereas avoidant persons underestimated self–other similarity and anxious–ambivalent persons overestimated it, secure persons provided more accurate similarity scores. These differences were exacerbated by negative affect and mitigated by positive affect. Insecure persons' distortions resulted from transformations they made in representations of the self and others. Results are discussed in terms of attachment theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict and the quality of young children's peer play behavior: The mediating and moderating role of parent–child emotional reciprocity and attachment security.

Parent–child attachment security and dyadic measures of parent–child positive and negative emotional reciprocity were examined as possible mediators and moderators of the connection between marital conflict and children's peer play behavior. Eighty parents were observed in a laboratory play session with their 15- to 18-month-old child. Subsequently, at 36 months children were observed interacting with peers at their child care setting. Connections between marital conflict and children's positive peer interaction were mediated by mother–child attachment security, mother–child positive emotional reciprocity, and father–child negative emotional reciprocity. Connections between marital conflict and children's negative peer interaction were mediated by mother–child positive emotional reciprocity and father–child attachment security. Parent–child attachment security and negative emotional reciprocity emerged as important moderators of the connection between marital conflict and children's peer play behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peers as primary attachment sources in yearling rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

Peer bonds were examined in 2 experiments using juvenile rhesus monkeys to determine (1) whether specific attachment bonds are formed between age-mates, (2) whether preferred age-mates can provide a secure base, and (3) whether a previous attachment bond affects the quality of subsequent attachment bonds. In Exp 1, 8 peer-only reared (POR) monkeys demonstrated a specific preference for a predicted favorite peer when given a choice between a familiar and 2 unfamiliar peers. In Exp 2, POR Ss were placed in a novel setting with either their most preferred peer, a familiar but not preferred peer, or an unfamiliar peer, and their responses were compared with those of a 2nd group of monkeys, reared for their 1st 6 mo of life by their mother. Both mother-reared (MP) and POR monkeys displayed significantly more intimate contact and significantly less distress when with their most preferred peer; nevertheless, even when they were with their most preferred peer, POR Ss exhibited more distress than MP Ss. Findings are discussed with reference to current attachment theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult attachment style and the perception of others: The role of projective mechanisms.

In 3 reported studies the authors examined attachment-style differences in the perception of others and the hypothesis that projective mechanisms underlie these differences. In these studies, participants reported on their attachment style and generated actual-self–traits and unwanted-self–traits. Then, a 2nd session was conducted, in which impression formation about new persons (Study 1), the ease of retrieval of memories about known persons (Study 2), or memory inferences about learned features of fictional persons (Study 3) were assessed. Findings indicate that whereas anxious-ambivalent persons' impression formation, memory retrieval, and inferences about others reflected the projection of their actual-self-traits, avoidant persons' responses reflected the projection of their unwanted-self–traits. Findings are discussed in terms of the regulatory goals and strategies that characterize the mental representations of each attachment style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sports participation and juvenile delinquency: The role of the peer context among adolescent boys and girls with varied histories of problem behavior.

In a study of 1,344 urban adolescents, the authors examined the relation between participation in organized sports and juvenile delinquency. They compared youth who participated in sports to those who only participated in nonathletic activities and to those who did not participate in any organized activities. They also examined the indirect relations between sports and delinquency via 2 peer-related constructs—deviant peer affiliations and unstructured socializing. Finally, they examined the extent to which gender and prior externalizing problems moderated the direct and indirect relations between sports participation and delinquency. The authors found that the odds of nonviolent delinquency were higher among boys who participated in sports when compared to boys who participated only in nonathletic activities but not when compared to boys who did not participate in any organized activities. Deviant peer affiliations and unstructured socializing mediated the relation between sports participation and boys' nonviolent delinquency. Moreover, prior externalizing problems moderated the mediated path through peer deviance. The authors did not, however, find direct, mediated, or moderated relations between sports and boys' violent delinquency nor between sports and girls' violent or nonviolent delinquency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotion regulation as a mediator of associations between mother–child attachment and peer relationships in middle childhood.

Although a link between attachment and peer relationships has been established, the mechanisms that account for this link have not been identified. The 1st goal of this study was to test emotion regulation as a mediator of this link in middle childhood. The 2nd goal was to examine how different aspects of emotion regulation relate to peer competence. Fifth graders completed self-report and semiprojective measures to index mother–child attachment, mothers reported on children's emotionality and coping strategies, and teachers reported on children's peer competence. Constructive coping was related to both attachment and peer competence, and mediated the association between attachment and peer competence, suggesting that emotion regulation is one of the mechanisms accounting for attachment-peer links. Constructive coping was more strongly associated with peer competence for children high on negative emotionality than for children low on negative emotionality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Working models of attachment: implications for explanation, emotion and behavior

Two studies examined attachment style differences in social perception. In Study 1, participants wrote open-ended explanations for hypothetical relationship events and described how they would feel and behave in response to each event. Compared with secure participants, preoccupied participants explained events in more negative ways; they also reported more emotional distress and behaviors that were likely to lead to conflict. Avoidant participants also provided negative explanations, but did not report emotional distress. Path analysis indicated that attachment style differences in behavior were mediated by explanation patterns and emotional distress. Study 2 was designed to replicate Study 1 and test the relative importance of attachment style and relationship quality to predicting each outcome. Results indicated that both variables were significant predictors of explanations, but only attachment style predicted emotional responses. These findings are consistent with the idea that adults with different working models of attachment are predisposed to think, feel, and behave differently in their relationships.     

Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples.

Three studies examined correlates of adult attachment. In Study 1, a scale to measure adult attachment style dimensions (ASDs) was developed based on C. Hazan and P. Shaver's (see record 1987-21950-001) categorical measure. Factor analyses revealed 3 dimensions underlying this measure: the extent to which an individual (1) is comfortable with closeness, (2) feels he or she can depend on others, and (3) is anxious or fearful about such things as being abandoned or unloved. Study 2 explored the relation between ASDs and working models of self and others. ASDs were related to self-esteem, expressiveness, instrumentality, trust in others, beliefs about human nature, and styles of loving. Study 3 explored the role of ASDs in 3 aspects of ongoing dating relationships: partner matching on ASDs; similarity between the attachment of one's partner and caregiving style of one's parents; and relationship quality. Evidence was obtained for partner matching and for similarity between one's partner and one's parents, particularly the opposite-sex parent. ASDs were related to how each partner perceived the relationship. For women, Dimension 1 was the best predictor of relationship quality; and the best predictor for men was Dimension 3. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is Attention to Feelings Beneficial or Detrimental to Affective Well-Being? Mood Regulation as a Moderator Variable.

This research examined the functionality of attention to feelings for affective well-being. The authors found that mood regulation, but not clarity of feelings, moderated the attention-well-being relationship. For individuals with high mood regulation scores, attention was beneficial to affective well-being, whereas for individuals with low mood regulation scores, attention was detrimental to affective well-being. This finding was corroborated by self- and peer reports in Study 1 and replicated in Study 2. The validity of the scales was established by the convergence of self- and peer ratings. Moreover, Study 2 showed that dysfunctional and functional and self consciousness scales suppressed variance in attention to feelings, thereby revealing that attention incorporates both adaptive and maladaptive aspects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment change processes in the early years of marriage.

The authors examined 4 models of attachment change: a contextual model, a social–cognitive model, an individual-difference model, and a diathesis-stress model. Models were examined in a sample of newlyweds over the first 2 years of marriage, using growth curve analyses. Reciprocal processes, whereby attachment representations and interpersonal life circumstances affect one another over time, also were studied. On average, newlyweds became more secure over time. However, there was significant within-subject variability on attachment change that was predicted by intra- and interpersonal factors. Attachment representations changed in response to contextual, social–cognitive, and individual difference factors. Reciprocal processes between attachment representations and marital variables emerged, suggesting that these factors influence one another in an ongoing way. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Models of the self and other: Fundamental dimensions underlying measures of adult attachment.

Three studies, involving 146 undergraduates and 68 heterosexual couples, assessed the construct validity of the self- and other-model dimensions underlying the 4-category model of adult attachment. Five methods were used to assess the hypothesized dimensions: self-reports, friend-reports, romantic partner reports, trained judges' ratings of peer attachment, and trained judges' ratings of family attachment. Study 2 related the latent attachment dimensions to theoretically relevant outcome latent variables. As predicted, Ss' self models converged with direct measures of the positivity of their self-concepts, and Ss' other models converged with direct measures of the positivity of their interpersonal orientations. Study 3 related the latent attachment dimensions to 3 alternate self-report measures of adult attachment and showed that the 2 dimensions served as an organizing framework for the different measurement approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment style and the mental representation of the self.

Six studies examined the association between attachment style and several aspects of the mental representation of the self in adolescents. Studies 1 and 2 focused on the hedonic tone of the self-structure, Studies 3 and 4 focused on its complexity, and Studies 5 and 6 focused on discrepancies between domains and standpoints of the self. Results indicated that secure and avoidant persons had a more positive view of themselves than anxious-ambivalent persons. In addition, secure persons were found to have a more balanced, complex, and coherent self-structure than insecure persons, either avoidant or anxious-ambivalent. The discussion emphasizes the connection between the internalization of attachment experiences and the construction of the self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's peer selection: Experimental examination of the role of self-perceptions.

Although previous studies have examined characteristics of children selected as friends, little research has examined the role played by characteristics of the selecting child. In 2 experimental studies that examined the role of self-perceptions in peer selection, participants (91 seventh graders in Study 1 and 83 third graders in Study 2) viewed various evaluations of themselves. Participants either believed evaluations were written by unfamiliar peers (Study 1) or were asked to imagine that the views of puppets were views of unfamiliar peers (Study 2). Participants were asked to select the pees they wished to meet and interact with. When evaluations were related to specific competence domains, 7th graders preferred positive peers to negative peers, whereas 3rd graders selected peers who viewed them as they viewed themselves. When evaluations were related to global self-worth, children's selections were unrelated to views of their own global worth. Selection of a globally negative peer was associated with attachment-insecurity/maternal-rejection and depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Being accepted for who we are: Evidence that social validation of the intrinsic self reduces general defensiveness.

Three studies examined the possibility that being liked intrinsically by others—for who one is—reduces self-esteem defense, whereas being liked for what one has achieved does not. All 3 studies contrasted the effects on self-esteem defense of liking based on intrinsic or achievement-related aspects of self. Study 1 showed that thoughts of being liked intrinsically reduced defensive bias toward downward social comparison. Study 2 demonstrated that being liked for intrinsic aspects of self reduced participants' tendency to defensively distance themselves from a negatively portrayed other. Study 3 revealed that being liked for intrinsic aspects of self encouraged a preference for upward over downward counterfactuals for a negative event. In all 3 studies, similar reductions in defensiveness were not found when liking was based on achievements. Discussion focuses on implications for understanding the functional value of different bases of self-worth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment working models and cognitive openness in close relationships: A test of chronic and temporary accessibility effects.

In 3 studies the authors explored the impact of chronic and temporary accessibility of attachment working models on cognitive openness in the realm of close relationships. In Study 1, participants rated their attachment style and perceptions of their romantic partner. In Study 2, they recalled a relationship defined by a particular attachment orientation and rated perceptions of the targeted partner. Study 3 was similar to Study 1, but secure attachment was primed for half of the participants. In all the studies, cognitive openness was assessed by changes in the perception of the partner after being exposed to information that disconfirmed expectations. Secure attachment was related to higher cognitive openness and better recall of expectation-incongruent information, mainly when this information was positively valued. The discussion emphasizes the implications of the chronic and contextual aspects of attachment working models for information processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children’s representations of family relationships, peer information processing, and school adjustment.

This study examined children’s peer information processing as an explanatory mechanism underlying the association between their insecure representations of interparental and parent–child relationships and school adjustment in a sample of 210 first graders. Consistent with emotional security theory (P. T. Davies & E. M. Cummings, 1994), results indicated that children’s insecure representations of the interparental relationship were indirectly related to their academic functioning through association with their negative information processing of stressful peer events. Insecure interparental relationships were specifically linked with negative peer information processing patterns that, in turn, predicted increases in child maladjustment over a 1-year period. These pathways remained robust after taking into account the roles of representations of parent–child relationships, trait measures of child negative affect, and socioeconomic characteristics as predictors in the analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative affectivity and drug use in adolescent boys: Moderating and mediating mechanisms.

This investigation examined variables that might qualify or detail the widely accepted relation between negative affectivity and drug use in adolescent boys. In Study 1, 311 boys (15-17 years old) completed inventories of negative affectivity, positive affectivity, constraint, delinquency, peer delinquency, and drug use. Negative affectivity was positively related to drug use, but only for individuals exhibiting high peer delinquency or low constraint. Study 2 examined mechanisms for this relation by following up 143 of the participants at ages 17-20 years. Delinquency and peer delinquency mediated the relation between negative affectivity and later drug use. These findings suggest that the relation between negative affectivity and drug use is best understood within the context of other drug use risk factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)