Pets as safe havens and secure bases: The moderating role of pet attachment orientations

We examined the extent to which a pet functions as an attachment figure. In Study 1, 165 pet owners performed a goal exploration task, assessing the number of life goals generated and confidence in goal attainment. In Study 2, 120 pet owners performed a distress-eliciting task while assessing blood pressure. In both studies, participants were divided into three conditions: pet physical presence, pet cognitive presence, and no pet presence. As compared to no pet presence, physical or cognitive pet presence increased the number of life goals generated and self-confidence in goal attainment and reduced blood pressure during the distress-eliciting task. The findings confirm the ability of a pet to provide a safe-haven and a secure-base and the moderating role of attachment insecurities.     

The association between attachment orientations and partner evaluations: An ideal standards perspective

This research examined links between attachment orientations and evaluations of potential and existing relationship partners with respect to ideal standards. In Study 1, attachment anxiety and avoidance predicted the tradeoffs individuals made when choosing between potential mates. In Studies 2 and 3, attachment anxiety and avoidance were associated with ideal partner discrepancies within existing relationships. The findings across the three studies suggest that highly anxious individuals are more likely to use the ideal partner warmth/trustworthiness and status/resources dimensions when evaluating hypothetical and actual romantic partners, whereas highly avoidant individuals are more inclined to use the ideal partner vitality/attractiveness and status/resources dimensions when making partner evaluations. These novel findings are discussed in terms of evolutionary models of mating strategies and evaluations.     

Predicting employees' satisfaction and burnout from managers' attachment and caregiving orientations

In recent years, there have been initial attempts to apply attachment theory to account for leader–follower relationships and leaders' contribution to followers' performance. Drawing on this theoretical framework, we examined the relationships between managers' attachment orientations and subordinates' job satisfaction and burnout. Data were collected from 85 work groups from 71 organizations consisting of 483 subordinates and their 85 direct managers from a variety of job roles. Hierarchical linear modelling analyses indicated that managers' attachment insecurities predicted higher job burnout and lower job satisfaction among subordinates, and that ineffective caring orientation of the managers mediated these links. Findings further showed that subordinates' attachment insecurities were associated with burnout and job dissatisfaction. Implications for leadership research and for the design of organizational intervention as well as future research directions are discussed.     

Examining antecedents of infant attachment security with mothers and fathers: An ecological systems perspective

Taking an ecological systems perspective, early parent–child relationships can be affected by interactions between systems where some are more proximally linked to the child than others. Socioeconomic status, a distal factor, is associated with social functioning during childhood, but research on its association with functioning during infancy, particularly attachment, is scant and inconsistent. Moreover, it is not clear how distal factors affect infant functioning. Other systems such as marital adjustment and parenting may moderate or mediate relations between distal factors and infant attachment. The current longitudinal study (n = 135) examined the role of various systems – parental resources, marital functioning, parental sensitivity and involvement – in early infancy (3-, 5-, 7-months) on infant–mother (12-months) and infant–father (14-months) attachment security. Findings supported moderating processes but in different ways for infant–mother versus infant–father dyads. Implications for future studies and interventions are discussed.     

Intrusiveness from an attachment theory perspective: A dyadic diary study

This 14-day dyadic diary study of 60 heterosexual couples examines links between attachment insecurities, intrusiveness, and relationship dissatisfaction by exploring the effects of attachment insecurities on intrusiveness and examining the daily interplay between intrusiveness and relationship dissatisfaction. We assessed attachment orientations, daily self-reported intrusive behavior, and daily relationship satisfaction of members of each couple. Results indicated that self-reported intrusiveness was associated with actor’s attachment anxiety and with their partner’s attachment avoidance. Unexpectedly, partner’s previous-day intrusiveness was positively associated with actor’s next-day relationship satisfaction. This association was driven mainly by women scoring high on avoidance. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

A domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) model of triarchic psychopathy factors: Development and initial validation of the CAT-Tri+ questionnaire

We operationalised the triarchic model of psychopathy (boldness, meanness, and disinhibition) in domestic cats using a cat triarchic (CAT-Tri) questionnaire. In study 1 (n = 549), we identified candidate items for CAT-Tri scales using thematically analysed cat owner questionnaire responses. In study 2 (n = 1463), owners completed a questionnaire battery; the preliminary CAT-Tri questionnaire, Feline Five, and Cat-Owner Relationship Subscales. In study 3 (n = 30), associations between feline daily activity and Cat-Tri scales were investigated. A five-factor cat triarchic plus (CAT-Tri+) solution emerged: boldness, disinhibition, meanness, pet-unfriendliness, and human-unfriendliness. Disinhibition and pet-unfriendliness predicted a higher quality cat-owner relationship; meanness and boldness predicted a lower quality relationship. Findings provide insight into the structure of triarchic psychopathy in cats.     

Forecasting friendship: How marital quality, maternal mood, and attachment security are linked to children's peer relationships

Mothers' perceptions of marital quality and depressed mood and children's attachment security and friendship quality were assessed in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. One month after their birth and again when the children were 3 and 4 years old and in first and third grades, mothers rated the quality of their marital relationship; when the children were 2 years old, the Attachment Q-Set was used to assess the mother–child attachment relationship; the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale was used to measure the mother's depressed mood when the child was 2 years old and in third grade; and when children were in fourth grade, they were observed interacting with their best friend to assess friendship quality. Using a series of regression and path analyses, we determined whether and how marital quality, maternal mood, and attachment security predicted friendship quality. Better quality friendship interactions in fourth grade were significantly associated with better marital quality and greater attachment security. The association between marital quality and friendship quality was partially mediated by attachment security. Friendship quality was not related to maternal mood.     

Predictors of caregiving in adult intimate relationships: an attachment theoretical perspective.

Romantic couples (N = 194) participated in an investigation of caregiving processes in adulthood. In Phase 1, couple members completed questionnaires designed to identify attachment style differences in caregiving behavior and to explore the underlying (personal and relationship) mechanisms that lead people with different attachment styles to be effective or ineffective caregivers. Results revealed that social support knowledge, prosocial orientation. interdependence, trust, and egoistic motivation mediated the link between attachment style and caregiving. In Phase 2, responsive caregiving was assessed behaviorally by exposing one member of the couple to a stressful laboratory situation and experimentally manipulating his or her need for support. Results revealed that attachment style and mediating mechanisms identified in Phase 1 also predicted observable support behavior in a specific episode in which a partner had a clear need for support.     

A safe haven: an attachment theory perspective on support seeking and caregiving in intimate relationships

This study used an attachment theoretical framework to investigate support-seeking and caregiving processes in intimate relationships. Dating couples (N = 93) were videotaped while one member of the couple (support seeker) disclosed a personal problem to his or her partner (caregiver). Results indicated that when support seekers rated their problem as more stressful, they engaged in more direct support-seeking behavior, which led their partners to respond with more helpful forms of caregiving. Responsive caregiving then led seekers to feel cared for and to experience improved mood. Evidence for individual differences was also obtained: Avoidant attachment predicted ineffective support seeking, and anxious attachment predicted poor caregiving. Finally, couples in better functioning relationships engaged in more supportive interactions, and participants' perceptions of their interaction were biased by relationship quality and attachment style.     

Effects of attachment style and relationship context on selection among relational strategies

Numerous studies have examined attachment-style differences in social perception, emotion-regulation, and couple communication, but relatively little is known about how dispositional attachment style combines or interacts with relationship situations or contexts to influence the decisions people make about how to act in their relationships. In the present study, participants were presented twice with relationship scenarios and asked to indicate how they would respond to each one. They completed the task initially without a particular context in mind and then again with either a positive or a negative relationship context in mind. Results indicated that a deteriorating relationship context caused participants to choose less secure and more insecure behaviors, especially avoidant ones, but dispositional attachment style was still important as well. Both sets of factors produced main effects rather than interactions.     

Individual differences in attachment and dispositional mindfulness: The mediating role of emotion regulation

Recent interest in the relationship between individual differences in attachment and dispositional mindfulness has led to empirical investigations into this association. Although several studies have demonstrated an association between attachment and mindfulness, little is known as to why these two seemingly distinct constructs are related. In a sample of 572 individuals we explored whether the relationship between attachment and mindfulness was mediated by emotion regulation difficulties. Difficulties in emotion regulation fully mediated the association between attachment anxiety and mindfulness, and between attachment avoidance and mindfulness. Thus, the mechanism by which attachment and mindfulness are related is through emotion regulation difficulties. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.     

Parent attachment, childrearing behavior, and child attachment: Mediated effects predicting preschoolers' externalizing behavior

Attachment theory provides an interesting background for thinking about externalizing behavior (EB) in early childhood and for understanding how parenting influences the child's outcomes. The study examined how attachment and parenting could be combined to explain preschoolers' EB. Data were collected from 117 preschoolers aged from 4 to 6 clinically referred for EB and their parents from a middle-high income population. Child attachment was measured with the Attachment Q-set; parent's remembered attachment in the family of origin with the CaMir. Child attachment played a crucial role in mediating the link between parent attachment and EB as well as the link between parenting and EB. Paternal attachment displayed a direct and an indirect effect through controlling parenting and child attachment on child EB. Maternal attachment was a distal predictor associated with EB through child attachment, and independent of controlling parenting. These results are discussed with their applied and scientific implications.     

Attachment relationships and health behavior: the mediational role of self-esteem

Many young adults exhibit poor preventive health behavior (e.g., exercise, diet), thereby increasing their long-term risk to health. Recent research has focused on factors related to the development of health behavior in an effort to design effective early interventions. The present study evaluates how attachment styles are related to health behavior in young adults, and the potential mediational role of self-esteem. University students (N = 793) completed surveys assessing attachment style, self-esteem, and health behavior. Results showed that those with secure attachment styles participated in healthier preventive health behavior and had higher self-esteem than those with insecure styles (all ps < 0.05). Self-esteem partially mediated the relation between attachment styles and health behavior (p < 0.01). These results suggest that the development of self-esteem may represent a pathway by which individual styles of interaction with significant others, acquired early in life, can significantly impact key long-term preventive health behaviors.     

The influence of attachment and temperament on venipuncture distress in 14-month-old infants: the Generation R Study

Objective

This study examined the effects of attachment and temperament on infant distress during venipuncture.

Method

The study was embedded in the Generation R Study, a prospective population-based study. Two different research procedures (i.e., blood sampling and the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure) yielded measures of venipuncture distress and attachment security and disorganization in 246 infants aged 14 months. Four temperament traits (distress to limitations, fear, recovery from distress, and sadness) were assessed using the maternally reported Infant Behavior Questionnaire - Revised, at the age of 6 months.

Results

There were no differences between mean levels of distress during venipuncture in infants classified as having insecure attachment, but there was a trend for disorganized attachment. The temperament traits were not related to distress. However, children with a disorganized attachment and higher temperamental fear had more venipuncture distress.

Conclusion

When different risk factors are present simultaneously, infant distress is heightened.     

Relational attachment and ethical workplace decisions: The mediating role of emotional burnout

Working is an inherently relational act that requires the management of relationships in many of the same ways as other domains in our lives. In two studies, the association between attachment orientation and unethical decisions in different workplace scenarios was examined. In both studies, attachment avoidance was associated with more unethical workplace decisions. In Study 2, emotional exhaustion mediated the association between avoidance and unethical decisions. Findings are discussed with respect to individual differences in ethical decision-making in organizations.     

The effects of dispositional attachment orientations and contextual priming of attachment security on reckless driving

Three studies examined the effects of dispositional attachment orientations and contextual priming of attachment security on the willingness to drive recklessly. In all three, adolescents were exposed to primes of attachment security (a poster in Study 1, a video in Study 2, a guided imagination task in Study 3), positive affect, or neutral affect, and were then asked to report their willingness to drive recklessly. Participants were also asked to report on their attachment orientations (anxiety, avoidance), self-esteem, and self-relevance of driving. Attachment anxiety was related to higher willingness to drive recklessly. In addition, as compared to positive affect and neutral priming, attachment security priming exacerbated highly anxiously attached participants’ tendency to drive recklessly, but reduced this tendency among participants scoring low on attachment anxiety. Importantly, these effects could not be explained by variables unrelated to attachment. The discussion emphasizes the relevance of attachment theory for understanding risk-taking behavior, and relates to practical implications of the studies.     

The moderating role of attachment insecurities in the association between social and physical pain

We examined the effects of social exclusion and attachment insecurities (anxiety, avoidance) on physical pain sensitivity, hypothesizing that anxiety would predict greater physical pain sensitivity only following social exclusion. Participants were either included in or excluded from a computer-based ball-tossing game and then completed a coldpressor task. Anxious men showed greater physical pain sensitivity when excluded, but not when included. Moreover, individuals (men and women) high on both anxiety and avoidance showed greater physical pain sensitivity when excluded, but not when included. Conclusions: Anxious individuals’ heightened physical pain sensitivity following exclusion is a manifestation of hyperactivation of their attachment systems, and when threatened, avoidant individuals who are also high in anxiety are less successful in deactivating their attachment systems.     

Key players in sport teams. An exploratory study on the effects of attachment styles on intra-team relational networks

Relationship issues in sport are considered vital for the overall wellbeing of athletes (Jowett, 2005). The way athletes interact, create and maintain relationships is thought to be powerfully influenced by the athletes' attachment states of mind (Thomson & Jaque, 2018). To our knowledge, no study so far has investigated the impact players' attachment styles, as personality dispositions, have on overall intra-team relationship dynamics. This paper examines intra-team social relational networks from the perspective of adult attachment theory. Cross-sectional data were collected from 10 sport teams (158 players) from different sports. Self-report data were collected to assess attachment style and social relationships with teammates. Social network analyses (SNA) were used to calculate players' centrality scores based on incoming and outgoing relational nominations. Multilevel linear analysis was further performed to check inferential relationships between the study variables. Data showed that attachment styles of players, as personality dispositions, affected partly centrality degree positions within the various team social relational networks. The study offers an innovative perspective on the interactional and dynamic world of social relationships in sports teams and confirms that attachment style differences among players predispose them to particular positions within the team social relational networks. Although the current research has an exploratory character, it shows a new direction in the study of groups and sport team dynamics.     

Performance comparisons and attachment: An investigation of competitive responses in close relationships

Two studies investigated whether affective responses to competitive performance situations are moderated by attachment style. In Study 1, participants (n= 115) imagined their reactions to a superior or inferior performance against their romantic partner or an acquaintance. Results showed that participants low in attachment avoidance, relative to those high in avoidance, indicated more positivity after an inferior performance (empathy effect) to their partners, and this finding held only in domains of high importance to the partner. In Study 2, participants (n= 53) imagined comparisons with their partner or a close friend. Low‐avoidance participants, relative to high‐avoidance participants, exhibited sympathy and empathy effects in comparisons involving their romantic partner but not those involving a friend. The findings are discussed in terms of one's model of other and perceived self–other separation, which are defined by avoidance but not anxiety.     

Storying endometriosis: Examining relationships between narrative identity,mental health,and pain

We examined whether narratives related to mental health and pain in 120 women with endometriosis. Participants wrote narratives about endometriosis, rated the narratives on centrality to identity and positive and negative self-change, and completed measures of depressive symptoms, life-satisfaction, pain intensity and pain symptoms. Narratives were content-coded for themes of agency and communion. Higher centrality to identity, more negative self-change, and lower agency and communion were related to poorer mental health. Higher centrality to identity was associated with more pain symptoms. Narrative measures predicted mental health beyond pain intensity, pain symptoms, and neuroticism. The results indicate that how women with endometriosis narrate their illness is connected to mental health.