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.     

Caregiving: The Forgotten Element in Attachment

In attachment theory, an attachment behavioral control system in the child and a complementary caregiving system in the parent act together to protect the young. The attachment account, however, fails to supply a motivation for caregiving. As a result, it cannot give a theoretical explanation for the responsive and attentive behaviors empirically observed in caregivers of secure children. In this article, we present an account of caregiving that places emotion at the center of caregiving (the connection theoretical orientation). In this account, the dyadic emotion of caring serves as an autonomous motivation to see that the needs of a specific dependent are met. Unlike the "on-off" caregiving in attachment theories, connection caring is conceptualized as enduring and variable: Caregivers experience different levels of caring over the course of a relationship. Through the emotional concepts of caring, empathy, and responsibility, the connection theoretical orientation is able to provide the coherent account of caregiving that the attachment theoretical orientation's cybernetic concepts have been unable to supply.     

Attachment orientation and reactions to anxiety expression in close relationships

This study examined perceptions, interpretations, and emotional reactions to a close partner's anxiety expression as mediators for the association between attachment orientation and caregiving effectiveness. One member of married or dating couples was exposed to a stressor and unobtrusively observed while interacting with his or her partner. Results revealed that anxious attachment was related to higher perceptions of partners' anxiety expression, feeling more personal distress, but not less effective caregiving. Avoidant attachment was related to lower perceptions of partners' anxiety expression and feeling more anger. Negative interpretations of partners' anxiety mediated the association between avoidant attachment and less effective caregiving. These findings suggest that attachment orientation is related to cognitive and emotional processes important for effective caregiving behavior.     

Antenatal caregiving representations and perinatal behavior in mothers with severe lifetime psychopathology

Psychopathology poses a risk for optimal parenting. The current study explored antenatal caregiving representations as markers for later risk of nonoptimal maternal behavior among mothers with severe mental illness. Sixty-five mothers diagnosed with psychosis, bipolar disorder, depression (psychopathology group), and nonclinical controls participated in a longitudinal study from pregnancy to 16 weeks after birth. Mental health diagnoses and caregiving representations were assessed during pregnancy. Maternal behavior was assessed during the 5-min recovery phase of the still-face paradigm at 16 weeks. Mothers with psychopathology reported significantly higher levels of “heightened” caregiving representations (i.e., separation anxiety from the child) than did controls. The only significant diagnostic group difference in perinatal maternal behavior was that mothers diagnosed with depression exhibited more overriding-intrusive behavior than did nonclinical control mothers. Regression modeling results showed that antenatal caregiving representations of “role reversal” predicted significantly lower levels of sensitivity and higher levels of overriding-intrusive behavior independent of the effect of psychopathology. The findings can be interpreted in the context of representational transformation to motherhood during pregnancy. The results provide preliminary evidence for the potential of a new questionnaire measure of caregiving representations as a screening instrument for antenatal representational risk.     

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.     

Models of self and others and their relation to positive and negative caregiving responses

The burden of providing informal care to a family member can lead to caregiver depression and potentially harmful caregiving behavior. Given the interpersonal nature of caregiving, the relationship between caregivers and care recipients may impact caregiver responses. We applied attachment theory to understanding caregiver depression, and both potentially harmful and exemplary caregiving responses. We present data from 430 caregivers in the Family Relationships in Late Life (FRILL 2) Project, a multisite, longitudinal study of caregiving. Age, gender, and model of self were related to caregiving responses, suggesting that model of self may help identify caregivers at risk for poor responses.     

Identity‐based motivation: Constraints and opportunities in consumer research

This commentary underscores the integrative nature of the identity-based motivation model (Oyserman, D. (2009). Identity-based motivation: Implications for action-readiness, procedural-readiness, and consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19(3) (this issue)). We situate the model within existing literatures in psychology and consumer behavior, and illustrate its novel elements with research examples. Special attention is devoted to, 1) how product- and brand-based affordances constrain identity-based motivation processes and, 2) the mindsets and action tendencies that can be triggered by specific cultural identities in pursuit of consumer goals. Future opportunities are suggested for researching the antecedents of product meanings and relevant identities.     

Positive correlation between measures of habitual responding and motivated responding in mice

Habit and motivation are thought to be separate processes, with motivated behavior often considered to be goal directed, whereas habits are defined by the absence of goal-directed control over behavior. However, there has been increasing interrogation of the binary nature of habitual versus goal-directed behavior. Furthermore, although drug and alcohol exposure can promote the formation of habits, drug seeking itself can also be highly flexible, pointing toward the need for complex consideration of the parallel processes that drive behavior. The goal of the current study was to determine whether there was a relation between motivation—as measured by progressive ratio—and habit—as measured by contingency degradation—and whether this relation was affected by ethanol exposure history and sex. The results showed that these measures were positively correlated such that greater contingency insensitivity was associated with achieving higher break points on the progressive-ratio task. However, this relation depended on reinforcement schedule history, ethanol exposure history, and sex. These point to potential relations between measures of habit and motivation and stress the importance of carefully parsing behavioral findings and assays. These findings are also expected to inform future substance use research, as drug history may affect these relations.     

Resources for resilient caregiving by parents of children with schizophrenia in Swaziland: A multiple case study

This study reports on the care-provisioning experiences of parents (n = 6; females = 5) raising children with schizophrenia in a rural Swazi setting. The parents were individually interviewed at their homes on caregiving aspects such as burden, coping, quality of life, expressed emotions and social support of their child with schizophrenia. Data were thematically analysed. Parent carers of children with schizophrenia reported to have personal resources for resilient caregiving such as motivation for caring, and caregiving satisfaction. They perceived compassion gains from improved quality of life for their children through the caregiving experiences. Findings suggest a need for public mental health education and provision of welfare support of parents’ personal resources for resilient caregiving.     

The role of learning in social development: Illustrations from neglected children

Children who experience early caregiving neglect are very likely to have problems developing and maintaining relationships and regulating their social behavior. One of the earliest manifestations of this problem is reflected in indiscriminate behavior, a phenomenon where young children do not show normative wariness of strangers or use familiar adults as sources of security. To better understand the developmental mechanisms underlying the emergence of these problems, this study examined whether institutionally reared children, who experienced early social neglect, had difficulty associating motivational significance to visual stimuli. Pairing stimuli with motivational significance is presumably one of the associative learning processes involved in establishing discriminate or selective relationships with others. We found that early experiences of neglectful caregiving were associated with difficulties in acquiring such associations, and that delays in this developmental skill were related to children's social difficulties. These data suggest a way in which early social learning experiences may impact the development of processes underlying emotional development.     

Experimentally enhancing self-compassion: Moderating effects of trait care-seeking and perceived stress

Social mentality theory suggests that the ability to be reassuring and compassionate to oneself relies on the activation of care-seeking and caregiving mentalities. In this experimental study, college students were randomly assigned to recall memories of care-seeking, caregiving, a combination of care-seeking and caregiving, having fun (active control group), or a no-treatment control group. Participants completed the memory recall task twice per day for four days and were assessed on pre- and post-test levels of self-reassurance. Findings showed a moderating effect of individual differences in trait care-seeking and perceived stress. In response to the caregiving interventions, high care-seekers exhibited increased self-reassurance whereas low care-seekers exhibited decreased self-reassurance. In response to the care-seeking interventions, highly stressed individuals showed increased self-reassurance. Findings suggest that fostering self-compassion/reassurance can be achieved for certain individuals by activating the interpersonal processes involved in care-seeking and caregiving with others.     

Future orientation in the self-system: possible selves, self-regulation, and behavior

Possible selves are representations of the self in the future. Early theoretical accounts of the construct suggested that possible selves directly influence motivation and behavior. We propose an alternative view of possible selves as a component in self-regulatory processes through which motivation and behavior are influenced. We demonstrate the advantages of this conceptualization in two studies that test predictions generated from theoretical models of self-regulation in which the possible selves construct could be embedded. In one study, we show how viewing possible selves as a source of behavioral standards in a control-process model of self-regulation yields support for a set of predictions about the influence of possible selves on current behavior. In the other study, we examine possible selves in the context of an interpersonal model of self-regulation, showing strong evidence of concern for relational value in freely generated hoped-for and feared selves. These findings suggest that the role of possible selves in motivation and behavior can be profitably studied in models that fully specify the process of self-regulation and that those models can be enriched by a consideration of future-oriented self-representations. We offer additional recommendations for strengthening research on possible selves and self-regulation.     

Employee commitment and motivation: a conceptual analysis and integrative model

Theorists and researchers interested in employee commitment and motivation have not made optimal use of each other's work. Commitment researchers seldom address the motivational processes through which commitment affects behavior, and motivation researchers have not recognized important distinctions in the forms, foci, and bases of commitment. To encourage greater cross-fertilization, the authors present an integrative framework in which commitment is presented as one of several energizing forces for motivated behavior. E. A. Locke's (1997) model of the work motivation process and J. P. Meyer and L. Herscovitch's (2001) model of workplace commitments serve as the foundation for the development of this new framework. To facilitate the merger, a new concept, goal regulation, is derived from self-determination theory (E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, 1985) and regulatory focus theory (E. I. Higgins, 1997). By including goal regulation, it is acknowledged that motivated behavior can be accompanied by different mindsets that have particularly important implications for the explanation and prediction of discretionary work behavior.     

The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior

Self-determination theory (SDT) maintains that an understanding of human motivation requires a consideration of innate psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. We discuss the SDT concept of needs as it relates to previous need theories, emphasizing that needs specify the necessary conditions for psychological growth, integrity, and well-being. This concept of needs leads to the hypotheses that different regulatory processes underlying goal pursuits are differentially associated with effective functioning and well-being and also that different goal contents have different relations to the quality of behavior and mental health, specifically because different regulatory processes and different goal contents are associated with differing degrees of need satisfaction. Social contexts and individual differences that support satisfaction of the basic needs facilitate natural growth processes including intrinsically motivated behavior and integration of extrinsic motivations, whereas those that forestall autonomy, competence, or relatedness are associated with poorer motivation, performance, and well-being. We also discuss the relation of the psychological needs to cultural values, evolutionary processes, and other contemporary motivation theories.     

Maternal touch in caregiving behavior of mothers with and without postpartum depression

The way a mother touches her infant plays a central role in maternal caregiving behavior. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine associations between touch and positive and negative caregiving behavior and whether this association differed in mothers with and without postpartum depression, an episode of depressive disorder following childbirth. Positive caregiving behavior was operationalized as sensitive behavior, i.e. the mother’s ability to notice the child’s signals, interpret these signals correctly and respond to them promptly and appropriately. Negative caregiving behavior was operationalized as overriding behavior, i.e. behavior which disturbs the child’s behavior or redirects the child’s attention to follow the parent’s agenda. Seventy mother-infant dyads (44 in the nonclinical group and 26 in the clinical group) participated in a 10 minutes long mother-infant interaction at four months postpartum. The sample is part of an archival dataset of a longitudinal study investigating the parent-child relationship and child development. Three minutes of the interaction were coded a) microanalytically for touch, using a modified version of the Maternal Touch Scale (Beebe et al., 2010), and b) macroanalytically for sensitive and overriding behavior, using the Coding Interactive Behavior measure (Feldman, 1998). Hierarchical regression analyses with bootstrapping showed that caregiving touch, but not affectionate and static touch, was associated with sensitive behavior across the whole sample. Moreover, playful, but not rough-intrusive touch, was associated with overriding behavior across the whole sample. Associations did not differ between mothers with and without postpartum depression.     

Motivations for caregiving in adult intimate relationships: influences on caregiving behavior and relationship functioning

This study identified and examined the correlates of specific motivations for caregiving in romantic couples (N = 194 couples). At Time 1, couple members completed measures assessing motivations for caregiving, the quality of caregiving that occurs in the relationship, and personal and relationship characteristics that might influence caregiving motivations. Relationship functioning was then assessed 2 to 3 months later. Results revealed that (a) there are a number of distinct motivations for providing and for not providing care to one's partner, (b) the motivations are associated with various personal features of the caregiver and the recipient, (c) the caregiver's perceptions of the relationship influence his or her caregiving motives, (d) different motivations for caregiving predict different patterns of caregiving behavior, and (e) responsive caregiving predicts the recipient's perceptions of healthy relationship functioning both immediately and over time. Implications of identifying the motivations that promote or inhibit the provision of responsive support in intimate relationships are discussed.     

Multiple attachment relationships within families: mothers and fathers with two young children

Security of attachment between mothers and fathers and their 2 children was examined in 41 maritally intact families. Strange Situation assessments of attachment security for the younger children (mean age = 1 year 10 months), Attachment Q-sort ratings of the older children (mean age = 4 years 8 months), and ratings of parental caregiving behavior of both children were obtained. Younger and older children developed concordant attachments to both parents. Parents were consistent in their caregiving behavior toward their 2 children. However, parents were not congruent in their attachment to their 2 children. Associations were found between maternal caregiving and attachment only in the younger group. The results support the idea that parental caregiving behavior accounts for only modest portions of the variance in attachment security; evolving attachments integrate developmental inputs from the children and the caregivers in the network of early family relationships.     

道德动机动态系统理论：一种道德发展的新科尔伯格取向

在科尔伯格道德认知发展阶段理论、动态系统理论和自我决定理论基础上,Kaplan提出了道德动机的动态系统理论,把道德动机界定为认知和情绪成分自我组织和自我调节的动态发展过程。该理论有其特定的提出背景、基本观点和主要内容,并且具有一定的实证证据支持。未来研究应着力解决道德认知与情绪的关系、环境因素的影响、横断研究与纵向研究的结合以及研究工具的完善等问题。     

Counterfactual thought in reasoning and performance

Counterfactual thoughts mutate reality to imagine how things might have been different than they actually are. These types of thoughts are more frequent when the antecedent is unusual or the outcome is temporally or numerically close. Counterfactuals have functional benefits for causal reasoning, motivation, intentions, and behavior change. However, they can also bias or hinder these same phenomena under certain conditions. In this article, we review the processes by which counterfactuals produce functional (vs. dysfunctional) outcomes and suggest that this relies on four essential criteria: a causal antecedent is identified accurately; the antecedent can be acted upon by the individual; the counterfactual thought facilitates the means or motivation to alter future behavior; and a future relevant opportunity for application is recognized. Counterfactuals will be functional to the extent that they satisfy all four criteria.     

Infants and their families at risk: Assessment and intervention

One of the basic premises of child-rearing and intervention models is that infant behavior is part of a communication system with the caregiving environment. However, infants vary in the messages that they convey to the caregiving environment, and parents vary in their ability to interpret their infants' signals and provide appropriate caregiving. This paper examines some of the tension that may exist between infant communication and appropriate caregiving. We examine research findings from several different populations of at-risk infants and their mothers in which infant signals and parental responses are variously effective in providing clues for appropriate caregiving. Some kinds of fits or matches between infant characteristics and maternal characteristics may be better than others for optimal infant development. The implications for intervention are also discussed.