Attachment concerns of mothers as manifested in parental,spousal, and friendship relationships

The present study examined the relation between attachment concerns of mothers and three of their close relationships: with their husband, best woman friend, and infant. Forty-live mothers completed an Attachment Concerns Questionnaire based on the Hazan and Shaver attachment measure, and the Sharabany Intimacy scale regarding their relationships with their husband and with their same-sex best friend; they were also observed with their infants (aged 14 to 22 months) in the Ainsworth Strange Situation procedure. Mothers’attachment concerns were significantly correlated both to their infants’attachment classifications and to reunion scores in the Strange Situation procedure (e.g., concern with closeness was positively correlated with avoidance; fear of abandonment was positively correlated with avoidance and resistance). Intimacy with husband and best woman friend were also correlated with mothers’attachment concerns (e.g., concern with closeness was negatively correlated with intimacy with the husband and fear of abandonment was negatively correlated with intimacy with the best friend). The findings are discussed in terms of the concept of an internal working model of attachment, and, in light of the similarity and the modular hypotheses regarding the nature of relationships and concordance among relationships.     

Do Relationship Styles Moderate Influences of Perceived Maternal Support on Early Adolescents’ Well-Being?

This study was designed to examine whether the impact of adolescents?? perceptions of maternal support on their well-being hinges on their self-perceived styles of relating to their mother. Early adolescents (N?=?174, 88 girls, M age 13.04?years) in England were assessed for perceptions of maternal support (emotional support, autonomy support), self-perceived styles of relating to their mother (preoccupied, avoidant), and well-being (self-reported depression, peer social competence, and peer-reported internalizing, externalizing problems). As expected, adolescents with a preoccupied (avoidant) style of relating to their mother were vulnerable to (unaffected by) their perceptions of her. Results attest to the power of relationship styles in affecting how early adolescents process information about their mothers in a manner that has implications for their well-being.     

Gender and working models of attachment: Consequences for perceptions of self and romantic relationships

Several theorists have proposed that differential socialization experiences lead men and women to differ in the importance they assign to relationships and in how they interpret and respond to relationships. To explore this idea, this study examined whether men and women who reported similar attachment experiences responded differently to information about the same kind of relationship. Men and women with secure, preoccupied, or avoidant models of attachment imagined themselves in a relationship with a hypothetical partner who displayed secure, preoccupied, or avoidant behavior. As predicted, avoidant men and preoccupied women, whose attachment models exaggerated gender-role stereotypes, expressed the most negativity toward themselves and the relationship. Women also were more likely than men to apply specific information about the imagined relationship to general beliefs about their own relationships. In addition, men and women whose attachment models matched the partner's behavior responded more favorably to the relationship if they both expressed security, but less favorably if they both expressed avoidance. Findings for gender and partner matching closely paralleled those for couples in long-term relationships and support the idea that the meaning and consequences of attachment models must be considered within the context of gender roles.     

Relationship quality promotes the desire for closeness among distressed avoidantly attached individuals

Individuals who experience attachment avoidance tend to desire less closeness in their romantic relationships than others, especially when experiencing distress. However, emerging research suggests that avoidant individuals value social closeness and are more comfortable with it when they perceive that seeking closeness is welcomed. Thus, this research examined the relationship characteristics that might predict avoidant individuals seeking more closeness than they would otherwise. We investigated whether perceiving their relationship to be high quality would predict avoidant individuals desiring more closeness when distressed. We hypothesized that avoidant individuals who perceived their relationship to be high quality would desire greater closeness with their partners when distressed—counteracting their tendency to eschew relational closeness. A study of dating couples supported this hypothesis.     

One Foot Out of the Nest: How Parents and Friends Influence Social Perceptions in Emerging Adulthood

Attachment theory proposes that representations of attachment figures are transferred between relationships, resulting in stable relational experiences. The current study used a transference paradigm to examine how parental and best friend attachment representations influence perceptions of new relationship partners in emerging adulthood. We discovered that close friendships influenced attachment anxiety and avoidance experienced specifically with friend-like others, while parental relationships affected feelings of anxiety toward a variety of people. Several relationship factors, such as the importance of the friend relationship, moderated the transference process. Our findings suggest that emerging adults’ current relationships have an impact on their reactions toward novel individuals, and emerging adults’ feelings about their existing relationship partners color their future social experiences.     

Perceived Benefits and Costs of Romantic Relationships for Young People: Differences by Adult Attachment Style

Bowlby's attachment theory suggested that the attachment experiences of early childhood influence adult approaches to close relationships. As a result of these experiences, the child develops typical mental schemas or internal working models. The aim of this study was to analyze how young people with different attachment styles perceive the benefits and costs involved in spending as much time as possible with their partner, and to determine whether their beliefs reflect the internal working models associated with their attachment style. A sample of 1,539 university students responded to the Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew & Horowith, 1991), and to a questionnaire about behavioral beliefs (perceived benefits and costs). Results show that young people with different attachment styles hold different beliefs about the consequences derived from engaging in a specific behavior in romantic relationships. Secure and preoccupied individuals perceived more benefits than costs associated with the behavior, whereas dismissing and fearful individuals perceived more costs than benefits. Furthermore, secure and preoccupied individuals rated those behavioral consequences leading to enhanced intimacy or closeness more positively than avoidant individuals, whereas dismissing individuals rated more negatively those consequences that involved a loss of independence. These results confirm that a congruity exists between the beliefs associated with the behavior studied and the internal working models related to each adult attachment style.     

Calibrating Use of Emotion Regulation Strategies to the Relationship Context: An Attachment Perspective

This research tested whether adult attachment orientations predict use of emotion regulation strategies in theoretically consistent ways, and whether associations among attachment orientations and emotion regulatory strategies are moderated by critical features of the relationship context. Ninety‐six couples (192 individuals) reported on their attachment orientations, habitual use of emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, negative emotion expressivity), and perceptions of relationship closeness and negative partner behaviors. Highly secure individuals reported greater use of cognitive reappraisal, especially when they felt closer to their partners, and engaged in less suppression when their partners behaved more negatively toward them. Highly avoidant individuals reported greater use of suppression, especially when they perceived more negative partner behaviors, and when their partners were more avoidant. Highly anxious individuals also used more suppression when their partners were more avoidant, but they expressed more negative emotions when they were paired with less avoidant partners. Fearful‐avoidant individuals' emotion regulation patterns resembled those of both highly secure and dismissive‐avoidant individuals. This study illustrates how attending to moderating effects within specific relationships and testing joint effects of both partners' personality characteristics can help identify contextual boundaries of emotion regulation strategies and clarify emotional response patterns in couples.     

Family relationships, leaving home, and adjustment to military service

Associations between family relationships and individual adjustment were studied within a sample of 19-year-old soldiers during their first weeks of basic training. Results showed that family relationships partly explained soldiers' closeness to best friends, number of social nominations, and commanders' ratings of soldiers' military and social competence. In addition, family relations explained soldiers' perceived social competence as assessed via closeness to best friends and number of sociometric nominations. Together, the results reiterate the role played by the family and attitudes toward offspring leaving home and toward their adjustment to military service.     

Willingness to Falsely Take Blame among Friends: Closeness,Reporting Wrongdoing,and Identity

This study examined people’s willingness to falsely take the blame for a friend’s offense. We sought to identify whether friendship closeness and individual differences would predict false blame-taking. Participants were randomly assigned to think of either a close or casual friend engaging in driver negligence and indicated their willingness to falsely take responsibility. Although self-construal was unrelated to willingness, oneness mediated the relationship between friendship closeness and blame-taking willingness. Negative attitudes about reporting wrongdoing predicted a greater willingness, and men were more willing to take the blame than women. Results may help those in the legal system to better identify false confessions.     

Close relationships and the working self-concept: implicit and explicit effects of priming attachment on agency and communion

Two studies investigated how contextually activating attachment relationships influences the working self-concept in terms of agency and communion. In Study 1, 245 participants were primed with a secure, avoidant, or anxious-ambivalent relationship and the implicit accessibility of agency and communion was assessed using word fragments. Activating a secure relationship increased the accessibility of communion, whereas activating an anxious-ambivalent relationship increased the accessibility of agency. In Study 2, 123 participants were primed with a secure, preoccupied, avoidant-dismissive, or avoidant-fearful relationship and explicit self-perceptions of agency and communion traits were assessed using the Extended Personality Attributes Questionnaire (EPAQ). Gender interacted with the attachment prime, such that men primed with a secure relationship reported higher communion than did men primed with an avoidant (dismissive or fearful) relationship, whereas women primed with an anxious (preoccupied or fearful) relationship reported higher agency than did women primed with a secure relationship.     

Attachment and exploration in adulthood: The mediating effect of social support

Research examining the relationship between adult attachment styles and exploratory behavior has shown that anxious and avoidant attachment styles are negatively related to exploration. However, little research has been conducted on the mediation process between adult attachment styles and exploration. Given that perceived social support has been shown to be the basis for secure attachment and may be related to exploration behavior, the current study examines whether perceived social support mediates the relationship between adult attachment and exploration. University students in Taiwan (N = 168) completed questionnaires that assessed attachment styles; perceived social support from their father, mother, and best friend; and their intellectual, social, and environmental exploration. Our results revealed that perceived social support mediates the relationship between avoidant attachment and exploration behavior.     

The Effects of Relationship Closeness on the Communication of Stereotype-Relevant Information in Conversation

刻板印象信息常借助人际关系链得以沟通和传递。而沟通是一种社会情境活动,故人们对信息的沟通和传递依赖于沟通的社会背景,关系亲密度是其中的一个重要因素。关系亲密度指的是沟通者间相互依赖和了解的程度,以自我包含他人量表得分作为判断指标。本研究的目的即为扩展已有的刻板印象沟通研究,采用Ruscher等人提出的二人对话范式,通过两个实验探索关系亲密度如何影响人们在谈话过程中对刻板印象相关信息的沟通和传递。实验1中的关系亲密度由自然存在模式建构,共32对同性别被试参与;实验2中的关系亲密度由RCIT三阶段自我表露任务实验室诱发模式建构,共38对同性别被试参与。所用的沟通材料均为Klein 等 人编制的刻板印象信息故事,并使用自我包含他人量表检核关系亲密度。实验均为2×2×2三因素混合设计,其中,关系亲密度（陌生人和朋友）为被试间因素,刻板印象信息的一致性（SC一致信息与SI不一致信息）和故事情节的核心性（核心和次要）为被试内因素。在实验1中,三因素方差分析的结果显示,刻板印象信息的一致性主效应显著,核心性主效应显著,刻板印象信息的一致性和关系亲密度的交互作用显著。在陌生人关系条件下,被试传递的 SC 信息显著多于 SI 信息;而在朋友关系条件下,被试并没有显示出这种SC偏差,反而传递了稍多的SI信息。在实验2中,三因素方差分析的结果显示,刻板印象信息的一致性主效应边缘显著,核心性主效应显著,刻板印象信息的一致性和关系亲密度的交互作用显著。在陌生人关系条件下,被试传递的SC信息显著多于 SI 信息;而在朋友关系条件下,被试并没有显示出SC偏差,同样传递了稍多的SI信息。因此,可以认为人们倾向于向陌生人传递显著更多的刻板印象一致信息,而向朋友则未显示出这种特点。谈话中,关系亲密度影响刻板印象信息的沟通和传递。     

On the benefits of giving as well as receiving autonomy support: mutuality in close friendships

Two studies examined autonomy support within close friendships. The first showed that receiving autonomy support from a friend predicted the recipient's need satisfaction within the relationship and relationship quality as indexed by emotional reliance, security of attachment, dyadic adjustment, and inclusion of friend in self and that there was significant mutuality of receiving autonomy support and of each other variable. The relations of perceived autonomy support to need satisfaction and relationship quality held for both female-female and male-male pairs across the two studies. The second study replicated and extended the first, showing that receiving autonomy support also predicted psychological health. Furthermore, giving autonomy support to a friend predicted the givers' experience of relationship quality over and above the effects of receiving autonomy support from the friend. When both receiving and giving autonomy support competed for variance in predicting well-being, giving, rather than receiving, autonomy support was the stronger predictor.     

Family Relationships,Leaving Home,and Adjustment to Military Service

Associations between family relationships and individual adjustment were studied within a sample of 19-year-old soldiers during their first weeks of basic training. Results showed that family relationships partly explained soldiers' closeness to best friends, number of social nominations, and commanders' ratings of soldiers' military and social competence. In addition, family relations explained soldiers' perceived social competence as assessed via closeness to best friends and number of sociometric nominations. Together, the results reiterate the role played by the family and attitudes toward offspring leaving home and toward their adjustment to military service.     

Relationship Closeness and Self‐reported Willingness to Falsely Take the Blame

One reason people falsely confess is to protect the true perpetrator. The current study examined whether relationship closeness influences people's self‐reported willingness to falsely take the blame. Utilizing theoretical work from the prosocial area, three potential mediators were investigated. Participants (N = 131) were randomly assigned to think of either a close or a casual friend and then read one of two scenarios that described a minor offense committed by the friend. Participants' willingness to take the blame was assessed, as well as their perceptions of reciprocity, feelings of empathy, and distress concerns related to their relationship with the offending friend. Results showed that, in both scenarios, participants more often took the blame in the close friend condition than in the casual friend condition. Reciprocity and empathy each uniquely and independently mediated relationship closeness, whereas distress concerns did not. Differences in the two scenarios, which describe different offenses, are discussed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CLOSENESS, AUTONOMY, EQUITY, AND RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION IN LESBIAN COUPLES

It is often assumed that in lesbian relationships a high degree of closeness is reached at the expense of autonomy of the partners. The present study among 119 Dutch lesbian couples examined the effect on relational satisfaction of two dimensions of closeness, emotional dependency and intimacy, and of autonomy and equity. The women in this study were generally open about their lesbian relationship, and reactions of the social environment were mostly positive. Autonomy was negatively related to dependency, but not at all to intimacy. Intimacy and equity as reported by the respondent and her partner, as well as dependency and autonomy reported by the respondent, were independent predictors of relationship satisfaction. Support from the social environment and participation in lesbian subcultures did not play a role in relationship satisfaction.     

Interpersonal patterns in close relationships: The role of sociotropy–autonomy

Sociotropy and autonomy are conceptualized as two personality dimensions that relate to an individual's vulnerability to depression. Sociotropy is characterized as an excessive investment in interpersonal relationships and autonomy is characterized as an excessive concern with personal achievement and control over the environment. The present research project consisted of two studies examining the relationships between sociotropy–autonomy and interpersonal patterns in close relationships. Data collected via self‐report and behavioural observations suggested that highly sociotropic individuals have a tendency to be high in control and low in affiliation towards individuals who are close to them. In contrast, the data suggested that highly autonomous individuals may be low in both control and affiliation towards people who are close to them. These findings are discussed in the context of the literature regarding the interpersonal characteristics of sociotropic and autonomous individuals.     

Close Relationships and Happiness Among Emerging Adults

The present investigation examined the role of multiple close relationships (mother, father, best friend, and romantic partner, if any) in happiness among emerging adults with and without a romantic partner. The results for those without a partner (n = 152) revealed that only the relationship experiences with mother and best friend were predictive of happiness. On the other hand, the findings for those with a partner (n = 159) showed that only three factors, namely mother–child relationship quality, romantic relationship quality and conflict were predictive of happiness. The results for this group also suggested that romantic relationship quality was protective of best friendship conflict; moreover, best friendship quality did not buffer the negative impact of romantic partner conflict on happiness, suggesting a less important role of best friends in happiness. In other words, the findings suggest that when emerging adults are involved in a romantic relationship, friends’ importance in happiness might be less pronounced or not pronounced at all. The results were discussed in light of the literature and suggestions were made for future research.     

“I know you're kidding”: Relationship closeness enhances positive perceptions of teasing

Feeling close in a relationship may enhance perceptions of teasing within that relationship. In Study 1, participants recalled instances of teasing—as both teaser and target—in close and nonclose relationships. Participants perceived teases in close relationships more positively and better intentioned than those in nonclose relationships, as both teaser and target. The discrepancy between teasers and targets in perceptions of intent was also reduced by felt closeness. In Study 2, interaction partner closeness was manipulated and a tease was staged. Teases delivered by a close (vs. nonclose) partner were perceived as more positive and better intentioned. Each study has limitations but their methods complement each other. Together they provide convergent evidence that relationship closeness increases positive perceptions of teasing.