scholarly journals Associations between Adult Attachment Dimensions And Attitudes Toward Pain Behaviour

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 378-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lachlan A McWilliams ◽  
Paul DJ Murphy ◽  
S Jeffrey Bailey

BACKGROUND: Despite the important role positive reinforcement of pain behaviour is believed to play in chronic pain, there is a paucity of research regarding factors that influence the provision of such reinforcement. Attachment theory suggests that individuals high in attachment avoidance view the pain behaviour of others in a negative manner and would, therefore, provide little reinforcement of pain behaviour. As an initial step in evaluating this model, relationships between attachment dimensions and attitudes toward pain behaviour were examined. Attachment avoidance was hypothesized to be negatively associated with accepting attitudes toward pain behaviour.METHODS: A sample of undergraduate students (n=160) completed the Relationships Structures Questionnaire, which provides global ratings of adult attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) by assessing attachment across four relationship targets (friend, mother, father and romantic partner). Attitudes regarding the acceptability of pain behaviour were assessed using male and female versions of the Appropriate Pain Behaviour Questionnaire (APBQ).RESULTS: Consistent with the hypothesis, attachment avoidance was negatively correlated with both APBQ-Female and APBQ-Male scores. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the relationships between the attachment scales and the APBQ scales while statistically adjusting for sex and testing for interaction effects. The findings revealed complex relationships involving interaction effects that provided further support for the hypothesis.CONCLUSIONS: The findings provided support for the hypothesis that attachment avoidance is associated with less accepting attitudes toward pain behaviour. Additional research regarding the role of attachment and attitudes on responses to pain behaviour is warranted.

Author(s):  
Kazunori Iwasa ◽  
Toshiki Ogawa

This study examined an underlying mechanism of the relationships among Rorschach texture responses and adult attachment dimensions (attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance), focusing on the vividness of tactile imagery and emotion as mediators. In Study 1, Japanese undergraduate students (n = 20) completed the Rorschach and the Vividness of Tactile Imagery Scale. A poisson regression analysis revealed that greater vividness of tactile imagery was associated with an increased number of texture responses. In Study 2, Japanese undergraduate students (n = 224) completed the Experiences in Close Relationship Scale for the Generalized Other and the Vividness of Tactile Imagery Scale. A path analysis revealed that attachment avoidance weakened the strength of emotional responses accompanying the generation of tactile imagery, and greater emotional responses enhanced the vividness of tactile imagery. These results suggest the possibility that attachment avoidance indirectly reduces texture responses on the Rorschach.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 3028-3050
Author(s):  
Leying Zheng ◽  
Yadan Luo ◽  
Xu Chen

Although insecure adult attachment is thought to be associated with depressive symptoms, results of research on the link between attachment dimensions (attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) and depressive symptoms have been inconsistent. The aim of this study was to use meta-analysis to examine the strength of the correlations between the two attachment dimensions and depressive symptoms. A total of 64 papers and 78 independent samples were included in this meta-analysis. Results showed significant associations between both attachment dimensions and depressive symptoms. Additional analyses indicated that attachment anxiety was more strongly related to depressive symptoms, whereas attachment avoidance was weakly related to depressive symptoms. Cultural orientation and sex were found to moderate the relationship between attachment anxiety and depressive symptoms. Age was a significant moderator of the relationships between both attachment anxiety and avoidance and depressive symptoms. Results of the meta-analysis and the implications were discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lachlan A. McWilliams

AbstractPositive associations between attachment insecurity and indicators of poorer patient-physician relationship quality have been found in samples of patients consulting with physicians for a variety of specific medical conditions or needs. The current study was the first to investigate associations between adult attachment characteristics and relationship quality with family physicians. University students (N = 239) completed measures assessing attachment and their relationships with their family physician. Attachment avoidance was associated with poor affective relationship quality and with greater communication difficulties. Attachment anxiety was associated with greater communication difficulties, but was unrelated to affective relationship quality. Those with insecure attachment, particularly those with high levels of avoidance, have poorer relationships with their family physicians than those with more secure attachment.


Author(s):  
Kazunori Iwasa ◽  
Toshiki Ogawa

We examined the relationship between texture responses (T) on the Rorschach and adult attachment in the Japanese population. 47 Japanese undergraduate and graduate students (mean age = 20.16, SD = 1.87) completed a self-report adult attachment scale as well as the Rorschach. An ANOVA revealed that T = 1 participants were attached more securely than were other groups. T > 1 participants were more preoccupied with attachment and scored higher on an attachment anxiety scale than the T = 1 group. Although these results were consistent with the interpretation of the texture response according to the Comprehensive System (CS), the results obtained for T = 0 participants were inconsistent with hypotheses derived from the CS. T = 0 participants were high on preoccupied and attachment anxiety scores, although they were theoretically expected to be high on dismissing or attachment avoidance. These results indicated that – at least in Japan – T should be regarded as a sensitive measure of attachment anxiety.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752110185
Author(s):  
Marina Rain ◽  
Raymond A. Mar

Adult attachment influences how people engage with stories, in terms of how immersed or transported they become into these narratives and the tendency to form close bonds with characters. This likely stems from the ability of stories and story characters to provide interpersonal intimacy without the threat of rejection. In Study 1, we expand on this work to examine how attachment relates to two previously uninvestigated aspects of character engagement: character identification and parasocial interactions. Taking a statistically conservative approach, controlling for broader traits, we demonstrate that the attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance differentially predict these forms of character engagement. A high-powered, pre-registered, Study 2 follows up on these results by examining the types of characters that are most appealing, based on one’s attachment orientation. Together, these studies demonstrate that attachment plays an essential role in both how we engage with characters and the types of characters to whom we are attracted.


2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 822-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryon C. McDermott ◽  
Hsiu-Lan Cheng ◽  
Christina Wright ◽  
Brandon R. Browning ◽  
Amy W. Upton ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 675-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieke Dewitte ◽  
Jan De Houwer

We used a variant of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and explicit reports to examine the assumption that attachment anxiety and avoidance are related to proximity and distance goals. Results confirmed that attachment avoidance was associated with a stronger implicit motivation for and positive evaluation of distance goals in attachment relationships. This was found both at the implicit and explicit levels and both in a threat and non‐threat context. Attachment anxiety was associated with proximity goals only when measured explicitly, but not when goal activation was measured implicitly. Our findings highlight the importance of considering both implicit and explicit goal representations when studying motivational processes in the context of attachment, and suggest that the IAT can provide a useful tool for investigating implicit motivational constructs. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 940-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Barbaro ◽  
Yael Sela ◽  
Mohammad Atari ◽  
Todd K. Shackelford ◽  
Virgil Zeigler-Hill

Previous research indicates that the romantic attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance are associated with performance frequency of Benefit-Provisioning and Cost-Inflicting domains of mate retention. The current research aimed to replicate previous findings in a non-Western sample (Iran, Study 1) and to extend this research by investigating the mediating role of perceived risk of partner infidelity (Study 2). Studies 1 and 2 tested the hypotheses that attachment anxiety is positively associated with mate retention and that attachment avoidance is negatively associated with mate retention. Study 2 tested the hypothesis perceived risk of partner infidelity mediate the association between attachment dimensions and mate retention domains. Results of Studies 1 and 2 replicated previous research and also revealed that perceived risk of partner infidelity mediated the association between attachment anxiety, specifically, and mate retention. The current research advances our understanding of romantic attachment from an evolutionary psychological perspective.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itai Yanai ◽  
Martin Lercher

When analyzing the results of an experiment, the mental focus on a specific hypothesis might prevent the exploration of other aspects of the data, effectively blinding one to new ideas. To test this notion, we performed an experiment in which we asked undergraduate students to analyze a fictitious dataset. In addition to being asked what they could conclude from the dataset, half of the students were asked to also test specific hypotheses. In line with our notion, students in the hypothesis-free group were almost 5 times more likely to observe an image of a gorilla when simply plotting the data, a proxy for an initial step towards data analysis. If these findings are representative also of scientific research as a whole, they warrant concern about the current emphasis on hypothesis-driven research, especially in the context of information-rich datasets such as those now routinely created in the biological sciences. Our work provides evidence for a link between the psychological effect of selective attention and hypothesis-driven data analysis, and suggests a hidden cost to having a hypothesis when analyzing a dataset.


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