Attachment Style and the Regulation of Negative Affect: Exploring Individual Differences in Mood Congruency Effects on Memory and Judgment

2004 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Pereg ◽  
Mario Mikulincer
2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 164-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Healy ◽  
Aaron Treadwell ◽  
Mandy Reagan

The current study was an attempt to determine the degree to which the suppression of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and attentional control were influential in the ability to engage various executive processes under high and low levels of negative affect. Ninety-four college students completed the Stroop Test while heart rate was being recorded. Estimates of the suppression of RSA were calculated from each participant in response to this test. The participants then completed self-ratings of attentional control, negative affect, and executive functioning. Regression analysis indicated that individual differences in estimates of the suppression of RSA, and ratings of attentional control were associated with the ability to employ executive processes but only when self-ratings of negative affect were low. An increase in negative affect compromised the ability to employ these strategies in the majority of participants. The data also suggest that high attentional control in conjunction with attenuated estimates of RSA suppression may increase the ability to use executive processes as negative affect increases.


Author(s):  
Angela C. Rowe ◽  
Emily R. Gold ◽  
Katherine B. Carnelley

Attachment security priming has been extensively used in relationship research to explore the contents of mental models of attachment and examine the benefits derived from enhancing security. This systematic review explores the effectiveness of attachment security priming in improving positive affect and reducing negative affect in adults and children. The review searched four electronic databases for peer-reviewed journal articles. Thirty empirical studies met our inclusion criteria, including 28 adult and 2 child and adolescent samples. The findings show that attachment security priming improved positive affect and reduced negative affect relative to control primes. Supraliminal and subliminal primes were equally effective in enhancing security in one-shot prime studies (we only reviewed repeated priming studies using supraliminal primes so could not compare prime types in these). Global attachment style moderated the primed style in approximately half of the studies. Importantly, repeated priming studies showed a cumulative positive effect of security priming over time. We conclude that repeated priming study designs may be the most effective. More research is needed that explores the use of attachment security priming as a possible intervention to improve emotional wellbeing, in particular for adolescents and children.


2016 ◽  
Vol 95 ◽  
pp. 121-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett Marroquín ◽  
Chloe C. Boyle ◽  
Susan Nolen-Hoeksema ◽  
Annette L. Stanton

2020 ◽  
pp. 014616722094619
Author(s):  
Christopher G. Davis ◽  
Hannah Brazeau ◽  
Elisabeth Bailin Xie ◽  
Kathleen McKee

Keeping secrets from one’s partner has been associated with lower well-being and relationship satisfaction. Previous research has suggested that individual differences in self-concealment account for these effects. However, we propose that the fear of discovery (FoD)—defined as the fear that one’s secret may be revealed by means other than deliberate disclosure—predicts the extent to which secrets affect well-being beyond the effects attributable to individual differences. Both a cross-sectional and a longitudinal survey (combined N = 471; 54.4% female; Mage = 39.5) of adults in romantic relationships confirmed that FoD predicted greater preoccupation with the secret, more negative affect, and less relationship satisfaction and commitment beyond that of self-concealment. Multilevel modeling in Study 2 indicated that changes in FoD predicted changes in preoccupation over time. The data are consistent with the notion that FoD promotes greater preoccupation, greater negative affect, and lower levels of relationship well-being.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1945-1967
Author(s):  
Samantha A. Wagner ◽  
Richard E. Mattson ◽  
Joanne Davila ◽  
Matthew D. Johnson ◽  
Nicole M. Cameron

Nonsexual physical affection plays an important role in marital functioning, but not all individuals are satisfied with the intimate touch they receive from their partner. Differences in adult attachment tendencies may be one way to understand the individual differences in touch satisfaction. Using a sample of 180 different-sex married couples, we explored how attachment associates with touch satisfaction in marriage in a cross-sectional investigation. Consistent with predictions, we found that husbands with greater attachment anxiety were less satisfied with touch, except when engagement in routine affection was relatively high, but especially when low. Lower routine affection diminished touch satisfaction regardless of attachment style, but greater avoidance appeared to buffer this effect for wives. However, wives with greater avoidance had husbands who reported lower touch satisfaction. We also explored the interplay of touch satisfaction and marital quality, finding that they associated positively, even when routine affection is statistically controlled. Lastly, our exploratory analyses suggest that touch satisfaction may serve as a mediating link between anxiety and marital quality. Overall, our findings support that attachment insecurities associate with engagement in and satisfaction with touch and that these processes are relevant to the overall marital quality.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott H. Hemenover ◽  
Colin R. Harbke

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Efrat Barel ◽  
Yonathan Mizrachi ◽  
Maayan Nachmani

Background: The present study investigated the role of temperament and attachment security in predicting individual differences in the five factor personality traits among adults. As previous studies suggested the potential moderating role of attachment in the association between temperament and personality traits, the present study sought to examine an interactionist model combining attachment and temperament in explaining individual differences in personality traits. Methods: A sample of 1871 participants (1151 women and 719 men) completed self-report measures of adult attachment style (the Relationships Questionnaire—RQ), temperament dimension (the Fisher Temperament Inventory—FTI), and personality domain (the Five Factor Model—FFM). Results: Partial correlational analyses revealed associations between attachment security and each of the five domains of the FFM, and few associations between some temperament dimensions and several domains of the FFM. Moderated regression analyses showed that attachment security moderated the associations between temperament dimensions and the Agreeableness domain of the FFM. Among secure individuals, those with higher scores on the Curious/Energetic, Cautious/Social Norm Compliant and Prosocial/Empathetic scales exhibited higher Agreeableness scores, whereas among insecure individuals, those with higher scores on the Analytic/Tough-minded scale exhibited lower scores on the Agreeableness scale. Conclusion: Overall, the current study provides evidence in support of the substantive role of social-environmental factors (Adult Attachment) as a moderating element bridging temperament-related personality elements and a number of their FFM manifestations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 144-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania Balzarotti ◽  
Valentina Chiarella ◽  
Maria Rita Ciceri

Abstract. In the present study, we examined whether individual differences in the use of cognitive reappraisal predict the experience of more positive and less negative emotions prior to an evaluative task, as well as whether reappraisal is associated with better performance. In a longitudinal design, 130 students were asked to report their spontaneous use of reappraisal as well as the emotions experienced at three time points prior to an academic exam. Results showed that the use of cognitive reappraisal measured when students began to study predicted less negative and more positive emotions in the following two weeks. Further, positive and negative affect were significant predictors of the grade achieved. Finally, cognitive reappraisal had a significant indirect effect on the grade students achieved. These findings suggest that cognitive reappraisal can be effective in regulating emotions while approaching evaluative stressors.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document