scholarly journals Sexual Nostalgia as a Response to Unmet Sexual and Relational Needs: The Role of Attachment Avoidance

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 1538-1552
Author(s):  
Amy Muise ◽  
James J. Kim ◽  
Anik Debrot ◽  
Emily A. Impett ◽  
Geoff MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Relationship Status ◽  
Sexual Experiences ◽  
Sexual Fantasies ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Over Time

Romantic relationships help people meet needs for connection and emotional and sexual fulfillment. In the current research, we investigate an unexplored response to feeling sexually and relationally unfulfilled: reflecting on positive sexual experiences with past partners (or sexual nostalgia). Across three studies, people low in attachment avoidance (i.e., comfortable with closeness) who were (a) single or (b) sexually or relationally dissatisfied reported greater sexual nostalgia, whereas people high in attachment avoidance (i.e., value autonomy) did not calibrate their feelings of sexual nostalgia based on their current relationship status or satisfaction. Sexual fantasies about past partners (i.e., sexual nostalgia) were distinct from other types of sexual fantasies (Study 1) and the effects could not be attributed to general nostalgia (Study 2) or sexual desire (Study 3). Chronic sexual nostalgia detracted from satisfaction over time. The findings have implications for theories of nostalgia and attachment and for managing unfulfilled needs in relationships.

You haven’t been on my mind lately

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moran Mizrahi ◽  
Yaniv Kanat-Maymon ◽  
Gurit E. Birnbaum
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Romantic Partners ◽  
Diary Study ◽  
Sexual Fantasies ◽  
Romantic Couples ◽  
Partner Responsiveness ◽  
Over Time

Sexual desire between romantic partners tends to decrease over time. A decrease in frequency of dyadic fantasies and an increase in frequency of extradyadic fantasies are typical manifestations of this process. The present diary study adopted an attachment-theoretical perspective to better understand why some people are less likely to fantasize about their partners. Both members of 100 romantic couples completed measures of relationship-specific insecurities, partner responsiveness, and frequency of sexual fantasies every evening for 42 days. Results showed that attachment insecurities were associated with lower frequency of dyadic fantasies. Partner responsiveness mediated these associations, such that attachment insecurities were associated with perceiving partners as less responsive, which, in turn, predicted lower frequency of dyadic fantasies. Men’s avoidance predicted higher frequency of extradyadic fantasies. These findings demonstrated the role of responsiveness in sustaining desire, suggesting that attachment insecurities bias people to perceive their partner as less responsive, thereby hampering sexual desire.

scholarly journals Fostering Attachment Security: The Role of Interdependent Situations

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (20) ◽  
pp. 7648
Author(s):  
Francesca Righetti ◽  
Daniel Balliet ◽  
Catherine Molho ◽  
Simon Columbus ◽  
Ruddy Faure ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Security ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Experience Sampling ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Interdependence Theory ◽  
The Asymmetry ◽  
Future Outcomes ◽  
Theory Framework ◽  
Over Time

This work adopts an Interdependence Theory framework to investigate how the features of interdependent situations that couples face in their daily life (i.e., situations in which partners influence each other’s outcomes) shape attachment security toward their current partners. An experience sampling study examined attachment tendencies and features of interdependent situations that people experience with their partner in daily life to predict satisfaction and trust in their relationship, and changes in attachment avoidance and anxiety toward their partner over time. Results revealed that encountering situations with corresponding outcomes (i.e., situations in which both partners have the same preferences) and with information certainty (i.e., situations in which there is clear knowledge of each partner’s preferences) assuage people’s insecurity. On the contrary, situations of mutual current and future interdependence (i.e., situations in which each person’s current or future outcomes are dependent on their partner’s behavior) undermined security for anxiously attached individuals. Power (i.e., the asymmetry in partners’ dependence) was not related to attachment security. This work underscores the importance of studying the role of the situations that partners experience in their daily life and the way they are related to relationship feelings and cognitions.

Gelotophobia in romantic life: Replicating associations with attachment styles and their mediating role for relationship status

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 2890-2897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay Brauer ◽  
René T. Proyer
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Romantic Relationship ◽  
Romantic Attachment ◽  
Relationship Status ◽  
Anxious Attachment ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Lower Likelihood

The fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia) plays a detrimental role in courtship (e.g., predicting a lower likelihood of entering a relationship) and romantic relationships (e.g., low relationship satisfaction). Gelotophobia correlates positively with anxious and avoidant romantic attachment. This study aims to replicate (a) the associations between gelotophobia and romantic attachment and (b) the mediating role of attachment in the association between gelotophobia and relationship experience using a sample of N = 531 participants ( M = 32.1 years; 63.7% singles). Previous findings replicated well, as gelotophobia positively relates to avoidant and anxious attachment and lower likelihood of entering a romantic relationship. Contrary to earlier research, only anxiety mediated the association between gelotophobia and relationship status. We discuss the findings regarding the attachment framework of long-term singlehood.

scholarly journals Childhood Emotional Maltreatment and Romantic Relationships: The Role of Compassionate Goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lining Sun ◽  
Amy Canevello ◽  
Kathrine A. Lewis ◽  
Jiqiang Li ◽  
Jennifer Crocker
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Emotional Maltreatment ◽  
Compassionate Goals ◽  
Relationship Processes ◽  
Over Time

Past research indicates that childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) undermines the quality of adult romantic relationships by fostering negative characteristics in survivors. Two longitudinal studies investigated the hypothesis that decreased compassionate goals toward partners over time explain the association between CEM and declining relationship quality. In Study 1, CEM predicted decreased compassionate goals over time, which in turn predicted decreased relationship quality in individuals in romantic relationships. Study 2 replicated this effect in romantically involved couples and showed that partners’ high compassionate goals attenuated the decline in compassionate goals associated with reported CEM. These results point to the importance of examining how CEM may affect positive relationship processes and the protective roles of partners’ compassionate goals.

scholarly journals Sexual Desire in the Time of COVID-19: How COVID-Related Stressors are Associated with Sexual Desire in Romantic Relationships

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhonda Nicole Balzarini ◽  
Amy Muise ◽  
Giulia Zoppolat ◽  
Amanda N. Gesselman ◽  
Justin J Lehmiller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Financial Strain ◽  
Financial Instability ◽  
Stress Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Financial Concern ◽  
Over Time

The COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures caused widespread social and economic disruptions, resulting in spikes in unemployment and financial instability, along with drastic changes to people's ability to feel socially connected. These changes could have implications on people’s sex lives as external stressors, like those introduced amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, are risk factors for depressive symptoms, which are associated with lower levels of sexual desire. The current research (N = 4,993) examined whether external stressors brought on by COVID-19 were associated with sexual desire among people in relationships (Studies 1-2), and whether this association was, in part, due to reports of depressive symptoms (Study 2). In the period immediately following the onset of the pandemic, more financial concern (Study 1) and worry (Study 2) were associated with higher sexual desire, while other factors, like stress (Studies 1-2), were associated with lower desire. We also followed a subset of participants every two weeks during the initial stages of the pandemic and at times when people reported greater stress, loneliness, financial strain, or worry than their average, they reported greater depressive symptoms, which, was in turn, associated with lower sexual desire. Results suggest that the social isolation and stress resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has mixed associations with sexual desire at the onset of the pandemic. But over time, when people report heightened COVID-related stressors, like stress and loneliness, they tend to report lower sexual desire for their partner, in part because these stressors are associated with more depressive symptoms.

The role of implicit sexual desire in romantic relationships

2019 ◽  
Vol 149 ◽  
pp. 46-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. de Jong ◽  
Harry T. Reis ◽  
Brett J. Peters ◽  
Cody DeHaan ◽  
Gurit E. Birnbaum
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Sexual Desire

Is Touch in Romantic Relationships Universally Beneficial for Psychological Well-Being? The Role of Attachment Avoidance

2020 ◽  
pp. 014616722097770
Author(s):  
Anik Debrot ◽  
Jennifer E. Stellar ◽  
Geoff MacDonald ◽  
Dacher Keltner ◽  
Emily A. Impett
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Romantic Couples ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
The Relationship

Affectionate touch is crucial for well-being. However, attachment avoidance is associated with negative attitudes toward touch. We tested two preregistered hypotheses about how attachment avoidance influences the association between touch in romantic couples and psychological well-being. We examined whether greater attachment avoidance is associated with a reduced link between touch and well-being, and/or whether reduced touch mediates the relationship between attachment avoidance and lower well-being. Across three studies, including two dyadic ones, we measured retrospective self-reports (Studies 1 and 2), laboratory observations (Study 2), and daily experiences (Study 3) of touch. Touch and well-being were positively associated, and attachment avoidance was associated with lower well-being and less frequent touch. Touch was associated with greater well-being regardless of level of attachment avoidance, and less frequent touch mediated the negative association between attachment avoidance and well-being in most analyses. This underscores the importance of touch, even for those valuing distance and autonomy.

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