Attachment Manifestations in Daily Interpersonal Interactions

The predominant focus in attachment research on trait-like individual differences has overshadowed investigation of the ways in which working models of attachment represent dynamic, interpersonally responsive socio-affective systems. Intensive longitudinal designs extend previous work by evaluating to what extent attachment varies over social interactions and the functional processes that underlie its fluctuation. We examined momentary activation of attachment orientations in the stream of peoples’ daily lives and how those patterns were linked to interpersonal behavior. Based on an event-contingent, ambulatory 7-day assessment protocol (N=263; 3971 interactions) operationalized using Contemporary Integrative Interpersonal Theory, we examined whether contextually activated working models accounted for patterns of interpersonal complementarity. Our analyses revealed that the situational activation of working models varied as a function of interpersonal perceptions of warmth, which were linked to greater state security and lower levels of anxious or avoidant expectations. These reactivity patterns, in turn, accounted for interpersonal complementarity. Avoidant attachment was linked to diminished and secure attachment to enhanced expressions of warmth. The analyses were robust even when controlling for momentary negative affect and closeness of the relationship. Attachment expectations wax and wane across daily social interactions, and such fluctuations are reflective primarily of a process in which perceptions of others’ warmth activate secure attachment expectations and lower insecure ones.

Interpersonal complementarity and gender: Contextual influences on perception of personality

Contextual influences have long been recognized as an important factor explaining individual differences in perception of personality traits. In this study we investigated whether interpersonal complementarity creates a context for the perception of personality traits, and whether gender stereotypes play a role in the process. Participants were 205 students taking a personality psychology course. They evaluated personality traits in the context of observing an interpersonal exchange that reflected complementarity. Among the respondents, 103 made the evaluation based on a gender stereotypical exchange (dominant male–submissive female) and 102 based their evaluation on a gender counterstereotypical exchange (dominant female–submissive male). Results reveal that interpersonal context had a stronger influence on ratings of conscientiousness, openness, and emotional stability traits than it did on extraversion and agreeableness trait ratings. Furthermore, openness and conscientiousness were particularly susceptible to gender-based stereotypes in the context of interpersonal complementarity. These results suggest that both interpersonal complementarity and gender stereotypes influence the perception of personality traits, but that they do so in a way that is unique to each trait.

Approaches to Modeling Interpersonal Complementarity in Intensive Longitudinal Data

Interpersonal theory posits that successful social interactions are characterized by complementarity: a match in the interpersonal warmth and reciprocity in the interpersonal dominance expressed by interaction partners. Social encounters with high interpersonal complementarity are linked to better affect. Despite complementarity by definition being a two-dimensional construct, researchers often model warmth and dominance separately. Because interpersonal theory underscores the importance of both dimensions in understanding social interactions, it is important that methods of combining the two dimensions are developed for stronger tests of the theory. The present study presents two possible methods of modeling interpersonal complementarity across three separate datasets. Results are compared with the traditional approach of modeling warmth and dominance separately. Discrepancies and parallels between approaches are discussed, as well as the theoretical and statistical value of modeling warmth and dominance together.