Abstract
Close relationships have a positive impact on partners’ well-being. However, not every individual seems to benefit to the same extent from being in a close relationship. Insecure attachment is suggested to play a role in this. This study examined the role of attachment insecurity in people’s negative cognitions and dysfunctional affect regulation when faced with a potential relationship threat. Based on the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations Paradigm, cognitions of 155 participants were recorded while they imagined a separation from their romantic partner. Highly anxious individuals were found to think more negatively about their romantic relationship while imagining a potential relationship threat, which in turn increased their negative affect and negative ratings of the self and their relationship. A different pattern was found for avoidance; highly avoidant individuals benefited from negating the potential threat which in turn decreased their negative affect. Insecurely attached individuals, especially highly anxious people, should be helped to engage in more adaptive thinking and affect regulation in relationship-threatening situations to improve both their relational and individual well-being.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
