Past work has shown that perceived responsiveness is a key predictor of relational outcomes. However, this work has focused solely on average levels of responsiveness and never studied the role of responsiveness variability (consistency of responsiveness) in intimate relationships. The present study addressed this gap by investigating the long-held but scarcely tested tenet that responsiveness variability and average responsiveness play differential roles in romantic attachment. New romantic couples (N = 151) reported partner-specific attachment anxiety and avoidance in six sessions. Every evening during the 3-week period in between the first two sessions, participants reported perceived partner responsiveness, allowing us to assess both average responsiveness and responsiveness variability. Our findings provided the first empirical evidence that responsiveness variability uniquely predicted increases in partner-specific attachment anxiety, whereas average responsiveness uniquely predicted decreases in partner-specific attachment avoidance. Average responsiveness and responsiveness variability continued to predict attachment orientations assessed about half a year later.
AinsworthM. D. S.BleharM. C.WatersE.WallS. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Lawrence Erlbaum.
2.
AlmeidaD. M.WethingtonE.KesslerR. C. (2002). The daily inventory of stressful events: An interview-based approach for measuring daily stressors. Assessment, 9(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191102091006
3.
ArriagaX. B. (2001). The ups and downs of dating: Fluctuations in satisfaction in newly formed romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(5), 754–765. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.5.754
4.
ArriagaX. B.KumashiroM.FinkelE. J.VanderDriftL. E.LuchiesL. B. (2014). Filling the void: Bolstering attachment security in committed relationships. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5(4), 398–406. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550613509287
5.
ArriagaX. B.KumashiroM.SimpsonJ. A.OverallN. C. (2018). Revising working models across time: Relationship situations that enhance attachment security. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 22(1), 71–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868317705257
6.
ArriagaX. B.ReedJ. T.GoodfriendW.AgnewC. R. (2006). Relationship perceptions and persistence: Do fluctuations in perceived partner commitment undermine dating relationships?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(6), 1045–1065. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.91.6.1045
7.
BeckL. A.PietromonacoP. R.DeVitoC. C.PowersS. I.BoyleA. M. (2014). Congruence between spouses’ perceptions and observers’ ratings of responsiveness: The role of attachment avoidance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(2), 164–174. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167213507779
8.
BeckesL.CoanJ. A. (2015). The distress-relief dynamic in attachment bonding. In ZayasV.HazanC. (Eds.), Bases of adult attachment: Linking brain, mind and behavior (pp. 11–33). Springer New York.
9.
BeckesL.SimonsK.LewisD.LeA.EdwardsW. (2016). Desperately seeking support: Negative reinforcement schedules in the formation of adult attachment associations. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8(2), 229–238. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550616671402
10.
BowlbyJ. (1973). Attachment and loss: Separation (Vol. 2). Basic Books.
11.
CampbellL.SimpsonJ. A.BoldryJ. G.RubinH. (2010). Trust, variability in relationship evaluations, and relationship processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(1), 14–31. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019714
12.
CollinsN. L.FeeneyB. C. (2004). Working models of attachment shape perceptions of social support: Evidence from experimental and observational studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(3), 363–383. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.87.3.363
13.
CollinsN. L.GuichardA. C.FordM. B.FeeneyB. C. (2004). Working models of attachment: New developments and emerging themes. In RholesW. S.SimpsonJ. A. (Eds.), The handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (pp. 196–239). Guilford.
14.
CutronaC. E.RussellD. W. (2017). Autonomy promotion, responsiveness, and emotion regulation promote effective social support in times of stress. Current Opinion in Psychology, 13, 126–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.07.002
15.
DavilaJ.KarneyB. R.BradburyT. N. (1999). Attachment change processes in the early years of marriage. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(5), 783–802. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.5.783
16.
DavilaJ.SargentE. (2003). The meaning of life (events) predicts changes in attachment security. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(11), 1383–1395. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167203256374
17.
EastwickP. W.FinkelE. J. (2008). The attachment system in fledgling relationships: An activating role for attachment anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(3), 628–647. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.3.628
18.
FletcherG. J.SimpsonJ. A.ThomasG. (2000). The measurement of perceived relationship quality components: A confirmatory factor analytic approach. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(3), 340–354. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167200265007
FraleyR. C.RoismanG. I.Booth-LaForceC.OwenM. T.HollandA. S. (2013). Interpersonal and genetic origins of adult attachment styles: A longitudinal study from infancy to early adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104, 817–838. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031435
21.
FraleyR. C.VicaryA. M.BrumbaughC. C.RoismanG. I. (2011). Patterns of stability in adult attachment: An empirical test of two models of continuity and change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(5), 974–992. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024150
22.
FraleyR. C.WallerN. G.BrennanK. A. (2000). An item response theory analysis of self-report measures of adult attachment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(2), 350–365. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.2.350
23.
GirmeY. U.AgnewC. R.VanderDriftL. E.HarveyS. M.RholesW. S.SimpsonJ. A. (2018). The ebbs and flows of attachment: Within-person variation in attachment undermine secure individuals’ relationship wellbeing across time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114(3), 397–421. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000115
24.
HazanC.ZeifmanD. (1999). Pair bonds as attachments: Evaluating the evidence. In CassidyJ.ShaverP. R. (Eds.) Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 336–354). Guilford.
25.
KelleyH. H. (1983). The situational origins of human tendencies: A further reason for the formal analysis of structure. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9(1), 8–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167283091003
26.
LaneS. P.HennesE. P. (2017). Power struggles: Estimating sample size for multilevel relationships research. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 35(1), 7–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407517710342
27.
LegerK. A.CharlesS. T.TurianoN. A.AlmeidaD. M. (2016). Personality and stressor-related affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 111(6), 917–928. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000083
28.
McNultyJ. K. (2016). Highlighting the contextual nature of interpersonal relationships. In OlsonJ. M.ZannaM. P. (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 54, pp. 247–315). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2016.02.003
29.
MikulincerM.ShaverP. R. (2003). The attachment behavioral system in adulthood: Activation, psychodynamics, and interpersonal processes. In ZannaM. P. (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 35, pp. 53–152). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(03)01002-5
30.
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (1997). The effects of infant child care on infant-mother attachment security: Results of the NICHD study of early child care. Child Development, 68(5), 860–879. https://doi.org/10.2307/1132038
31.
PietromonacoP. R.BarrettL. F. (2000). The internal working models concept: What do we really know about the self in relation to others?Review of General Psychology, 4(2), 155–175. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.4.2.155
32.
PietromonacoP. R.UchinoB.Dunkel-SchetterC. (2013). Close relationship processes and health: Implications of attachment theory for health and disease. Health Psychology, 32(5), 499–513. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029349
33.
PreacherK. J.CurranP. J.BauerD. J. (2006). Computational tools for probing interaction effects in multiple linear regression, multilevel modeling, and latent curve analysis. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 31(4), 437–448. https://doi.org/10.3102/10769986031004437
34.
ReisH. T.ClarkM. S.HolmesJ. G. (2004). Perceived partner responsiveness as an organizing construct in the study of intimacy and closeness. In MashekD. J.AronA. (Eds.), Handbook of closeness and intimacy (pp. 211–236). Erlbaum.
35.
SelcukE.GunaydinG.OngA. D.AlmeidaD. M. (2016). Does partner responsiveness predict hedonic and eudaimonic well-being? A 10-year longitudinal study. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(2), 311–325. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12272
36.
SlatcherR. B.SelcukE. (2017). A social psychological perspective on the links between close relationships and health. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(1), 16–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721416667444
37.
StantonS. C. E.CampbellL.PinkJ. C. (2017). Benefits of positive relationship experiences for avoidantly attached individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(4), 568–588. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000098
38.
TotenhagenC. J.ButlerE. A.CurranM. A.SeridoJ. (2016). The calm after the storm: Relationship length as associated with couples’ daily variability. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 33(6), 768–791. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407515597562
39.
WatsonD.WeberK.AssenheimerJ. S.ClarkL. A.StraussM. E.McCormickR. A. (1995). Testing a tripartite model: I. Evaluating the convergent and discriminant validity of anxiety and depression symptom scales. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104(1), 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.104.1.3
40.
ZayasV.GunaydinG.ShodaY. (2015). From an unknown other to an attachment figure: How do mental representations change with attachment formation? In ZayasV.HazanC. (Eds.), Bases of adult attachment: Linking brain, mind and behavior (pp. 157–183). Springer.
41.
ZayasV.MischelW.ShodaY.AberJ. L. (2011). Roots of adult attachment: Maternal caregiving at 18 months predicts adult peer and partner attachment. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2, 289–297. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550610389822
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.
