ICPR Abstracts: Session 19

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Session 19: Papers

Attachment and Quality of Interaction
 in Intimate Relationships

19.1
Do You See What I See? 
Attachment, Caregiving, and Supportive Exchanges

Nancy Collins and Brooke Feeney
State University of New York at Buffalo

This study examined the links between attachment styles, 
caregiving styles, and support-giving processes in dating 
couples. Participants were 104 couples who engaged in a 
video-taped, laboratory interaction.  During the 
interaction, one couple member was assigned the role of 
"stress-discloser" and the other the role of "support-
provider." Couples completed questionnaires to assess 
their perceptions of the interaction, and objective ratings 
of support-giving behaviors (e.g., eye contact, emotional 
support ) were coded from the videotapes.  Results 
indicated that attachment styles and caregiving styles were 
important predictors of partners' perceptions of their 
interaction as well as the more objective support behaviors 
coded by independent observers.  Implications for 
attachment theory and social support theory will be 
discussed. 

19.2
Attachment Styles as Predictors of Social Support:
A Diary Study

Valerie Cole
The University of Iowa

Adult attachment style based on a four-category matrix of 
cognitive view of self and cognitive view of other was 
used to predict social support in a sample of female 
college students over a period of two weeks.  It was found 
that persons with a negative view of self and a positive 
view of others (preoccupied style) reported more 
supportive interactions than the other three styles.  
However, no differences were found among the styles 
when an index of six supportive behaviors was the 
dependent variable.  These results are discussed in terms 
of social support as an individual difference variable.  

19.3
Adult Attachment and Relationship Satisfaction:
The Mediating Role of Couple Problem Solving 
Effectiveness

Leanne Lamke, Kristin Ludwig, and Guy Cunningham
Auburn University

The purpose of this study is to more clearly specify the 
relationship between dimensions of attachment, overall 
problem solving effectiveness as a couple, and relationship 
satisfaction for dating couples.  In order to examine the 
relationships among these variables, a multivariate causal 
model will be tested.  The paths to be tested include the 
effect of:  (a) each partner's five dimensions of attachment 
on their own and their partner's perceived relationship 
satisfaction, (b) each partner's dimensions of attachment 
on their own and their partner's perceptions of overall 
couple problem solving effectiveness, (c) each partner's 
perceptions of couple problem solving effectiveness on 
their own and their partner's relationship satisfaction, and 
(e) each partner's dimensions of attachment on each 
partner's relationship satisfaction as a mediated by both 
partner's perceptions of their overall problem solving 
effectiveness as a couple. 

19.4
Adult Attachment and Relationship-Centred Anxiety:
Responses to Physical and Emotional Distancing

Judith A. Feeney
University of Queensland

Attachment differences in responses to physical and 
emotional separation from dating partners were 
investigated.  Content analyses of reports of physical 
separation indicated that secure attachment (Comfort with 
Closeness, low Anxiety over Relationships) was associated 
with more constructive coping and better relationship 
outcomes.  Participants also completed questionnaires and 
were videotaped during three conflict interactions, two 
'relationship-based' (involving partners' distancing 
behavior), and one 'issue-based'.  Secure attachment was 
associated with positive perceptions of all three 
interactions, suggesting pervasive effects on participants' 
relationship evaluations.  Using outsider ratings, secure 
attachment was associated with more constructive 
behavior in response to partners' distancing, but not in 
response to issue- based conflict; hence attachment 
differences were more apparent to observers when the 
relationship itself was threatened. 

19.5
Verifying Working Models of Attachment Through 
Partner Selection

Lisa M. Allard and Nancy Collins
State University of New York at Buffalo

This study used an experimental paradigm to examine 
attachment style differences in partner selection in a 
sample of undergraduate men and women (N113).  It was 
predicted that two motivational processes are acting 
simultaneously on the selection of a relationship partner: 
(1) the need to verify working models of the self, and (2) 
the need to verify working models of others. Participants 
were presented with descriptions of four potential dating 
partners, whom they were led to believe had expressed an 
interest in getting to know them.  The description of each 
partner varied along two dimensions:  the degree to which 
they were warm vs. cold (model of others) and the degree 
to which they perceived the participant as self-assured vs. 
insecure (model of self). Results indicated that individuals 
with different attachment styles differed significantly in 
their attraction toward the potential partners, suggesting 
that models of self and others both play a role in partner 
selection processes.