abstract: Attachment relationships serve a variety of important functions for infants and adults. Despite the importance of attachment relationships in adults, the mechanisms that underlie the formation or maintenance of these kinds of relationships outside of romantic relationships remains chronically understudied. The current research investigated whether the mechanism of synchrony, which is associated with attachment formation in the parent-infant literature, may still be tied to attachment in adults. To measure this association, these studies showed participants videos to prime synchrony, and then measured activation of attachment concepts in a word completion task. The results of Experiment 1 showed that attachment style moderated the effects of the video prime such that those who were securely attached showed activation of attachment concepts while watching the Synchrony video. Those with a preoccupied attachment style showed activation of attachment concepts when they viewed the Asynchrony video. Those with a dismissive attachment style showed an unhypothesized activation of social distance concepts when viewing the Synchrony video. Experiment 2 suggested an overall effect of the Synchrony video on activation of attachment concepts. However, there was no effect of attachment style on these results. Limits of these studies and future directions are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2015

abstract: Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) individuals are exposed to specific stressors due to their sexual minority status. One such stressor may result from the negative family reactions to one’s romantic partner. Encountering this stress may be especially harmful for LGB individuals’ emotional well-being, as it could be considered a “double rejection”: that of their partner and possibly their own sexual orientation. The stress surrounding family members’ negative attitudes about their partner may affect how one feels about their partner. Furthermore, there may be individual differences that affect how an individual may perceive and respond to this stress. Specifically, one’s attachment style could either exacerbate (anxious) or weaken (avoidant) the experiences of stress, which may influence the emotions they feel about their partner. Using 14-day daily diary data from 81 same-sex couples, the purpose of this study was to examine whether there was an association between daily perceptions of stress via negative family reactions to partner and negative partner-related emotions, and whether attachment insecurity (anxiety and avoidance) moderated this association. Individuals’ perceptions of stress via negative family reactions was found to be positively associated with their reports of negative emotions about one’s partner. Anxious and avoidant attachment did not moderate the association between perceptions of stress and negative emotions due to one’s partner. The finding suggests this specific stressor on negative emotions due to partner may be an intrapersonal process, in which case couple therapists can increase clients’ awareness of this stress and how it impacts their feelings towards their romantic partner. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Counseling Psychology 2017

Previous researchers have indicated that military deployments have challenged married couples and contributed to relational strain. It has also been found that veterans in marriages lacking intimacy are at risk of psychological problems and suicide. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to fill a gap in existing research by determining if attachment style, likelihood of disclosure, and demographic variables (age, length of marriage, education, race/ethnicity) predicted marital intimacy for heterosexual married male Iraq War veterans. Attachment theory provided a framework for the study, measuring anxiety and avoidance in veterans, which contributed to secure or insecure styles of relating in marriage. Data were collected using an online survey, compiled from the Experiences in Close Relationships-Relationships Structures, the Likelihood of Disclosure Scale, the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships, and individual demographic questions. Participants included 353 male heterosexual veterans belonging to military social media networking sites. Results of a stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that self-disclosure and attachment style were the 2 statistically significant predictors of marital intimacy for Iraq veterans. Further, secure and preoccupied attachment style and high levels of self-disclosure explained 38% of the variance of marital intimacy. Demographic variables did not predict marital intimacy in the current study. Social change implications include identifying veterans at risk of low marital intimacy, providing protection through strengthening couples' intimacy before and after deployment, leading to a potential reduction in veteran suicide.

This study investigates the connection between one's adult attachment style and one's evaluation of verifying or enhancing comforting messages. Drawing from research by Swann (2005) and Katz and Joiner (2002), the hypothesis predicted that an individual would prefer verifying messages over enhancing messages regardless of attachment style. A research question was also posed: Will an individual's adult attachment style moderate the degree to which a person perceives the communication of verifying or enhancing messages as helpful or effective? In an effort to find these answers, a questionnaire was completed by 251 individuals. Results indicate a preference for verifying messages among participants regardless of attachment style. This is consistent with the findings of Katz and Joiner (2002) and Swann (2005). However, results did not indicate a significant difference between attachment style and a preference of enhancing or verifying messages.

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Thesis (DPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: It is a general assumption in psychology that past social relationships and experiences influence present social behaviour. With attachment theory and current social-cognitive theory as conceptual basis, the present study focused on the association between past experiences with significant others and the current processing of interpersonal information. By means of a 2x3x4 experimental design the study investigated the influence of chronic accessibility and subliminal priming (of significant other representations) on the accuracy and speed of processing scripted interpersonal information. One hundred and thirty seven university students took part in two sessions no more than two weeks apart. In session one they completed the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Feeny, Noller & Hanrahan, 1994), and provided the names of positive and negative significant others. According to a median split of the Confidence Scale of the ASQ, they were assigned to a chronic positive or a chronic negative group, assuming that the information based on predominantly positive or negative experiences with positive or negative significant others will be chronically more accessible. In session two, in an individual computer task, they were subliminally primed (33 ms) with a control word or the name of the positive or negative significant other to increase the accessibility of the appropriate memory structures. They were then asked to read a positive, negative, mixed or ambiguous script of an interpersonal event and complete a memory test of 36 interpersonal statements (nine positive, nine negative, nine ambiguous and nine filler statements). The accuracy and response time for every statement was recorded, and the response times of accurate responses for positive and negative scripts were included in the main analysis. Separate univariate analyses of the differences between positive and negative priming per polarity of chronic group and script supported the priming hypothesis. The average response time of the chronic negative group was fastest when they received a negative prime (p = .039), and the positive group was fastest when they received a positive prime (p = .000). The results of a two-way analysis of variance for chronic group and script showed a highly significant interaction effect between chronic group and script (p = .000). When the primes were congruent to the scripts, the chronic groups were significantly faster in recognising statements from a congruent script. The results supported the conjunctive model of priming. The implications of these findings for the understanding of the cognitive structures and processes involved in processing interpersonal information are discussed, with specific reference to relational schemas and attachment working models. Possible directions for future research as well as the application of the results are also described. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit is ‘n algemene aanname in die sielkunde dat sosiale verhoudinge en ervarings uit die verlede ‘n invloed het op huidige sosiale gedrag. Vanuit die bindingsteorie en die huidige sosiaal-kognitiewe teorie as konseptuele uitgangspunt, fokus die huidige studie op die assosiasie tussen ervaringe met betekenisvolle persone in die verlede en die huidige prosessering van interpersoonlike inligting. Met behulp van ‘n 2x3x4 eksperimentele ontwerp is ondersoek ingestel na die invloed van chroniese toeganklikheid en subliminale opwekking (van geheuevoorstellings van betekenisvolle ander) op die akkuraatheid en spoed waarmee interpersoonlike tekste verwerk word. Eenhonderd-sewe-en-dertig universiteitstudente het deelgeneem aan twee sessies wat nie meer as twee weke na mekaar plaasgevind het nie. Tydens sessie een het die deelnemers die Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Feeny, Noller & Hanrahan, 1994) voltooi en die name van positiewe en negatiewe betekenisvolle persone voorsien. Op grond van die mediaan-verdeling van die Selfvertroue Skaal van die ASQ is die deelnemers toegewys aan ’n chronies positiewe of chronies negatiewe groep, met die veronderstelling dat inligting gebaseer op oorwegend positiewe of negatiewe ervarings met positiewe of negatiewe betekenisvolle ander deurlopend meer toegankilk sal wees. Tydens sessie twee, wat ’n individuele rekenaartaak behels het, is ’n subliminale stimulus (33 ms) van ’n kontrole-woord, of die naam van ’n positiewe of negatiewe betekenisvolle ander aan hulle aangebied om die toeganklikheid van die toepaslike geheue-strukture verder te verhoog. Daarna is hulle versoek om ‘n positiewe, negatiewe, gemengde of dubbelsinnige teks van ’n interpersoonlike gebeurtenis te lees en ’n geheuetoets van 36 stellings te voltooi wat bestaan het uit nege positiewe, nege negatiewe, nege dubbelsinnige en nege neutrale stellings. Die akkuraatheid en reaksiespoed van elke stelling is gemeet en die reaksietyd van die akkurate response op stellings uit positiewe en negatiewe tekste is in die primêre ontleding ingesluit. Die resultate van onafhanklike eenveranderlike ontledings van die verskille tussen positiewe en negatiewe opwekking per polariteit van chroniese groep en teks, het die hipotese van opwekking ondersteun. Die gemiddelde responstyd van die chroniese negatiewe groep was die vinnigste wanneer hulle die negatiewe stimulus ontvang het (p = .039) en die van die positiewe groep was die vinnigste wanneer hulle die positiewe stimulus ontvang het (p = .000). Die resultate van ’n tweerigting variansieontleding van chroniese groep en teks het ‘n beduidende interaksie tussen chroniese groep en teks aangedui (p = .000). Wanneer die opwekkingstimuli kongruent met die tekste was, was die chroniese groepe betekenisvol vinniger in die herkenning van stellings van die kongruente teks. Die resultate ondersteun ’n konjunktiewe model van opwekking. Die implikasies van die bevindinge vir die verstaan van die kognitiewe strukture en prosesse betrokke by die verwerking van interpersoonlike inligting word bespreek, met spesifieke verwysing na verhoudingskemas en die gebruiksmodelle in bindingsteorie. Riglyne vir toekomstige navorsing op die gebied word verskaf, en die implikasies vir die praktiese toepassing van die resultate word bespreek.

One of the most debated constituents of intimate partner violence pertains to attachment theory. Although, attachment theory can provide a theoretical framework for understanding the linkage between childhood family experiences and subsequent experiences with partner violence, there are controversial perspectives as to whether attachment style is stable from childhood to adulthood (Bowlby, 1973, 1980, 1982) or if attachment style can be formulated directly from adult abusive relationships (Caspi & Elder, 1988; Ricks, 1985). Therefore, the purpose of this research was to explore how attachment style presents in the Battered Woman Syndrome, determine if the battered woman's attachment style is consistent throughout childhood to adulthood or if it is manifested due to intimate partner violence exposure as well as to determine how attachment style is manifested in interpersonal functioning and perceived power and control. The theory of learned helplessness (Seligman, 1975) was used as a conceptual model for understanding why battered women remain in abusive relationships. There were 137 female sample participants who reported a history of domestic violence. Measures administered included the Battered Woman Syndrome Questionnaire (BWSQ, Walker, 1978) that assessed childhood history, interpersonal functioning and power and control and the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (Collins and Read, 1996) that assessed the participant's attachment style. Statistical techniques employed included latent class analysis, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and logistic regression. Results indicated that aversive childhood environment (as measured primarily by childhood battering variables) and involvement in adulthood abusive relationships were significantly related to childhood environment and involvement in adulthood abusive relationships. Across all five adulthood battering episodes there were significant overall effects of attachment style on sexual abuse scores. Results also confirmed the hypotheses that insecurely attached participants were more likely to report more interpersonal functioning difficulties and lower perceived power and control when compared to secure participants. Implications for future research are also presented.

Background: Attachment styles involve perceptions of the self and others and influence how individuals relate to other people. Insecure attachment styles have been strongly associated with the life experiences, criminal behaviour and mental health presentations common to patients in forensic settings. Therefore, challenging interactions associated with patients’ insecure attachment styles and contact with traumatising material are considered common for psychologists working within these settings. However, previous research has also indicated that a significant number of psychologists may also have insecure attachment styles. Forensic settings have been associated with stress and burnout amongst health care professionals. However, no previous research has explored how psychologists’ attachment styles may impact their levels of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction or influence their self-care in this setting. Aims: This is an exploratory study which addresses a gap in the literature. It aims to explore the attachment styles and prevalence of compassion fatigue (burnout and secondary traumatic stress) and compassion satisfaction amongst psychologists in forensic settings. It will also qualitatively explore how psychologists manage negative feelings that arise in relation to their work and their use of self-care strategies in a range of situations. Finally, it will explore differences in the self-care strategies used by psychologists with different attachment styles. Methodology: An online survey was used to gather data from 66 psychologists currently working in forensic settings in the United Kingdom. Quantitative measures of attachment style, compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue were combined with qualitative questions regarding psychologists’ self-care strategies. This provided data which was analysed using a mixed methodology, including correlational statistical analysis and qualitative content analysis. Attachment style groups were identified from the quantitative data and qualitative content analysis was applied to explore group similarities and differences in psychologists’ self-care strategies. Results: The results indicated that participating psychologists had a range of attachment styles. Compassion fatigue was not found to be as prevalent as suggested by previous research. Positive correlations were found between attachment related anxiety and burnout, and attachment related avoidance and burnout. Compassion satisfaction was found to be common within the present sample. A negative correlation was found between attachment related avoidance and compassion satisfaction. Similarities and differences in psychologists’ self-care were highlighted between different attachment style groups. Implications: A potential vulnerability was identified for psychologists with insecure attachment styles, in relation to burnout and reduced compassion satisfaction. Furthermore, there appeared to be a lack of knowledge and understanding of attachment theory and how this applies to clinical work. Therefore, a key implication is the development of training for psychologists in relation to this topic. Use of multiple self-care strategies was common and self-care was perceived as important to clinical practice by the majority of the present sample. However, a training need for skills to be taught early in the psychologists’ career and a need for self-care to be more widely supported at an organisational level regardless of stage of career was identified. The study concludes with a review of methodological considerations and the limitations these may present to the current findings.