Adult attachment and selective information seeking

Abstract

The present study examined how individuals with anxious and avoidant attachment styles coped with the activation of insecure attachment systems when their vulnerabilities were heightened by a stressful event and perceptions of deficient support. While placed in an anxiety provoking task, the participants received either a supportive or ambiguous note from their partners. Following the receipt of this note, the participants were given an opportunity to select information about their partners that they would presumably attend to. The results indicated that when highly anxious individuals experienced a great deal of stress, they selected negative information about their partners in areas that pertained specifically to the relationship. Furthermore, when highly anxious individuals perceived deficient support from their partners, they showed declines in mood and relationship satisfaction. Highly avoidant individuals showed the reverse trend. When they experienced a great deal of stress, they selected positive information about their partners in general non-relationship areas. Mood and relationship satisfaction remained stable for these individuals. However, when avoidant individuals were highly stressed, they showed declines in self-esteem. The results are discussed in terms of the differential coping processes of highly anxious and highly avoidant individuals.