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- Genre: Academic theses
Description
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.
ContributorsYee, Claire Ida (Author) / Shiota, Michelle L (Thesis advisor) / Neuberg, Steven L. (Committee member) / Kenrick, Douglas T. (Committee member) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Research on attachment in adults began by assuming parallels from attachment as a behavioral system for using relationships to balance the tradeoff between safety and exploration in infants, to the same tradeoff function in adults. Perhaps more pressing, for adults, are the novel social tradeoffs adults face when deciding how to invest resources between themselves and their close relationship partners. The current study investigated the role of the attachment system in navigating two such tradeoffs, in a sample of ASU undergraduates. In one tradeoff condition, participants had the option of working on puzzles to earn either themselves or their closest friend a monetary reward. In the second tradeoff condition, participants worked to earn monetary rewards for a close or new friend. Analyses showed no evidence of attachment avoidance predicting prioritizing redistributing money to a close friend in either condition. While there was no effect of anxiety on prioritizing one’s close friend over one’s self, there was a marginal effect in both prioritizing one’s close friend over a new friend when redistributing money and starting on the close friend’s word search first. Although attachment style largely did not predict earning or redistributing monetary rewards in these two relationship tradeoffs, implications for how these results fit within the broader theoretical perspective are discussed.
ContributorsYee, Claire (Author) / Shiota, Michelle N. (Thesis advisor) / Kenrick, Douglas T. (Committee member) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Luecken, Linda J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Individuals with high levels of neighborhood attachment provide a multitude of positive factors to neighborhoods. Research has demonstrated that increases in informal social controls, maintaining a well-kept area, and positive social ties are improved with higher levels of neighborhood attachment. Identifying the factors that lead to higher levels of neighborhood attachment has thus become an area in the literature that scholars have frequently studied. One aspect of neighborhood life that has been neglected in research is the role of police on neighborhood attachment. This study addresses the gap by exploring the role of police in influencing levels of neighborhood attachment. Data from the Seattle Neighborhood and Crime Survey are used to examine perceptions of police effectiveness on overall levels of neighborhood attachment, and the three different sub-concepts of neighborhood attachment. Results demonstrated that perceptions of police effectiveness had a positive relationship on all forms of neighborhood attachment. Suggestions for the roles of police in developing neighborhood attachment will be discussed, as well as the theoretical applications for future testing of neighborhood attachment. This study demonstrates the influence of police on daily neighborhood life.
ContributorsWalker, Jason, M.S (Author) / Wallace, Danielle (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Xia (Committee member) / Hepburn, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The current study examined effects of representations of relationships with parents on young adults’ representations of romantic relationships and self-esteem, with particular attention paid to the role of fathers, instability of representations, and bidirectional effects. Data were obtained from two waves (Waves 4 and 5) of a five-wave study. At wave 4, 287 young adults (mean age = 20) participated, and at Wave 5, 276 young adults (mean age = 22) participated. One-time interviews (Behavioral Systems Questionnaires; BSQ) were conducted to measure the level of representations of relationships with parents. Nightly diary checklists (7 nights at Wave 4, and 5 nights at Wave 5) were used to measure the level and instability of representations of romantic relationships (BSQ) and self-esteem (Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale). Two styles of representations, including secure versus dismissing (e.g., relying on parents or romantic partners when distressed versus not relying on them) and preoccupied (e.g., worrying about rejection and excessive dependency) were measured for relationships with parents and romantic partners. The results showed evidence for unique roles of fathers, instability of representations, and bidirectional effects. Relationships with fathers affected young adults’ self-esteem. More nightly fluctuations in security with romantic partners predicted higher levels of security with romantic partners, but only in the context of more secure relationships. More nightly fluctuations in self-esteem predicted more dismissive representations of fathers. Bidirectional effects involved young adults’ representations of both romantic relationships and self-esteem, and their representations of relationships with parents. The relation between instability of representations of romantic relationships and later security in romantic relationships might represent learning about romantic relationships. The relation between instability of self-esteem and later dismissive styles with fathers (e.g., not relying on fathers when distressed) at this age might be an indication of learning to become autonomous from fathers. Finally, I also hypothesize that during emerging adulthood, fathers tend to encourage children to solve their stress or problems by themselves, while mothers tend to still provide help when children are distressed. These suggested hypotheses should be examined in future research.
ContributorsSuh, Go Woon (Author) / Fabricius, William (Thesis advisor) / Cookston, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Suk, Hye Won (Committee member) / Luecken, Linda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Background: When studying how humans regulate their affect, it is important to recognize that affect regulation does not occur in a vacuum. As humans are an inherently social species, affect plays a crucial evolutionary role in social behavior, and social behavior likewise assumes an important role in affect and affect regulation. Emotion researchers are increasingly interested the specific ways people help to regulate and dysregulate one another’s affect, though experimental examinations of the extant models and theory are relatively few. This thesis presents a broad theoretical framework for social affect regulation between close others, considering the role of attachment theory and its developmental foundations for social affect regulation in adulthood. Affectionate and responsive touch is considered a major mechanism of regulatory benefit between people, both developmentally and in adulthood, and is the focus of the present investigation. Method: A total sample of 231 heterosexual married couples were recruited from the community. Participants were assigned to engage in affectionate touch or sit quietly, and/or engage in positive conversation prior to a stress task. Physiological data was collected continuously across the experiment. Hypotheses: Phasic respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was used to index the degree of regulatory engagement during the stressor for those who did and did not touch. It was hypothesized that touch would reduce stress appraisal and thus the need for regulatory engagement. This effect was predicted to be greater for those more anxiously attached while increasing the need for regulatory engagement in those more avoidantly attached. Secondarily, partner effects of attachment on sympathetic activation via pre-ejection period (PEP) change were tested. It was predicted that both attachment dimensions would predict a decrease in partner PEP change in the touch condition, with avoidant attachment having the strongest effect. Results: Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were used to account for nonindependence in dyadic observations. The first set of hypotheses were not supported, while the second set were partially supported. Wives’ avoidance significantly predicted husbands’ PEP change, but in the positive direction. This effect also significantly increased in the touch condition. Theoretical considerations and limitations are discussed.
ContributorsParkhurst, David Kevin (Author) / Burleson, Mary H (Thesis advisor) / Roberts, Nicole A. (Committee member) / Mickelson, Kristin D (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
The present study examined whether a history of childhood sexual abuse would be related to attachment to mother, to father, and to friends, mattering to parents and to friends, and coping behaviors. In addition, whether use of force, duration of abuse, and severity of abuse were related to perceived negative impact of childhood sexual abuse was examined. Gender differences among survivors were also investigated. Specifically, from the initial sample of 258 young adults, 186 who met the age requirement were included in the tests of the hypotheses. All participants were between the ages of 18 and 25. Compared to those with no history of childhood sexual abuse (n = 109), survivors (n = 77) reported lower attachment to father and less mattering to parents. There were no differences in attachment and mattering to friends or in emotion-focused and problem-focused coping. When gender differences were examined among survivors, females reported greater use of problem-focused coping and perceiving their childhood sexual abuse experiences as more negative than did the male survivors. There were no differences among male and female survivors of childhood sexual abuse on emotion-focused coping. Force and severity, but not duration, were linked to more negative perceptions of the childhood sexual abuse. Attachment to mother emerged as a key variable in that attachment to mother was positively related to attachment to friends, mattering to friends, and the use of problem-focused coping. Stronger attachment to mother and attachment to father, but not a history of childhood sexual abuse, were related to more perceived mattering to parents. These results highlight the importance of attachment to caregivers in developing peer attachment and a sense of mattering to friends, problem-focused coping skills, and perceiving childhood sexual abuse as having a less negative impact on their lives. Clinical and research implications and suggestions for future directions are discussed.
ContributorsStaley, Sarah Katheryn (Author) / Robinson Kurpius, Sharon E (Thesis advisor) / Cabianca, William A (Committee member) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The Latinx population in the United States is projected to increase exponentially in upcoming years. Latina women in particular are put at disproportionate risk of experiencing psychological distress after immigrating to the US. Separation from family upon immigration introduces more difficulty to the immigration experience. Yet protective factors such as family cohesion may buffer potential psychological distress. The present study will examine the two following research questions. First, is there a difference in psychological distress experienced by Latina young women who report separating from their family in comparison to those who did not experience familial separation at immigration. Second, does a potentially deleterious effect of immigration on familial attachment underlie or mediate the hypothesized positive association between separation at immigration and psychological distress. Participants were Latina young women who ranged from 18-23 years-old, were unmarried, and had to have resided in the US for 36 months or less. I used structural path analysis to examine hypothesized associations among separation status, attachment to family, and psychological distress. Findings aim to inform mental health interventions for Latina young adults who immigrate to the US without family.
ContributorsRomero, Abigail (Author) / Dillon, Frank (Thesis advisor) / Pereira, Jennifer (Committee member) / Buckman, Lindsey (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Perceived social support, broadly defined as resources or assistance provided by another person, has been consistently identified as a predictor of health and well-being. These outcomes may be partially explained by direct physiological effects, or the effects of perceived social support on psychological mechanisms that influence engagement in health behaviors, though what exactly these mechanisms are remains unclear. Previous work has proposed that through enhanced self-efficacy and self-esteem, perceived social support increases engagement in health behaviors, though direct evidence for this relationship is limited. Attachment, which plays a crucial role in healthy romantic relationships, may relate to social support’s influence on behavioral outcomes. This study utilized a novel social support priming task to examine if attachment-related working models of romantic partners mediate the relationships among different forms of social support, self-efficacy, and self-esteem in predicting behavioral intentions for self-nominated health goals. Broadly, primed social support positively predicted how supported individuals felt, which in turn predicted working models of their romantic partners. Working models significantly predicted self-esteem, self-efficacy, and intentions to work toward a personally relevant health goal. Self-esteem and self-efficacy also predicted behavioral intentions.
ContributorsVornlocher, Carley (Author) / Shiota, Michelle N (Thesis advisor) / Kwan, Virginia Sy (Committee member) / Ha, Thao (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
A history of trauma can affect a child’s capacity to express emotions due to the neurological footprints left from neglect and abuse. Oftentimes, children do not have a caregiver as a protector which leaves them vulnerable to harm. In response, children use emotional survival strategies of either flight or fight to adapt to their stressful environment. Occupational Therapy Practitioners (OTP) are positioned to address social and emotional development; however, they often feel ill equipped to address the complexity of trauma and its impact on emotions. OTPs need to look at each sensory system from a nurturing/grounding perspective using movement-based strategies as inroads to address the child’s emotional capacity. A sensory integration intervention, Proprioceptive Activities to Lower Stress (PALS), was developed to study the effect on a six-year-old boy’s expressions of emotions using a single subject design. Three emotions were measured using a facial analysis system, Noldus FaceReader™. The emotions were happiness, sadness, and neutral. Neutral is defined as the level of emotional detachment. Results indicate a statistically significant improvement in the expressions of happiness and sad post the PALS program.
ContributorsTaggart, Lara G (Author) / Puckett, Kathleen (Thesis advisor) / Chisum, Jack (Committee member) / Diamant, Rachel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
An abundance of data has established the links between both pain-related cognitions and relationship attachment qualities in the experience of pain, including long-term functional health in chronic pain patients. However, relatively few studies have explored the dynamic relation between pain and pain-related cognitions within a day, and no studies have tested the moderating role of relationship attachment on the within-day cognition—pain association in chronic pain patients. The objectives of this study were to: 1) assess whether late morning pain flares predicted changes in afternoon positive and negative pain-related cognitive appraisals, and whether these changes in turn predicted end-of-day pain, and 2) explore whether adult attachment anxiety moderated the pain-cognition relation in individuals with chronic pain due to fibromyalgia. One hundred and seventy four partnered individuals with fibromyalgia completed initial assessments of demographics and attachment anxiety, and subsequently completed electronic assessments of pain intensity and positive and negative cognitive pain-related appraisals three times a day for three weeks. Multilevel structural equation modeling established that a latent negative cognitive appraisal factor (encompassing shared variance from catastrophizing, pain irritation, and self-criticism related to pain) mediated the link between late morning and end-of-day pain intensity, in line with the hypothesis. Analyses also provided some support for a mediating role for a positive cognitive appraisal factor (a composite of pain control, pain self-efficacy, and feeling pain without reacting) in the daily course of pain; the mediated effect for positive appraisals was weaker than the mediated effect of negative appraisals, but was sustained in a model that included negative appraisals. Inconsistent with prediction, attachment anxiety did not moderate the within-day links between pain and cognitions. These findings establish the dynamic links within day between pain and pain-related cognitions, and highlight the potential impact of both negative and positive cognitions on daily pain regulation. They point to the value of broadening cognitive-behavioral treatment strategies for chronic pain patients to target not only negative but also positive cognitions.
ContributorsTaylor, Shannon Stark (Author) / Davis, Mary C. (Thesis advisor) / Zautra, Alex (Committee member) / Okun, Morris (Committee member) / Doane, Leah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015