An insecure base: Attachment style and orienting response to positive stimuli

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Attachment Theory

Background:

• Psychological attachment provides a secure base for exploration and opportunity pursuit.
• Insecure attachment can disrupt this secure base function.
• Individual differences in adult attachment styles warrant investigation regarding physiological responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between adult attachment styles and peripheral physiological measures.
• To assess automatic orienting responses to positive, rewarding stimuli based on attachment.
• To understand how relationship working models influence reward processing.

Main Methods:

• Assessed individual differences in adult attachment style.
• Measured peripheral physiological responses, including heart rate deceleration and skin conductance.
• Presented participants with various positive emotion-eliciting and rewarding stimuli.

Main Results:

• Attachment style showed little relation to heart rate deceleration for positive images.
• Attachment avoidance correlated with reduced skin conductance responses to positive stimuli.
• Physiological reactivity to reward opportunities varied with attachment characteristics.

Conclusions:

• Working models of close relationships have complex implications for initial responses to environmental rewards.
• Attachment avoidance may modulate the physiological orienting response to rewarding opportunities.
• Attachment security influences the processing of potential rewards.