Association Between Attachment Styles and Shame Proneness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The present review aimed to examine the association between different styles of attachment and proneness to shame.

A systematic literature search was conducted across databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar which led to the inclusion of 18 studies in the analysis. The meta-analysis incorporated studies involving diverse populations, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the attachment-shame relationship across various demographic contexts. Four correlational meta-analyses were conducted to investigate the relationship between secure, insecure styles- dismissive, preoccupied, and fearful attachment styles and proneness to shame. Random-effect models in R were employed and the quality of the studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.

Study findings revealed a significant small to moderate negative association between secure attachment and shame (Effect Size [ES] = -0.29); moderate positive associations were found between fearful (ES = 0.39) and preoccupied attachment styles (ES = 0.33) with shame; small but significant positive association was found between dismissing attachment and shame (ES = 0.13). Subgroup analysis revealed that the association between all three insecure attachment styles and shame was more pronounced among LGBTQ+ individuals. Meta-regression analysis showed that gender significantly influenced the associations for preoccupied and dismissing attachment styles.

These results demonstrate that the strength of association with shame varies by type of attachment style. The results also point to the moderating influence of gender and sexual orientation. These insights have important clinical implications and suggest directions for future research on tailoring interventions based on attachment styles.