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Perceiving to Provide: How Partner Attachment Perceptions Inform Reassurance Provision in Romantic Relationships.

Elina R Sun1, Xiangjing Kong1, Jason A Mitala1

  • 1Syracuse University, NY, USA.

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|May 26, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Partners’ perceptions of each other’s attachment styles influence their supportive behaviors. Accurately perceiving a partner’s attachment anxiety can lead to providing more reassurance, a key buffering strategy.

Keywords:
adult attachmentinterpersonal perceptionreassurance provisiontruth and bias model of judgment

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Attachment Theory

Background:

  • Romantic partners can buffer each other's attachment insecurities.
  • Understanding how partners perceive each other's attachment and if these perceptions predict behavior is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the accuracy of perceiving partner's attachment anxiety and avoidance.
  • To identify biases influencing these perceptions.
  • To determine if perceptions predict reassurance provision.

Main Methods:

  • Two studies involving 108 and 147 couples, respectively.
  • Utilized the Truth and Bias Model.
  • Employed global and relationship-specific attachment measures, and a 10-day ecological momentary assessment for daily life reassurance.

Main Results:

  • Individuals perceive their partner's attachment with moderate accuracy.
  • Perceptions are shaped by biases, including overestimation of insecurity and assumptions of similarity and complementarity.
  • Perceiving higher partner attachment anxiety predicted greater reassurance provision.

Conclusions:

  • Attachment perceptions play a significant role in initiating and calibrating buffering strategies within romantic relationships.
  • Accurate perception of a partner's attachment insecurity can facilitate supportive behaviors like reassurance.
  • Biases in perception, while present, do not negate the predictive power of perceptions on buffering behaviors.