Abstract
We propose a model documenting the relationship between interpersonal attachment style and identification with groups. We hypothesized that following threat to a romantic interpersonal relationship higher attachment anxiety would be associated with lowered tendencies to identify with groups. In two studies using varied social groups we observed support for this hypothesis. In Experiment 1 we found that participants higher in attachment anxiety identified less with a salient ingroup after imagining a distressing argument with their romantic partner. In Experiment 2 we replicated these findings using an implicit measure of social identification and additionally observed a moderating role for attachment avoidance. We discuss the implications of these findings for theoretical models of interpersonal attachment and social identification.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 115-122 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2009 |
Bibliographical note
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of experimental social psychology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Crisp, RJ, Farrow, CV, Rosenthal, HES, Walsh, J, Blissett, J & Penn, NMK, 'Interpersonal attachment predicts identification with groups' Journal of experimental social psychology, vol. 45, no. 1 (2009) DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2008.09.006Keywords
- attachment
- interpersonal relations
- social identification