Jeffry A. Simpson

Influence of Attachment Styles on Romantic Relationships

This investigation examined the impact of secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment styles on romantic relationships in a longitudinal study involving 144 dating couples. For both men and women, the secure attachment style was associated with greater relationship interdependence, commitment, trust, and satisfaction than were the anxious or avoidant attachment styles. The anxious and avoidant styles were associated with less frequent positive emotions and more frequent negative emotions in the relationship, whereas the reverse was true of the secure style. Six-month follow-up interviews revealed that, among those individuals who disbanded, avoidant men experienced significantly less post-dissolution emotional distress than did other people. In recent years, a growing number of researchers have become interested in the processes by which people develop, maintain, and dissolve affectional bonds within close relationships (see Bretherton, 1985; Clark & Reis, 1988). Empirical research in this area was spawned by the pioneering theoretical work of John Bowlby (1969,1973,1980), who sought to determine how and why infants become emotionally attached to their primary caregivers and why they often experience emotional distress when physically separated from them. Bowlby identified a clear sequence of three emotional reactions that typically occur following the separation of an infant from its primary caregiver: protest, despair, and detachment. Given the remarkably reliable nature of this sequence across a variety of different species, Bowlby developed a theory of attachment grounded in evolutionary principles. Specifically, he argued that an attachment system composed of specific behavioral and emotional propensities designed to keep infants in close physical proximity to their primary caregivers might have been selected during evolutionary history. By remaining in close contact with caregivers who could protect them from danger and predation, infants who possessed these attachment propensities would have been more likely to survive to reproductive age, reproduce, and subsequently pass these propensities on to future generations. Empirical research examining tenets of Bowlbys theory has focused mainly on different styles or patterns of attachment in young children. Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall (1978) have identified three primary attachment styles: anxious/ambivalent

Individual differences in sociosexuality: Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity.

Individual differences in willingness to engage in uncommitted sexual relations were investigated in 6 studies. In Study 1, a 5-item Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI) was developed. Studies 2, 3, and 4 provided convergent validity evidence for the SOI, revealing that persons who have an unrestricted sociosexual orientation tend to (a) engage in sex at an earlier point in their relationships, (b) engage in sex with more than 1 partner at a time, and (c) be involved in relationships characterized by less investment, commitment, love, and dependency. Study 5 provided discriminant validity for the SOI, revealing that it does not covary appreciably with a good marker of sex drive. Study 6 demonstrated that the SOI correlates negligibly with measures of sexual satisfaction, anxiety, and guilt. The possible stability of, origins of, and motivational bases underlying individual differences in sociosexuality are discussed.

Conflict in close relationships: An attachment perspective

This study investigated how perceptions of current dating partners and relationships change after people with different attachment orientations attempt to resolve a problem in their relationship. Dating couples were videotaped while they tried to resolve either a major or a minor problem. Confirming predictions from attachment theory, men and women who had a more ambivalent orientation perceived their partner and relationship in relatively less positive terms after discussing a major problem. Observer ratings revealed that more ambivalent women who tried to resolve a major problem displayed particularly strong stress and anxiety and engaged in more negative behaviors. Conversely, men with a more avoidant orientation were rated as less warm and supportive, especially if they discussed a major problem. These results are discussed in terms of how highly ambivalent and highly avoidant people differentially perceive and respond to distressing events.

The Measurement of Perceived Relationship Quality Components: A Confirmatory Factor Analytic Approach

This research tested three models of how the relationship evaluation components of satisfaction, commitment, intimacy, trust, passion, and love are structured and cognitively represented. Participants in Study 1 rated their intimate relationships on six previously developed scales that measured each construct and on a new inventory—the Perceived Relationship Quality Components (PRQC) Inventory. As predicted, confirmatory factor analysis revealed that, for both sets of scales, the best-fitting model was one in which the appropriate items loaded reliably on the six first-order factors, which in turn loaded reliably on one second-order factor reflecting overall perceived relationship quality. These results were replicated on a different sample in Study 2 and across sex. Implications and advantages of the PRQC Inventory are discussed.

Perceptions of conflict and support in romantic relationships: the role of attachment anxiety.

Guided by attachment theory, a 2-part study was conducted to test how perceptions of relationship-based conflict and support are associated with relationship satisfaction/closeness and future quality. Dating partners completed diaries for 14 days (Part 1) and then were videotaped while discussing a major problem that occurred during the diary study (Part 2). Part 1 reveals that more anxiously attached individuals perceived more conflict with their dating partners and reported a tendency for conflicts to escalate in severity. Perceptions of daily relationship-based conflicts negatively impacted the perceived satisfaction/closeness and relationship futures of highly anxious individuals, whereas perceptions of greater daily support had positive effects. Part 2 reveals that highly anxious individuals appeared more distressed and escalated the severity of conflicts (rated by observers) and reported feeling more distressed. The authors discuss the unique features of attachment anxiety and how changing perceptions of relationship satisfaction/closeness and stability could erode commitment over time.

Ideals in intimate relationships.

This research examined lay relationship and partner ideals in romantic relationships from both a social-cognitive and an evolutionary perspective. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that the qualities of an ideal partner were represented by 3 factors (partner warmth-trustworthiness, vitality-attractiveness, and status-resources), whereas the qualities of an ideal relationship were represented by 2 factors (relationship intimacy-loyalty and passion). A confirmatory factor analysis in Study 3 replicated these factor structures but found considerable overlap across the partner and relationship dimensions. Studies 4 and 5 produced convergent and discriminant validity evidence for all 5 factors. Study 6 indicated that the higher the consistency between the ideals and related assessments of the current partner and relationship, the more positively the current relationship was evaluated.

Women's Preferences for Male Behavioral Displays Change Across the Menstrual Cycle

Women prefer both the scent of symmetrical men and masculine male faces more during the fertile (late follicular and ovulatory) phases of their menstrual cycles than during their infertile (e.g., luteal) phases. Mens behavioral displays in social settings may convey signals that affect womens attraction to men even more strongly. This study examined shifts in womens preferences for these behavioral displays. A sample of 237 normally ovulating women viewed 36 or 40 videotaped men who were competing for a potential lunch date and then rated each mans attractiveness as a short-term and a long-term mate. As predicted, womens preference for men who displayed social presence and direct intrasexual competitiveness increased on high-fertility days relative to low-fertility days, but only in a short-term, not a long-term, mating context. These findings add to the growing literature indicating that womens mate preferences systematically vary across the reproductive cycle.

Perception of Physical Attractiveness: Mechanisms Involved in the Maintenance of Romantic Relationships

In 2 studies, factors involved in the perception of attractivenes s of opposite-sex persons were examined. Investigation 1 revealed that individuals involved in dating relationships, relative to those not involved in them, tend to perceive opposite-sex persons as less physically and sexually attractive. Investigation 2 revealed that this dating status effect was not attributable to differences in physical attractiveness, self-esteem, empathy, self-monitoring, or altruism between individuals who were and those who were not involved in exclusive dating relationships. Moreover, both groups perceived young/same-sex and older/opposite-sex persons as equally attractive, suggesting that the effect is specific to young/opposite-sex persons. Results are discussed in terms of possible proximate and ultimate explanations underlying relationship maintenance processes.

When the Head Protects the Heart: Empathic Accuracy in Dating Relationships

This study investigated circumstances in which romantic partners may be motivated to inaccurately infer each others thoughts and feelings. Dating couples rated and discussed pictures of opposite-sex people with whom they might later interact in a dating context. Couples evaluated either highly attractive persons or less attractive persons. As predicted, dating partners who were close, who were insecure about their relationship, and who evaluated highly attractive opposite-sex persons displayed the least empathic accuracy when they tried to infer each others actual thoughts and feelings from the videotape of the rating and discussion task. The effects of these variables were additive, and they were mediated by the degree of perceived threat to the relationship. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Psychological Foundations of Trust

Trust lies at the foundation of nearly all major theories of interpersonal relationships. Despite its great theoretical importance, a limited amount of research has examined how and why trust develops, is maintained, and occasionally unravels in relationships. Following a brief overview of theoretical and empirical milestones in the interpersonal-trust literature, an integrative process model of trust in dyadic relationships is presented.