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Attachment, Caregiving, and Volunteering: Placing Volunteerism in an Attachment-Theoretical Framework
Abstract
Recent studies based on attachment theory demonstrate that dispositional and experimentally manipulated attachment security facilitate cognitive openness and empathy, strengthen self-transcendent values, and foster tolerance of out-group members, suggesting an effect of one behavioral system, attachment, on another, caregiving. Here we report 2 studies conducted in 3 different countries (Israel, the Netherlands, and the United States) to determine whether the 2 dimensions of attachment insecurity—anxiety and avoidance—are related to real-world altruistic volunteering. In both studies and across the 3 locations, avoidant attachment was related to volunteering less and having less altruistic and exploration-oriented motives for volunteering. Anxious attachment was related to self-enhancing motives for volunteering. Additional results suggested that volunteering ameliorates the interpersonal problems of individuals high in anxiety and that volunteering has more beneficial effects if it is done for altruistic reasons. Future directions for experimental research on this topic are outlined.
... Those high on attachment-avoidance are characterized by their independence, lack of self-disclosure and emotional expression, and emotional distance (Anders & Tucker, 2000;Overall & Sibley, 2009). They view others as disloyal and untrustworthy (Collins & Allard, 2001) and dislike catering to their partner's needs (Gillath et al., 2005). Individuals high on attachment-anxiety fear abandonment, display neediness, and focus on their own needs (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). ...
... Secure individuals are trusting and provide comfort to their partners (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). They view others as loyal and trustworthy, engage in selfdisclosure with their partner (Overall & Sibley, 2009), are compassionate, and desire to fulfill their partner's needs (Gillath et al., 2005). Attachment styles influence levels of relational security, satisfaction, and positive emotional functioning (Bowlby, 1982). ...
... By framing positive facework as a message feature, the advisor provides polite advice assuring the advisee that they are competent and appreciated (Park & Guan, 2009). Highly anxious individuals want to be shown acceptance, affection, and support from their partner (Gillath et al., 2005;Miller, 2012). However, highly avoidant individuals prefer more distance from their romantic partner (Miller, 2012) and may not find advice framed with positive facework to be important. ...
Previous research has made a call to study how attachment processes affect advice communication in romantic relationships. Examining participants’ perceptions of romantic partner’s advice, using Advice Response Theory and attachment theory, this study sought to determine how attachment styles moderate the associations between perceived advice message factors and implementation. Participants (N = 272) completed an online questionnaire. More avoidant and more anxious participants were less likely to implement advice. Attachment-avoidance moderated the effects of perceived negative facework and confirmation on increased advice implementation. Attachment-anxiety moderated the effects of perceived confirmation on increased advice implementation. Findings provide theoretical support and extension for attachment theory, romantic relationships, and advice.
... Studies have found that other-oriented motivation (i.e., values, understanding, and social functions) is associated with length of volunteering, while self-oriented motivation (i.e., enhancement, protective, and career functions) is associated with greater attrition of volunteering (Kritz et al., 2020;Omoto et al., 2010;Penner & Finkelstein, 1998;Rubin & Thorelli, 1984;Stukas et al., 2016). Studies have also found that, compared to self-oriented motivation, other-oriented motivation is related to greater physical and mental health (Gillath et al., 2005;Kumnig et al., 2015;Piliavin & Siegl, 2007;Stukas et al., 2016;Thoits, 2012). For example, Stukas et al. (2016) analyzed data from a sample of Australian volunteers (n = 4085) and found that other-oriented motivation was positively associated with wellbeing, while selforiented motivation did not have any significant positive effect on wellbeing (e.g., enhancement) or have negative effect (e.g., protective and career motivation) on wellbeing. ...
... For example, Stukas et al. (2016) analyzed data from a sample of Australian volunteers (n = 4085) and found that other-oriented motivation was positively associated with wellbeing, while selforiented motivation did not have any significant positive effect on wellbeing (e.g., enhancement) or have negative effect (e.g., protective and career motivation) on wellbeing. Likewise, Gillath et al. (2005) studied cross-cultural samples from Israel, the Netherlands, and the United States and found that volunteering has more beneficial effects when it is done for altruistic reasons (Gillath et al., 2005). Taken together, these studies demonstrate that volunteer motivations differentially affect the volunteers themselves, and other-oriented volunteers tend to report more positive health outcomes than their self-oriented counterparts. ...
... For example, Stukas et al. (2016) analyzed data from a sample of Australian volunteers (n = 4085) and found that other-oriented motivation was positively associated with wellbeing, while selforiented motivation did not have any significant positive effect on wellbeing (e.g., enhancement) or have negative effect (e.g., protective and career motivation) on wellbeing. Likewise, Gillath et al. (2005) studied cross-cultural samples from Israel, the Netherlands, and the United States and found that volunteering has more beneficial effects when it is done for altruistic reasons (Gillath et al., 2005). Taken together, these studies demonstrate that volunteer motivations differentially affect the volunteers themselves, and other-oriented volunteers tend to report more positive health outcomes than their self-oriented counterparts. ...
This study used data from 1871 college students across China to examine the relations among volunteering and PWB in 2020. Results of regression analysis indicate that volunteering had positive effects on the PWB of the students. Students whose motivation to volunteer was public interest had greater PWB, regardless of the degree to which they also reported private gain as a motivation. The significant interaction results indicate that students whose volunteer motivation included both public interest and private gains and who had high frequency of volunteering were more likely to have higher PWB. Policy and practice implications were discussed.
... Prior work has linked attachment to moral decisions with clear-cut right and wrong responses (e.g., Gillath et al., 2005;Kogut & Kogut, 2013). However, many decisions in relationships and life feature competing moral norms. ...
... More, people high (vs. low) in anxious attachment appear motivated by the reward of social approval to help others (Gillath et al., 2005), to volunteer for non-profit organizations (Gillath et al., 2005), and to donate more money to identified victims in vulnerable situations (Kogut & Kogut, 2013). ...
... More, people high (vs. low) in anxious attachment appear motivated by the reward of social approval to help others (Gillath et al., 2005), to volunteer for non-profit organizations (Gillath et al., 2005), and to donate more money to identified victims in vulnerable situations (Kogut & Kogut, 2013). ...
Developmentally calibrated, adult attachment guides social decision making. We examined how insecure attachment styles relate to complex social decisions—moral dilemmas. Prior work failed to dissociate deontological (harm-rejecting) from utilitarian (outcome-maximizing) decisions, treating them as inversely related. Using process dissociation, we found avoidant attachment predicted less harm rejection—partially through lower empathic concern—whereas anxious attachment was not associated with moral responses across two samples (Study 1). Measuring attachment via inclusive multi-scale composites, we replicated the finding that people high in avoidance rejected harm less often, and also found that people high in anxious attachment rejected harm and maximized wellbeing less often (Study 2, preregistered). These relationships were mediated by lower empathic concern, lower desire to help others, and higher need to belong. Insecure attachment, whether avoidant or anxious, may distract from the emotional and moral concerns involved in avoiding harming others and increasing their wellbeing.
... This distinction between attachment orientations is significant because the attachment system is linked to other behavioral systems (14), namely the caregiving system. The caregiving system is thought to have evolved to provide protection and support to others, and is inherently altruistic in nature (15). These behavioral systems are linked in a way that, when people feel comforted and safe in threatening situations (securely attached), the activation of caregiving is facilitated, enabling them to focus on the distress of others (16). ...
... Seminal evidence from humans and nonhuman primates (23,24) has shown that the attachment system is not rooted in reward reinforcement from the caregiver (such as food) but rather is motivated by a need for protective bonding. Secure attachment has been linked to volunteering and helping behavior (which are features of the caregiving system) beyond the boundaries of close in-group members-for example, toward strangers and unrelated individuals (14)(15)(16)(17)(18). ...
... A core assumption in attachment theory is that attachment orientations are relatively stable over time (12) but prone to temporary variations (e.g., such as a parent's death, a job loss, or a new intimate relationship) and transient fluctuations, including experimental manipulations (14). There is consistent causal evidence showing the effect of priming attachment security in increasing levels of empathy, trust, and helping behavior (11,15,18). Therefore, such validated, experimental manipulations also allow one to experimentally test the effect of attachment security on beliefs and action toward anthropogenic climate change. ...
Significance
Attachment theory focuses on the primal form of emotional bonding between humans. Attachment is conceptualized as an innate behavioral system aimed at safeguarding against potential threats by assuring proximity to caring and supportive others. When individuals feel securely attached (thus feeling less threatened in most situations), the activation of the caregiving behavioral system (concern for others) is facilitated. With this research, we show that priming attachment security influences how much people care about and accept climate change via an increased empathy for humanity. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this activation bypasses the resistance of politically conservative individuals to mitigate climate change. Overall, we show that attachment security–based stimuli can inform intervention and policymaking strategies to help fight climate change.
... The goal of Study 1 was to map the associations between attachment style and a self-reported, persistent pattern of RS. Despite the lack of research on our topic of interest, related literature on pro-social tendencies suggests that, since attachment insecurity, and especially avoidance is negatively correlated with pro-sociality (e.g., Gillath et al., 2005), it is expected that traitavoidant attachment will also be negatively correlated with RS. ...
... Specifically, enhancing attachment security was found to have various beneficial outcomes in domains such as close relationships, emotion regulation, mental health, and intergroup relations. Relevant to the current work, it was shown that not only is attachment security positively associated with pro-social behavior (e.g., volunteering; Gillath et al., 2005) but also that enhancing the sense of attachment security, either subliminally, or supraliminally, leads to a higher tendency to exhibit pro-social behaviors (e.g., helping others in need; Mikulincer et al., 2005). ...
... The work that has expanded these relational boundaries suffers from other limitations. For example, most research on the role of attachment security on pro-sociality outside of close relationships has relied on self-reports (e.g., Gillath et al., 2005), used hypothetical scenarios (Mikulincer et al., 2001(Mikulincer et al., , 2003, or used dependent variables different from measures of sharing used in other disciplines (e.g., Mikulincer et al., 2005). For instance, the dependent variable which Mikulincer et al. (2005) used in their experimental work was criticized as representing other constructs such as bravery, openness to experience, or thrill-seeking, rather than the desire to help. ...
In three studies we examined the associations between resource sharing (RS) and attachment, and the enhancement of RS using attachment security primes. In Study 1, we showed that attachment avoidance was negatively associated with RS. We also identified differences and similarities between RS and pro‐sociality. In Studies 2 and 3, we showed that research participants were more likely to share their monetary resources after they were primed with attachment security. Study 3 further revealed that security priming affected mainly people low on state attachment anxiety. Our findings extend previous work on pro‐sociality into the specific realm of RS, provide behavioral evidence, and tie attachment and close relationships in with game theory and research on economic decision making.
... Attachment avoidance is characterized by the desire to avoid closeness and intimacy and the tendency to downplay or suppress emotions and relationship-related thoughts (e.g., Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991;Collins & Read, 1990). Avoidance is negatively associated with pro-relational and pro-social tendencies and behaviors (e.g., Gillath et al., 2005). Attachment Anxiety is characterized by the constant fear of rejection, high dependence on one's relationship partners, a strong desire for intimacy and merging with one's partners, and difficulties regulating emotions (Collins & Read, 1990;Hazan & Shaver, 1987). ...
... In the current set of studies, we tested this proposition, predicting that attachment avoidance will be associated with lower willingness to compromise on food preferences or share food; whereas attachment anxiety will be associated with more food sharing, due to anxiously attached people's desire for intimacy and closeness (e.g., Collins & Read, 1990). We further predicted that, because attachment security is associated with pro-sociaility (e.g., Gillath et al., 2005) and emotion regulation (including the use of food to regulate intrapersonal emotions; Troisi et al., 2011;, security priming will increase food offering. When it comes to food acceptance things are a bit more complicated. ...
... This suggests that in a similar fashion to what we see in the interactions between attachment and other behavioral systems attachment security might facilitate engagement in interpersonal food behaviors, whereas insecurity and especially avoidant attachment may disrupt optimal employment of these behaviors. These findings are similar to results in studies about attachment and caregiving (e.g., Gillath et al., 2005;Mikulincer et al., 2005). Potentially, food behaviors are guided by a "food" or "nutrition" behavioral system (although we cannot know for sure based on our studies), and this system may interact with the attachment system in a similar way to the way the caregiving system does. ...
... 10 Conversely, adolescents with insecure attachment lacked sufficient psychological resources and behaved with a more negative understanding of others' intentions and behaviors. 11,12 Numerous studies have supported the positive correlation between parental attachment and moral behaviors. 13,14 Thus, we speculate that the better the parental relationship, the more likely individuals may make altruistic choices during moral decision-making and then experience positive emotions (more HM, fewer UHM/HV/UHV modes). ...
... 27 For example, those with secure parental attachment were more willing to help others and were more likely to experience happy emotions. 11,45 However, insecure parental attachment leads to externalization problems (such as sexual abuse behavior), and victimizers may experience positive emotions (HV modes). 47 Moreover, youngsters with poor parental relationships externalized a sense of insecurity and believed that helping or victimizing others (UHM, UHV modes) caused a loss of self-interest. ...
Purpose:
Moral decision outcomes and emotional experiences after moral decisions are combined to create four moral reaction modes: happy victimizer (HV), unhappy victimizer (UHV), happy moralist (HM), and unhappy moralist (UHM). This study aimed to explore the relationships between parental attachment (PA) and adolescent moral reaction modes, and further examine the mechanism of the serial mediating effects of the teacher-student relationship (TS) and deviant peer affiliation (DP).
Sample and method:
A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022 among 3053 students (including 1496 females) from four middle schools, four high schools, and three colleges in China using a voluntary and anonymous questionnaire.
Results:
Our study reveals that PA was positively associated with HM modes and negatively associated with UHM, UHV, and HV modes. Both TS and DP serially or partly mediated the relationship between PA and adolescents' four moral reaction modes.
Conclusion:
This study uncovered significant social relationship pathways for moral reaction modes. TS and DP are two important mediators between PA and moral reaction modes. Secure parental attachment can develop positive teacher-student and peer relationships. This can then encourage adolescents to behave in more positive HM modes and fewer UHM/HV/UHV modes.
... Understanding: The desire to expose oneself to new learning experiences and accumulate knowledge and experience about oneself and/or one's environment [45]. ...
... In relation to the motivations for volunteering amongst the two samples, the findings indicate that career motivation, associated with self-support [45] and basic economic welfare [20,48], served as a more significant factor amongst the FSU immigrants than amongst the NBIs. An explanation may lie in the often-challenging economic situation of immigrants in general: the literature indicates that they earn less than those born in the host country, so they may see volunteerism mainly as a way of improving their financial condition [48]. ...
The large Former Soviet Union (FSU) immigration of the 1990s, accounting for approximately 15% of the Jewish population in Israel today, plays a significant role in shaping Israeli society. Volunteering, as part of social citizenship and normative culture, is an important element of acculturation among immigrants. The present study compares volunteering attitudes and motivations among Generation 1.5 FSU immigrants in their third decade in Israel to native-born Israelis (NBIs): 576 participants, 50.2% NBIs and 49.8% FSUs. Generation 1.5 FSU immigrants exhibited less favorable attitudes toward volunteerism than NBIs. FSUs also rated career motivations for volunteerism significantly higher than NBIs, and values significantly lower than NBIs. Significant differences were found between motivations for volunteering among each cohort, separately, as well. In the context of mass immigration, re-socialization regarding volunteering among Generation 1.5 FSU immigrants living 2–3 decades in Israel appears relatively weak, possibly attributable to FSU policy and culture in opposition to independent volunteerism.
... For example, an experimental study showed that attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety negatively predicted individual altruistic behavior [12]. A survey study also found that higher attachment avoidance was related to less volunteering and less altruistic and exploration-oriented motives for volunteering, while higher attachment anxiety was associated with increased self-enhancing motives for volunteering [13]. Moreover, Erez et al. [14] found attachment insecurities (avoidance and anxiety) made a unique contribution to volunteerism after controlling for positive personality traits including agreeableness and conscientiousness. ...
... 1. Are attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety differentially related to altruistic behavior among Chinese adolescents? Based on the existing Western literature [13,15], we proposed that attachment avoidance would be negatively linked to altruistic behavior (Hypothesis 1a), while attachment anxiety would not be associated with altruistic behavior (Hypothesis 1b). 2. Are there any relationships between attachment insecurity indexed by avoidance and anxiety and different aspects of empathy among Chinese adolescents? Based on the existing Western literature [25,27], we proposed that attachment avoidance would be negatively associated with empathic concern and perspective taking (Hypotheses 2a and 2b), while it would not be associated with personal distress (Hypothesis 2c). ...
Although Western studies showed that attachment insecurity was negatively related to adolescent altruistic behavior, few studies have investigated this issue among Chinese adolescents, and little is known about the mechanisms underlying the impact of attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety on adolescent altruistic behaviors. This study investigated the mediating role of different dimensions of empathy (empathic concern, perspective taking, and personal distress) on the association of attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety with altruistic behavior among Chinese adolescents. A total of 1005 7th and 8th grade Chinese students (Mage = 12.86 years, SD = 0.69) from three middle schools in Chengdu, China completed measures of attachment insecurity, interpersonal reactivity index, and altruistic behavior. Results indicated that attachment avoidance, not attachment anxiety, negatively predicted adolescent altruistic behavior among Chinese adolescents. Moreover, higher attachment avoidance predicted less empathic concern and perspective taking, which in turn predicted less altruistic behavior, while higher attachment anxiety predicted more empathic concern and personal distress, which further predicted more and less altruistic behavior, respectively. These findings highlight the importance of promoting adolescent empathic concern and perspective taking and reducing personal distress to strengthen adolescent altruistic behavior.
... However, a large longitudinal study found that regular volunteering increased wellbeing, even after accounting for personality, social networks and trust (Binder and Freytag, 2013). It has also been observed that securely attached individuals are more likely to volunteer, even after accounting for personality traits, and tend to experience better health, while attachment anxiety is associated with self-enhancement, social acceptance and self-protection motivations for volunteering (Gillath et al, 2005;Erez et al, 2008). ...
... While the role of 'fate' or God in determining people's lives could be seen as denying individual agency, it appears to provide a sense of life having a purpose, and one that has become integrated into each participant's sense of self, thereby contributing to an increased sense of autonomy. These stories of transformational change illustrate a powerful role for volunteering in promoting recovery from depression and loss, consistent with findings that volunteering plays a 'defensive' role, bringing the most benefits to those with the lowest wellbeing (Gillath et al, 2005;Piliavin and Siegl, 2007;Binder and Freytag, 2013). ...
In the context of UK austerity policies, asset-based approaches to health offer an attractive proposition to policy makers, promising to reduce demand while improving psychological wellbeing. However, critics suggest that they may inadvertently contribute to increasing
health inequalities by implicitly endorsing neoliberal discourses, extolling independence and ascribing individual blame for poverty, while denigrating state welfare support. Food banks, as voluntary sector welfare providers, as places of ambiguous and contested
meanings, present a salient setting in which to explore how experiences of volunteering may affect psychological wellbeing. This article provides deep insight into the experiences of four women with
direct experience of the welfare system, highlighting the value of social justice-oriented narratives, as well as shared purpose and social connection, in relation to their psychological wellbeing. It highlights the significance of the ethos of such settings, with implications for public health policy, voluntary organisations and those resisting neoliberal policies and discourses.
... In an attempt to examine attachment and caregiving dynamics in the wider social world, Gillath et al. (2005) examined associations between attachment insecurities, involvement in altruistic volunteer activities, and motives for volunteering. The findings were similar across the three countries we studied-the United States, Israel, and the Netherlands. ...
... Lonelier people are less COPING WITH LONELINESS THROUGH CONSUMPTIONempathetic than less lonely people (Beadle et al., 2012), and this affects their tendency to help others. Thus, several studies find that chronic loneliness is negatively correlated with prosocial behaviors (Archer Lee et al., 2022;Cassidy & Asher, 1992;Gillath et al., 2005;H. Huang et al., 2016;Woodhouse et al., 2012). ...
Loneliness is a complex set of aversive feelings that arises when people perceive that their belongingness needs are not being met. Usually, these feelings of loneliness are temporary because people successfully cope with their loneliness by connecting with others. However, for some people, their attempts to cope with loneliness are unsuccessful, and their loneliness becomes chronic, which can have severe consequences for their mental and physical health. Understanding the causes and consequences of loneliness is critical for developing interventions to reduce loneliness, a need made more urgent by the dramatic rise in reported loneliness over the last few decades. In this review, we provide a synthesis of the research on how people cope with loneliness through consumption situations and the extent to which these coping strategies are successful. We also provide a discussion of how the marketplace has responded to the rapidly increasing levels of chronic loneliness worldwide. We conclude with an agenda for future research to answer both basic and applied research questions regarding the causes, consequences, and underlying processes of loneliness.
... We also have preliminary evidence that heightened sense of caring for others might increase attachment security -for example, by strengthening a person's sense of connectedness. Specifi cally, we have found that anxious people become more secure as a result of volunteering to help others (Gillath et al., 2005 ). In a direct examination of the caregiving-sex link, Birnbaum and Reis ( 2012 ) found that perceiving a partner as more responsive was associated with higher interest in sex with this partner. ...
... An avoidant attachment orientation refers to behaviors that limit closeness to others in order to avoid rejection (Bowlby, 1982;Mikulincer & Shaver, 2012). Research has consistently shown that avoidantly-attached individuals tend to have less empathy and compassion toward others and are less willing to engage in pro-social behaviors (Boag & Carnelley, 2016;Gillath et al., 2005;Henschel et al., 2020;Wei et al., 2011), perhaps because they tend to distance themselves from others to avoid emotional pain, and thus they cannot be open to their own, or other people's, emotional experience . ...
Empathic concern is an important part of social relationships. Attachment orientation may explain individual differences in empathic concern. However, the circumstances under which attachment orientation is related to empathic concern remain unexamined. This exploratory study investigated the moderating role of a novel aspect of emotion regulation, interpersonal emotion regulation, in the relationship between attachment orientation and empathic concern. Study 1 (N = 179) and Study 2 (direct replication, N = 202) yielded consistent main effects for emotion regulation. Interpersonal emotion regulation efficacy (people's belief that interpersonal emotion regulation can effectively change their negative and positive emotions) was positively associated with empathic concern. Avoidant attachment showed a moderately consistent negative association with empathic concern. Negative efficacy moderated the association between anxious attachment and empathic concern only in Study 1. The findings focus attention on the importance of interpersonal emotion regulation efficacy to empathic concern and on the complex relationship between attachment and empathic concern.
... Future studies should shed light on the role played by human uniqueness in the link between attachment styles and helping behaviors using a different measure of attachment. They should also examine whether humanity self-attributions preserve their unique mediation role when controlling for other potential mediators, such as compassion (secure attachment) or lack of compassion (insecure attachment) (e.g., Gillath et al., 2005;Mikulincer et al., 2005); other people's positive (secure attachment) ...
In this study, we explore whether different self-perceptions in terms of human traits are associated with attachment orientations (secure, anxious, and avoidant) and whether these perceptions explain the relationship between attachment orientations and prosocial behaviors. A sample of adult participants was investigated through an online questionnaire. To test the mediation model path analysis was applied. Findings show that secure attachment is related to the perception of being qualified by emotional responsiveness and relational skills (human nature traits). Anxious and avoidant attachment are, in contrast , related to self-denial of these traits. Attachment anxiety is also linked to the perception of not being defined by uniquely human characteristics like rationality and self-control. As predicted, humanity self-attributions mediated the relationship between dispositional attachment and prosocial or antisocial orientations. This mediation effect was observed when controlling for self-esteem. Limits and practical implications of findings are discussed. This work aims to explore the associations between attachment orientations, humanity self-attributions, and prosocial behaviors. The attachment behavioral system can be conceptualized as an inborn neural program, which guides individual behavior to enhance the chance of survival (Bowlby, 1982). This behavioral system aims to favor the proximity between infants and adults who care for them (attachment figures). According to Bowlby, the interactions between infants and caregivers lead to building mental representations of self and others, with the latter being perceived as reliable or unreliable. These representations become stable working models across the lifespan and contribute to shaping social interactions (for a
... We also have preliminary evidence that heightened sense of caring for others might increase attachment security -for example, by strengthening a person's sense of connectedness. Specifi cally, we have found that anxious people become more secure as a result of volunteering to help others (Gillath et al., 2005 ). In a direct examination of the caregiving-sex link, Birnbaum and Reis ( 2012 ) found that perceiving a partner as more responsive was associated with higher interest in sex with this partner. ...
... In an attempt to examine attachment-and-caregiving dynamics in the wider social world, Gillath et al. (2005) examined associations between attachment insecurities, involvement in altruistic volunteer activities, and motives for volunteering. The findings were similar across the three countries that were sampled-the United States, Israel, and the Netherlands. ...
... In an attempt to examine the contribution of caregiving strategies to altruism in broader societal contexts, we asked a sample of 142 Israeli undergraduates to complete the CSS and two scales assessing engagement in volunteer charitable or altruistic activities. They completed a self-report scale designed by Gillath et al. (2005) to measure the number of altruistic activities a participant volunteered for and the time devoted to them (e.g., teaching reading, counseling troubled people, providing care to the sick). They also completed the Volunteer Functions Inventory (Clary et al., 1998), which measures the extent to which they volunteered for either self-oriented reasons (e.g., self-protection, career promotion, ego enhancement, achieving a sense of togetherness that soothes the self) or more altruistic reasons (e.g., other-focused values, achieving a more mature understanding of the world and oneself). ...
... Similarly, we argue that having a strong sense of caring or connection to a cause is more likely to increase volunteer engagement than the reverse effect. Prior research has highlighted many ways in which having strong prosocial values can drive individuals to volunteer action: as a way to satisfy their need for self-determination (Ryan & Deci, 2000), to find a sense of meaning in life (Meng & Dillon, 2014) or to improve well-being (Gillath et al., 2005), to name a few. ...
Although it is well‐established that religious individuals tend to volunteer more than the non‐religious, few studies have examined motivations to volunteer as a potential explanation for this relationship. The present research takes a functional approach to examine whether religiosity drives volunteerism by promoting certain motivations for volunteering. Two common theories of religious prosociality are considered: (1) religious belief increases volunteering through internalized prosocial values, and (2) religious service attendance increases volunteering by fostering social relationships, hence increasing social reasons for volunteering. In two studies, Values‐based and Social‐based motivations to volunteer are tested as mediators in the relationship between religiosity (both belief and service attendance) and volunteering. Study 1 used a predominantly university student sample (N = 130) to predict volunteering intentions, whereas Study 2 employed an Australian community sample (N = 772) to predict self‐reported volunteer hours. Both studies show consistent findings that the Values motive mediated the relationship between religious belief and volunteering, whereas the Social motive did not mediate the relationship between religious service attendance and volunteering. We find support for the theory that religious beliefs boost volunteerism by promoting humanistic reasons for volunteering.
... The avoidance attachment type was found consistently to have a negative association with [14] and negatively associated with the desire to provide future care [6]. The discomfort felt by adults with this attachment type, their avoidance of intimacy, their exaggerated self-reliance, and their lack of empathy moderate the ability to provide responsive and sensitive care [15] [16]. ...
The relationships between family support, attachment types in adulthood and attitudes towards filial responsibility among three generations of Arab and Jewish men
The aim of the current study was to compare between three generations groups of Arab and Jewish male's attitudes towards filial responsibility. 121 university students, their fathers (116) and their grandfathers (114), answered a self-report questionnaire, which measured filial responsibility attitudes, type of attachment; self-esteem; sense of mastery and, family support. Results revealed ethnicity and religiosity differences as well as between-generations differences regarding filial responsibility. An additional finding brought to light the cross-generational differences in the relationship between the attachment style in adulthood and the attitudes regarding filial responsibility. The most important finding shows that the Arab male, especially in the youngest generation, find himself in a socio-psychological-internal conflict between tradition and modernization regarding the family norms. Arab society, in attitudes towards filial responsibility, is still traditional in terms of its approach to the institutions of clan and, the men status within the family. Thus, mostly among the elderly Arab Muslims.
... In conceptualizing how to measure attachment, the majority of researchers believe that an individual's orientation toward partners in general captures the "gist" of how people approach relationships (Fraley, 2007). Indeed, attachment orientations toward one person often predict outcomes in other domains, whether these outcomes are in relationships with other people or in non-relational domains altogether (Chopik et al., 2014;Gillath et al., 2005). There is also evidence that individuals' attachment orientations are consistent across sequential relationship partners (e.g., an ex-partner and current partner; Brumbaugh & Fraley, 2007). ...
In the present study, we sought to understand whether people in polyamorous relationships have similar attachment orientations with each of their partners. Further, we examined the extent to which the attachment relationship with a given partner affects relationship quality both within that relationship and across concurrent romantic relationships. We recruited a community sample of 357 people engaged in polyamory with at least two concurrent romantic partners. People engaged in polyamory exhibited secure attachment with both of their partners (low in avoidance and anxiety); specifically, these scores were lower than established norms. In terms of within-relationship effects, avoidance and anxiety with a specific partner were linked with lower levels of relationship functioning (relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, satisfaction with emotional and sexual agreements, and commitment) for that specific relationship. However, there was no association between avoidance and anxiety with one specific partner and the relationship functioning in a different, concurrent romantic relationship (i.e., cross-relationship effects). These findings suggest that individuals engaged in polyamory treat these relationships as distinct and independent from one another—forming attachments with each partner based on the specifics of that relationship. Understanding attachment processes in polyamorous relationships provides new directions for exploring the diversities of intimate partnering and theory expansion.
... Vyšší míra vazbové vyhýbavosti vede totiž k vyhýbání se interakcím obecně, pomáhání nevyjímaje. Ačkoliv některé studie ukazují, že se zvýšená úzkostnost pojí s vysokou mírou pečování o druhé, či přílišnou angažovanost do problémů ostatních, někdy až za hranice přijatelné míry (Kunce & Shaver, 1994), v jiných studiích sledovaly omezenou či neefektivní míru péče o druhé (Gillath et al., 2005). Rom a Mikulincer (2003) navrhli vysvětlení pro takto nekonzistentní výsledky. ...
Abstract: Prior research has suggested that attachment theory is an influential concept even in the field of psychology of work and organization. Mainly in the matter of interpersonal relationships in work environment. Our study reports results of quantitative research which covered attachment and interpersonal facilitation as one domain of contextual job performance. Data were collected using EWR-I for adult attachment in the workplace and interpersonal facilitation scale as a supervisory rating of job performance. Research sample consisted of employees of an international production company. Participants (N = 136) were assessed by EWR-I and evaluated by their supervisors (N = 50) by interpersonal facilitation scale 6 months later. Results show effect of employee’s attachment on evaluated interpersonal facilitation and suggest that attachment security contributes to overall performance through helping others or effective cooperation.
Abstrakt: Výzkum nasvědčuje, že teorie vztahové vazby je vlivným konceptem i na poli psychologie práce a organizace, a to převážně v otázce interpersonálních vztahů v pracovním prostředí. Příspěvek přináší výsledky kvantitativního výzkumu vztahové vazby a interpersonální facilitace jakožto jedné ze složek kontextuální pracovní výkonnosti. Data byla získána pomocí nástroje pro diagnostiku vztahové vazby v pracovním prostředí EWR-I a škály interpersonální facilitace. Výzkumu se zúčastnili zaměstnanci nadnárodní výrobní společnosti. Respondenti (N = 136) vyplnili EWR-I, následně byl každý respondent po 6 měsících ohodnocen přímým nadřízeným (N = 50) v podobě vyplnění škály interpersonální facilitace. Výsledky ukazují vliv vztahové vazby zaměstnance na hodnocenou míru interpersonální facilitace a naznačují tak, že jistota vztahové vazby přispívá k celkové výkonnosti skrze pomáhání ostatním či efektivní spolupráci.
... Csak akkor fordítanak időt és energiát mások szenvedésének enyhítésére és szükségleteinek kielégítésére, ha kellőképpen biztonságban érzik magukat. GILLATH, SHAVER, MIKULINCER, NITZBERG, EREZ és VAN IJZENDOORN (2005) szerint a bizonytalan kötődési minták az önkéntességre irányuló altruista motivációk és az emberbarát tevékenységek iránti elkötelezettség ellen hatnak: az elkerülő kötődési pozícióval rendelkező személyek kevesebb önkéntes tevékenységről számolnak be, és azokat is önzőbb motivációból végzik. A ellenálló kötődési pozícióval rendelkező személyeknél viszont csak az önzőbb motivációk voltak kimutathatók, de nem végeztek szignifikánsan kevesebb önkéntes tevékenységet. ...
Háttér és célkitűzések: Az önkéntesség egy olyan civil részvételi forma, mely hosszú távú, tervezett és önkéntes vállaláson alapuló proszociális cselekedeteket foglal magában, és egy másik személy, ügy vagy csoport számára hoz hasznot. Jelentősége egyre nő, nemcsak külföldön, hanem hazánkban is. A tanulmány célja az önkéntesség pszichológiai hátterének szakirodalmi áttekintése. Módszer: A téma feldolgozása során az adatbázisokban elérhető legrelevánsabb magyar és angol nyelvű tanulmányokat tekintettük át. Eredmények: A kutatások döntő többsége azt találta, hogy az intrinsic (belső) motiváció nagyobb önkéntesség iránti elkötelezettséget eredményez, mint az extrinsic motiváció (jutalmak, ösztönzők, kreditek). Az önkéntes szerepidentitás kialakulása fontos szerepet játszik az önkéntesség fennmaradásában. Az önkéntesség gyakran implicit módon jutalmazó értékű, például a személy társas kapcsolatainak serkentésével vagy a valahova tartozás, önbecsülés szükségletének kielégítésével járul hozzá a személy pszichés jóllétéhez. Elmondható továbbá, hogy a biztonságosan kötődő személyek nagyobb valószínűséggel lesznek önkéntesek, mint a bizonytalanul kötődők. A kutatók között komoly vitát generált, hogy bizonyos személyiségvonások felelősek-e az önkéntes elköteleződésért, vagy inkább az ún. "proszociális személyiség" áll a jelenség hátterében. Az empátia önkéntességre gyakorolt "katalizátor" hatása konszenzusosnak tekinthető. A nemi különbségeket tekintve elmondhatjuk, hogy a nők nagyobb aktivitása jobb érzelemszabályozási képességükkel és magasabb empátiájukkal függhet össze. Az önkéntes tevékenység végzése együtt jár az élettel való elégedettség és az egészségi állapot javulásával, ez kiemelten igaz az idősekre. A globális személyiségvonások közül a Barátságosság és az Extraverzió utal a legnagyobb mértékben az önkéntes tevékenységek végzésére. Következtetések: Összességében elmondhatjuk, hogy az önkéntesség olyan magatartásforma, melynek pszichológiai szempontú elemzése hatékonyan egészítheti ki az eddigi, főként szociológiai szempontú kutatásokat hazánkban.
Kulcsszavak: önkéntesség, motiváció, proszociális személyiség, empátia, altruizmus
Abstract
Background and Aims: Volunteerism is a form of civic participation which includes long-term, planned and non-obligatory prosocial activities that benefit another person or a group. Its significance is enhancing not just abroad but also in Hungary. The purpose of this study is to review the psychological background of volunteerism.
Method: The most relevant Hungarian and English researches available in the databases were analyzed.
Results: The majority of current researches agree that intrinsic motivation has a bigger effect on volunteer commitment compared with extrinsic motivation (rewards, incentives, credits). Volunteer role identity plays a crucial role in sustained volunteer engagement. Volunteering contributes to the subjective well being of the volunteer frequently by rewarding him implicitly as a facilitator of the person’s social relationships and satisfies the human needs of belonging and self-esteem. Furthermore, a person with secure attachment style is more likely to become volunteer than a person with insecure attachment style. Researches debate whether specific personality traits are responsible for volunteer engagement or “prosocial personality” has higher influence on it. The “catalyst effect” of empathy in volunteer activities is indisputable. Regarding gender differences the higher participation of women relates to their better emotion-regulation skill and higher level of empathy. Volunteer activity is associated with improving
life satisfaction and health status which especially concerns the elderly. Among the global
personality traits Agreeableness and Extraversion refer the highest degree to volunteer activities.
Conclusions: Volunteering is an important social behavior whose psychology based analysis effectively complements the currently sociology-dominated Hungarian researches.
Key words: volunteerism, motivation, prosocial personality, empathy, altruism
... In addition, attachment research has found that attachment insecurities (anxiety, avoidance) are useful in explaining volunteerism. Gillath et al. (2005) and Erez, Mikulincer, van IJzendoorn, and Kroonenberg (2008) found that avoidant attachment is associated with taking part in fewer volunteer activities in three different countries (United States, Israel, Netherlands), an association that could not be explained by five major higher order personality traits. ...
In four studies, a behavioral system approach was adopted to understand prosocial behavior, and the contribution of caregiving orientations (hyperactivation, deactivation) to various aspects of volunteerism was examined. In Studies 1 and 2, conducted in Italy, engagement in volunteer activities and motives for volunteering were assessed. In Studies 3 and 4, conducted in Israel, compassion fatigue and changes in life satisfaction and meaning following sustained volunteer service were assessed. Caregiving deactivation was associated with less engagement in volunteer activities and more compassion fatigue. Caregiving hyperactivation was also associated with compassion fatigue but was accompanied by heightened engagement and motivation for volunteering, as well as volunteering‐related increases in life satisfaction and meaning. The findings were discussed from a behavioral system perspective.
... In addition, they tend to adopt distancing-based relational strategies. According to Mikulincer and Shaver (2007), and to Gillath et al. (2005) there is a negative association between avoidant attachment, caregiving and pro-social orientation. It appears therefore rather unlikely that avoidant people gain a sense of achievement in taking care of others. ...
In this paper, we are going to address job satisfaction and perceived self-efficacy withinthe context of residential child-care. A joint report from the European Foundation for the Improvement on Living and Working Conditions and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work revealed that managers in the field of health and education were the most concerned about the psychosocial risk of their employees, although concern is not automatically translated into tools to face the risk and to manage it. So, measuring and improving employees' job satisfaction and self-efficacy can be an important means for organizations to prevent the outcomes of psychosocial risk, and supporting high quality performance of workers. But profound changes are affecting the nature of work at large, and specifically social educator's in the field of residential care with minors. Globalization, radical technological and communication developments, as well as the pressure to frame care as a commodity, are quickly changing procedures and praxis at work, and even the meaning of job itself. All these changes are highly demanding for this category of professionals, as much as the fact that the organizational setting is vanishing as a resource to sustain their professional attitudes and behaviors. Under these circumstances, job satisfaction and self-efficacy can be hard to experience, and isolating their precursors is essential to develop healthy and effective work environments. This paper means to highlight the process of supporting self-efficacy and job satisfaction in the educational work in residential youth care that is still underrepresented in research. It presents data emerging from two studies, study 1 involving 268 educators and study 2 involving 472 educators belonging to different Italian residential child-care services. Study 1 consists of a quantitative study including the following measures: attachment style, job satisfaction, work-related self-efficacy, and length of service. Study 2 consist of a qualitative exploration deepening the sources of educators' work-satisfaction. Quantitative data support the identification of attachment style and length of service as antecedents of work-related self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Qualitative data show the importance of relational issues in shaping the educators' satisfaction at work.
Background
Psychological contributing factors in obesity include attachment style and emotion dysregulation. Little is known about the relationship between attachment style and responses to treatment in obesity.
Aims
This study set out to identify the average weight loss for a group treatment for obesity based on diet changes and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) strategies, investigate whether attachment style predicts weight loss, and explore participants’ experience of the group treatment.
Method
52 participants completed an attachment measure at the start of treatment. Body Mass Index (BMI) measures were taken at the start and end of treatment. The average weight loss was calculated and a backwards multiple regression tested whether the five attachment dimensions could predict participants’ change in BMI. Seven of the participants then took part in semi-structured interviews about the experience of the treatment. Transcripts were subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).
Results
The average weight loss was 2.2 per cent of the starting body weight. Quantitative findings produced a model which showed that the participants who scored higher on attachment security lost less weight than those with insecure attachments. Qualitative findings centred around four themes regarding the group experience: Dependency; Identification; Comparison to Others; and Negative Aspects of the Group Experience. Participants also described having difficulties with self-soothing, having had unmet needs in childhood, and the experience of recurrent depression.
Conclusions
This study demonstrates poor weight loss from group treatments for obesity based on diet changes and CBT strategies. However, it suggests that those with insecure attachment may be better suited to CBT-type courses than those who are securely attached. The qualitative themes offer possible explanations as to why the treatment did not result in significant weight loss and potential reasons for the well documented weight regain following treatment for obesity. The implications are that treatment for obesity should be tailor-made, consider attachment style, and consider the need to attend to emotion regulation.
Volunteering is one factors that ensure the development of both individual and social development and social integration. However, participation in volunteering in Türkiye is relatively low, and research on the motivations of volunteers and the effect of volunteering is limited. Although considered one of the factors that will ensure the development of both individual and social development and social integration. Hence, this qualitative inquiry aimed to investigate the factors affecting participation and the effects of voluntary activities in multi-levels in Türkiye’s child welfare field. The study was carried out through in-depth interviews with 25 volunteers. The narratives were analyzed thematically, and two themes were identified including the motivations and effects of volunteering. These themes revealed the significance of understanding the motivations of volunteers at micro-mezzo-macro levels. The key findings suggest that individuals’ personal experiences, family, friends, and the community perspectives can affect their motivation to volunteer. In addition, while volunteering affects the individual biopsychosocial, it also affects societal views. Therefore, future research should be conducted on the importance of volunteering in various social services fields, including family, elderly, disabled, and women, to increase the understanding of volunteering and how it impacts the broader context.
The relevance of the study is defined by the role of volunteering as social practice in developing adolescents’ autonomy. Volunteering attitudes in adolescents are considered a meaningful indicator of personal autonomy development. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of volunteering motivation in adolescents as a manifestation of personal autonomy. The research tasks included the following: studying the volunteering motivation of adolescents with and without experience in volunteering; identifying the relationship between the volunteering motivation of adolescents and the type of attachment to mother; revealing the connection between the volunteering motivation and the features of adolescents’ relationships with their peers. The following techniques were used: volunteering motivation questionnaire; mother and peer attachment type questionnaires. The sample consisted of 329 subjects aged 14 to 18 years. The study revealed the relationship between the mother attachment type and the attitude to volunteering in adolescents. Positive relationships with peers, including satisfaction with communication, trust and secure attachment, are associated with high willingness of adolescents to participate in volunteer activities as an indicator of personal autonomy.
This chapter reviews the top 10 prevalent causes of death around the world, with heart disease and cancer being the top two. Death causing factors fit into three categories, namely: (1). Non-communicable (e.g., heart disease, cancer); (2). Communicable (e.g., HIV/AIDS, COVID-19); and (3). Injury (e.g., road traffic accidents). When death occurs, the attachment bond between the loved one and the deceased is broken, resulting in grief. Initial grief reaction is emotionally intense but eases off over time and becomes integrated into normal life. A failure to integrate grief (e.g., due to avoidance behavior) could lead to perpetual or complicated grief, which is capable of impeding daily functioning. However, avoidance behavior may have cross-cultural relevance.
Human-dog interactions have a positive effect on human sociality and health. The relationship with dogs helps humans to cope with stress during an emotionally challenging period, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, a growing global interest in pets has been registered, including the volunteering for shelter/stray dog protection. However, a considerable increase of human dysfunctional interventions toward dogs has been observed in Southern Italy. In this study, we investigated the psychological characteristics of humans volunteering at animal shelter or engaged in stray dog protection. The effect of psychological training and education about dog ethological needs on volunteers' helping behavior was also analyzed. We report that the intervention can improve volunteers' physiological features and, consequently, may enhance human management and dog welfare.
Although it is underestimated the significant influence of attachment theory, one of the landmark accomplishments of 20th century social and behavioural sciences on organizational settings the influence of it now increasing among organizational scholarship while entering the fourth generation of attachment study. Attachment-theory perspective on organizational settings provides a psychological foundation for enhancing understanding of work-related outcomes like absenteeism, burnout, ethical decision making, job satisfaction, job stress, performance. Attachment is a relationship concept rather than an attitude or trait and an important indicator of how one interacts. They are internal working models directing one's expectations and beliefs about interpersonal relationships. Therefore, contrary to personality traits like Big Five, mostly studied in understanding the effect of individual characteristics on attitudes and emotions at work, they can provide much more insight. Similarly, working is taken as an intrinsically relational phenomenon. Nevertheless, they are less used at work. Therefore, this paper both highlights attachment styles are significant construct at organizational settings and the significance of conducting empirical studies on this subject. Accordingly, first, the foundation of attachment theory and studies conducted in organizational settings were introduced. Then, theoretical, and practical contributions of using attachments styles at work for researchers and practitioners were discussed. Key words: Attachment styles, Well-being, Organizational behaviour, Human resources, Personality traits
Youth’s participation in community service is a proposed but uncharted way to prevent their violent perpetration. To clarify the preventive function, this study analyzes two-wave panel survey data on 1,710 Chinese youths in Hong Kong according to empowerment theory. Specifically, the theory posits that empowerment functions when it targets youth plagued by powerlessness. Two hypothesized conditions of relative powerlessness are being female and living in poor housing. Results support the hypotheses when participation in community service appeared to prevent violent perpetration, and the prevention was greater under the two powerless conditions. These results importantly emerged with the control for prior violent perpetration and adjustment for selectivity into the participation. The results thus imply the value of inviting youth to participate in community service to prevent their violent perpetration. The invitation can target youth who are female or residing in poor housing.
Анотація. Однією із головних ознак громадянського суспільства є наявність у ньому розвиненого волонтерського руху. Спортивна волонтерська діяльність є невід’ємною складовою міжнародного спортивного руху. Аналіз літературних джерел свідчить про недостатню увагу науковців у висвітленні питань соціальної значущості волонтерської діяльності в адаптивному спорті. Мета. Визначення соціально-гуманістичних засад волонтерської діяльності в адаптивному спорті з метою соціальної інтеграції осіб з інвалідністю та формування толерантного суспільства України. Методи. Аналіз, синтез, узагальнення наукової літератури та документальних джерел, порівняння та зіставлення; опитування і метод експертних оцінок; методи математичної статистики. Результати. На основі аналізу фахової літератури, даних соціологічного опитування та результатів експертного оцінювання конкретизовано основні аспекти волонтерської діяльності в адаптивному спорті, виконання яких сприятиме соціальній інтеграції осіб з інвалідністю та забезпечить подальшу гуманізацію суспільства. За допомогою опитування визначено основні мотиви, які спонукають студентську молодь до волонтерської діяльності. Експертами окреслено основні напрями та проблеми волонтерської діяльності у спорті. Визначено вплив дисципліни «Адаптивний спорт» на формування толерантного та гуманістичного суспільства. Розроблено комплекс заходів для розвитку волонтерської діяльності в адаптивному спорті. Ключові слова: адаптивний спорт, волонтерська діяльність, соціально-гуманістичні засади, соціальна інтеграція осіб з інвалідністю.
This book introduces psychosocial studies of idol worship in Chinese societies. It reviews how idol worship is perceived in Chinese culture, history, and philosophy as well as how it differs from the concept of celebrity worship that is more dominant in Western literature. Using a pioneering hexagonal model of idol worship, this book explains how idol worship is affected by various demographic and dispositional variables as well as the cognitive and social functions of idols and idol worship. Finally, it discusses idol worship from a contemporary Chinese perspective, including emotional, interpersonal, and social learning aspects, and ends with a discussion of the moral development perspective.
The study examined the association between religiosity and generosity, and whether it is mediated by secure attachment to God, among Christian young adults. A total of 154 participants (Mean age = 22.75, SD = 6.12) completed self-report measures on religiosity (religious activities and intrinsic religiosity), attachment to God, and generosity (generous behavior and interpersonal generosity). In terms of direct effects, religious activities were positively associated with secure attachment to God and generous behavior, whereas intrinsic religiosity was associated with higher levels of interpersonal generosity. In terms of indirect effects, secure attachment to God mediated the relations between both types of religiosity (religious activities and intrinsic religiosity) and interpersonal generosity. Secure attachment to God did not mediate the relation between religiosity and generous behavior. The results of the study highlight the role of religiosity and secure attachment to God in cultivating generosity among young adults. Implications of the study findings, especially with regard to the potential roles of clinicians and clergy in cultivating generosity among young adults, will be discussed.
This book addresses the sustainability of happiness and well-being in Chinese societies. It starts by introducing the various conceptions of well-being, particularly in the Chinese sociocultural context.
The book then proceeds with the examination of the sustainability of well-being by scrutinizing the effects of sociocultural, contextual, and personal factors on well-being. The contextual factors are the aggregates or averages of personal factors at the contextual levels of the regions and colleges in Mainland China, its special administrative region, and Taiwan. These factors cover personality traits, strengths, orientations, beliefs, values, and idolizing.
By bringing together empirical studies and theoretical perspectives applied to Chinese societies, this book offers researchers in social science and humanities a valuable reference work on happiness and well-being in Chinese societies.
Obiettivo del presente studio è stato analizzare l'influenza delle precoci rela-zioni di attaccamento sullo sviluppo dei processi cognitivi di disimpegno morale e come quest'ultimo possa rappresentare una variabile di mediazione con condot-te aggressive, con particolare riferimento al fenomeno del bullismo nel confronto tra bulli, vittime e non-coinvolti. I partecipanti allo studio sono stati 199 alunni, 106 maschi e 93 femmine di età compresa tra 8 e 11 anni (M = 9.39, DS = 0.91), frequentanti le classi terza, quarta e quinta elementare, all'interno delle quali è stata rilevata la presenza di bulli, vittime e non-coinvolti. La rilevazione dei ruoli è stata effettuata mediante la Nomina dei Pari (Menesini, 2003); per misurare il disimpegno morale è stata impiegata la Scala di Disimpegno Morale per il Bullismo (Gini & Caravita, 2013); mentre per i modelli operativi interni dell'attaccamento è stato somministrato il Separation Anxiety Test, SAT (Attili, 2001). La valutazione dei comportamenti socio-emozionali, con specifico riferimento alle condotte aggressive, è stata svol-ta dalle insegnanti mediante il Social Emotional Dimention Scale, SEDS (Ianes & Savelli, 1994). I risultati complessivi mettono in luce come il disimpegno morale rappresenti un mediatore tra l'attaccamento insicuro e il comportamento aggressivo. Nel confronto tra bulli, vittime e non-coinvolti, i primi non solo sono più frequente-mente insicuri, ma riportano anche punteggi più elevati nel disimpegno morale e vengono valutati come più aggressivi dalle insegnanti.
Leaders can be found at any hierarchical level of the organization, representing a determinant factor in the global performance and their subordinates’ level of job satisfaction. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the leader’s attachment type and his leadership style, but also try to understand how this relationship can be impacted by the presence of accentuated personality traits. In this regard, data was collected using a set of self-report instruments (N = 110) from a sample consisting of 72 women (65.5%) and 38 men (34.5%) which take part in NGOs, between the ages of 19 and 43 years old. Results showed that the anxious attachment type significantly and negatively predicts efficient leadership styles, as opposed to the avoidant type that doesn’t seem to share such effects. Moreover, neither of the two insecure attachment types could significantly predict the leader’s inefficacy. Regarding to the effect that accentuated personality traits may exhibit, results indicated that Machiavellianism is the only dark trait which has a moderating effect on the relationship between attachment type and leadership style, but only at a lower level of the trait and in a way that reduces the efficacy of the avoidant leader. These results are characterized by a considerable practical importance, mainly in the fields of psychologists and social workers’ activity, in organizational selection and training.
Leaders can be found at any hierarchical level of the organization, representing a determinant factor in the global performance and their subordinates’ level of job satisfaction. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the leader’s attachment type and his leadership style, but also try to understand how this relationship can be impacted by the presence of accentuated personality traits. In this regard, data was collected using a set of self-report instruments (N = 110) from a sample consisting of 72 women (65.5%) and 38 men (34.5%) which take part in NGOs, between the ages of 19 and 43 years old. Results showed that the anxious attachment type significantly and negatively predicts efficient leadership styles, as opposed to the avoidant type that doesn’t seem to share such effects. Moreover, neither of the two insecure attachment types could significantly predict the leader’s inefficacy. Regarding to the effect that accentuated personality traits may exhibit, results indicated that Machiavellianism is the only dark trait which has a moderating effect on the relationship between attachment type and leadership style, but only at a lower level of the trait and in a way that reduces the efficacy of the avoidant leader. These results are characterized by a considerable practical importance, mainly in the fields of psychologists and social workers’ activity, in organizational selection and training.
In the field of health and social care, volunteering is framed in a setting where illness, pain or suffering are present. Volunteers who decide to get involved in this area can exercise, through the relationship they provide to those who suffer, a therapeutic effect that helps to alleviate feelings of loneliness or restlessness. However, this research focuses on the positive feelings (Compassion Satisfaction) and the negative feelings (Compassion Fatigue) that any such relationship as well as discomfort exposure may generate in volunteers.
Likewise, the aim is to find out if there is a relationship between Compassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue and empathy (essential for establishing the helping relationship), engagement and the motivations and self-care of volunteers in the health and social care sector. In relation to these objectives, the personal experience of volunteering is studied in depth in two sampled groups.
A research with a mixed focus and a non-experimental sectional design has been put forward. It consists of a sample of volunteers from the health and social care sector in Mallorca. It begins with a quantitative data collection phase (N= 257) and, once analyzed, it continues with the collection of qualitative data by means of 2 discussion groups. Statistical data processing is performed with the SPSS statistical program and qualitative data is carried out by using the Atlas.ti program, following the constant comparative method and open and axial coding techniques.
The results obtained show that most volunteers are at high levels of Compassion Satisfaction and low or medium levels (21.4%) of Compassion Fatigue. Compassion Satisfaction, empathy and engagement have obtained significant positive correlations, as well as with motivations of values, learning and improvement in morale. A significant inverse relationship has been obtained between Compassion Fatigue and existing selfcare practices.
The main findings endorse the need to continue expanding knowledge in relation to this phenomenon, considering that it has implications for the permanence of volunteers in the health and social care sector and, therefore, volunteer organizations.
Issues concerning caregiving behavior in attachment theory have been overlooked, even though it is an essential factor of the theory. In this paper, we reviewed previous studies on caregiving to explore why there is a lack of research and to determine future directions. To begin, based on research pertaining to parent-child relationships and intimate adult relationships, we defined caregiving in the context of attachment theory. In addition, we outlined the idea of a behavioral system and an internal work model (IWM) that can become a basis of research, or a process of formation and development of the caregiving system and the IWM, including the problems to be investigated in future studies. Then, some problems in the research of intergenerational transmission of attachment and intimate adult relationships were suggested as the reason why the research on caregiving behavior has been delayed in attachment theory. Moreover, it was also indicated that the proximate occurrence mechanism of caregiving behavior was not clarified as a cause. We suggest a new model and some future directions.
Objective
The postnatal period can be both a rewarding and challenging time. Research has found that experiences of motherhood that are less positive than expected are associated with depressive symptoms, however, no known study to date has examined expectations across the separate domains of motherhood and how they impact on attachment. The aim of this cross‐sectional study was to investigate whether discrepancies in a mother's expectations regarding their infant, levels of support, and sense of self and their actual experiences post birth impact on maternal feelings of attachment and depression in the postnatal period.
Method
Two hundred and thirty‐eight mothers in Australia (aged 19–44) who had given birth in the last 12-months voluntarily completed an online survey.
Results
As predicted, results revealed that postnatal experiences that were less positive than expected regarding support and sense of self were associated with higher levels of depression and lower levels of attachment. Regarding infant expectations, experiences that were less positive than expected were associated with lower levels of attachment; however, experiences that were more positive than expected were, unexpectedly, associated with higher levels of depression.
Conclusion
These findings highlight the importance of providing realistic expectations of motherhood through prenatal education and media messages to promote greater wellbeing and bond between mothers and infants which may maximise the chances of positive infant development.
The purpose of this article was to perform a psychometric study of the
Attachment Style Classification Questionnaire (ASCQ) in Spanish language.
This paper included three studies. The objectives of study 1 were to analyze the
discriminative power of items, to carry out an EFA to determine the structure
of the questionnaire, and to calculate the internal consistency of factors. The
objectives of study 2 were to test the questionnaire structure through a CFA,
and to determine if the model obtained was invariant between sex and age. The
objective of Study 3 was to study the convergent validity. The three studies
were carried out with three different samples of 180, 200, and 425 Argentinian
children, aged 9 to 12 years, respectively. The results confirm the three factor
structure of the adapted questionnaire, showing good psychometric properties
(satisfactory internal consistency and adequate validity).
The literature suggests universal tendencies towards prosocial behavior. "Born to be good", biological and environmental theories have emphasized an innate capacity for human goodness. Yet findings in the literature also suggest important variations among individuals in the propensity for compassionate responding. This chapter will review empirically-validated personality styles associated with deficits in prosociality. These will be embeded within biological and psychological models of altruism. Evidence supports the important benefits of behaving compassionately in terms of physiological and subjective well-being. Intentions to increase level of compassion may be particularly beneficial for those less inclined to be prosocial. For example, disagreeable individuals and non-altruists show signifanctly greater improvements in mood after performing acts of kindness compared to atruistic and agreeable individuals. This chapter will review how theoretical models can accommodate these findings to help identify who has the most to gain from compassion interventions.
Cambridge Core - Social Psychology - The New Psychology of Love - edited by Robert J. Sternberg
Our model outlines the cognitive operations, response strategies, and dynamics of the attachment system in adulthood. It also describes the goals of each attachment strategy and their psychological manifestations and consequences. Whereas the goals of security-based strategies are to form intimate relationships, to build a person's psychological resources, and to broaden his or her perspectives and capacities, the goal of secondary attachment strategies is to manage attachment-system activation and reduce or eliminate the pain caused by frustrated proximity-seeking attempts. Hyperactivating strategies keep the person focused on the search for love and security, and constantly on the alert for threats, separations, and betrayals. Deactivating strategies keep the attachment system in check, with serious consequences for cognitive and emotional openness. This framework serves as our "working model" for understanding the activation and functioning of the attachment system in adulthood. It also provides a framework for reviewing our research findings, which is the mission of the next section.
Five studies examined the effects of chronic and contextual activation of attachment security on reactions to others' needs. The sense of attachment security was contextually primed by asking participants to recollect personal memories, read a story, or look at a picture of supportive others or by subliminally exposing them to proximity-related words. This condition was compared against the priming of neutral themes, positive affect, or attachment-insecurity schemas. Then reports of empathy and personal distress or the accessibility of empathy and personal-distress memories were assessed. Attachment-security priming strengthened empathic reactions and inhibited personal distress. Self-reports of attachment anxiety and avoidance were inversely related to empathy, and attachment anxiety was positively related to personal distress. The discussion emphasizes the relevance of attachment theory for explaining reactions to others' needs.
The development of an adequate assessment instrument is a necessary prerequisite for social psychological research on loneliness. Two studies provide methodological refinement in the measurement of loneliness. Study 1 presents a revised version of the self-report UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Loneliness Scale, designed to counter the possible effects of response bias in the original scale, and reports concurrent validity evidence for the revised measure. Study 2 demonstrates that although loneliness is correlated with measures of negative affect, social risk taking, and affiliative tendencies, it is nonetheless a distinct psychological experience.
In this chapter, we discuss the conceptual foundations of the functional approach to volunteerism, empirical investigations of the functions served by volunteerism, and linkages between functionalist theorizing in the domain of voluntary helping and in other attitudinal and behavioral domains. These considerations form something of a two way street, with a functional approach contributing to an understanding of volunteerism as a form of sustained pro-social action and with this emerging understanding of the psychology of volunteerism contributing to the articulation of functionalist theorizing itself. Therefore, we will first review theoretical and empirical research on the functional approach to volunteerism. Then, we will explore some of the contributions of the functional approach to volunteerism to an understanding of the functional approach as a general perspective on human attitudes and behavior.
Three studies examined the effects of chronic and contextual activation of the sense of having a secure base on the endorsement of self-transcendence values. The sense of secure base was primed by asking Israeli undergraduates to recollect personal memories or watch a pictorial representation of supportive others, and this condition was compared against the priming of attachment-unrelated positive affect and the priming of neutral issues. Then, participants reported on the importance of two self-transcendence values-benevolence and universalism (Studies 1-2)-or spontaneously generated their most important values (Study 3). In addition, the chronic sense of attachment security was assessed along the dimensions of avoidance and anxiety. Secure-base priming and lower scores of attachment avoidance were significantly associated with heightened endorsement of self-transcendence values. These effects could not be explained by induced or reported mood. The findings emphasize the relevance of attachment theory for understanding reactions to others' needs and value orientation.
The dispositional and structural correlates of volunteerism were examined in a panel study. AIDS service organization volunteers answered questions about affect toward the organization, organizational commitment, motives for volunteering, and a prosocial personality orientation. These measures were used to predict 4 volunteer-related behaviors. Length of service was weakly correlated with the 3 other volunteer behaviors. Altruistic motives and prosocial personality characteristics predicted several of the volunteer behaviors. Initial levels of volunteer activity and organizational commitment also predicted final levels of volunteer activity, but these effects were mediated through intermediate levels of volunteer activities. The findings are discussed within the context of the volunteer process model and role identity models of volunteerism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This chapter begins with a review of the defining characteristics of behavioral systems and an examination of variations in patterns of care from a functionalist or evolutionary perspective. We then describe a behavioral-systems-based model outlining major influences on the etiology of the caregiving system. We follow with a summary of our own research and describe the ways in which our studies of mothers' mental representations of caregiving have informed us about the caregiving system. We end with a discussion of what the behavioral-systems approach to caregiving adds to our understanding of parent–child interaction, and of how this perspective may be used to enhance relationship-based intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In this chapter, we focus on ways in which the sense of attachment security contributes to self-construction and explore how internal representations of attachment figures are related to self-representations. We expand on and deepen ideas that we summarized recently in a model of the activation and dynamics of the attachment system in adulthood and present new data concerning attachment security and the development of an autonomous self. We evaluate the proposition that representations of security-enhancing interactions with attachment figures are integrated into a person's self-representations and can be employed in the service of self-soothing and self-regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Publisher Summary This chapter addresses the universals in the content and structure of values, concentrating on the theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries, and its four basic issues: substantive contents of human values; identification of comprehensive set of values; extent to which the meaning of particular values was equivalent for different groups of people; and how the relations among different values was structured. Substantial progress has been made toward resolving each of these issues. Ten motivationally distinct value types that were likely to be recognized within and across cultures and used to form value priorities were identified. Set of value types that was relatively comprehensive, encompassing virtually all the types of values to which individuals attribute at least moderate importance as criteria of evaluation was demonstrated. The evidence from 20 countries was assembled, showing that the meaning of the value types and most of the single values that constitute them was reasonably equivalent across most groups. Two basic dimensions that organize value systems into an integrated motivational structure with consistent value conflicts and compatibilities were discovered. By identifying universal aspects of value content and structure, the chapter has laid the foundations for investigating culture-specific aspects in the future.
Community service often involves sustained prosocial actions by individuals. This article focuses on one kind of such actions, volunteerism. Volunteerism involves long–term, planned, prosocial behaviors that benefit strangers, and usually occur in an organizational setting. A selective review of the literature on the correlates of volunteerism is presented. One part of the review concerns the relationship between dispositional variables and volunteerism; it includes new data from an on–line survey that show significant relationships among personality traits, religiosity, and volunteer activities. The other part concerns how organizational variables, alone and in combination with dispositional variables, are related to volunteerism. A theoretical model of the causes of sustained volunteerism is presented and the practical implications of this model are discussed.
Older residents (N 5 1972) in California were investigated prospectively for association of volunteering service to others and all-cause mortality. Potential confounding factors were studied: demographics, health status, physical functioning, health habits, social support, religious involvement, and emotional states. Possible interaction effects of volunteering with religious involvement and social support were also explored. Results showed that 31 percent (n 5 630) of respondents volunteered, about half (n5289) for more than one organization. High volunteers ([.greaterequal]2 organizations) had 63 percent lower mortality than nonvolunteers (age and sex-adjusted) with relative hazard (RH) 5 0.37, confidence interval (CI) 5 0.24, 0.58. Multivariate adjustment moderately reduced difference to 44 percent (RH 5 0.56, CI 5 0.35, 0.89), mostly due to physical functioning, health habits, and social support. Unexpectedly, volunteering was slightly more protective for those with high religious involvement and perceived social support. After multivariate adjustment, any level of volunteering reduced mortality by 60 percent among weekly attenders at religious services (RH 5 0.40; CI 5 0.21,0.74). Lower mortality rates for community service volunteers were only partly explained by health habits, physical functioning, religious attendance, and social support.
Is the quality of early relationships linked to later emotional development? Children with secure attachments at twelve and eighteen months of age are more empathic and prosocial toward others.
This article explores the possibility that romantic love is an attachment process--a biosocial process by which affectional bonds are formed between adult lovers, just as affectional bonds are formed earlier in life between human infants and their parents. Key components of attachment theory, developed by Bowlby, Ainsworth, and others to explain the development of affectional bonds in infancy, were translated into terms appropriate to adult romantic love. The translation centered on the three major styles of attachment in infancy--secure, avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent--and on the notion that continuity of relationship style is due in part to mental models (Bowlby's "inner working models") of self and social life. These models, and hence a person's attachment style, are seen as determined in part by childhood relationships with parents. Two questionnaire studies indicated that relative prevalence of the three attachment styles is roughly the same in adulthood as in infancy, the three kinds of adults differ predictably in the way they experience romantic love, and attachment style is related in theoretically meaningful ways to mental models of self and social relationships and to relationship experiences with parents. Implications for theories of romantic love are discussed, as are measurement problems and other issues related to future tests of the attachment perspective.
The explosion of adult attachment research in the last decade has been limited by its reliance on college student and distressed samples. Using a large nationally representative sample of American adults, the authors examined the relation of sociodemographics, childhood adversity, parental representations, adult psychopathology, and personality traits to adult attachment in an effort to replicate previous findings and extend the theory. Distribution of adult attachment styles was similar to that in prior studies: 59% secure, 25% avoidant, and 11% anxious. Adult attachment was associated with several sociodemographic variables (e.g., income, age, race) not previously studied. Childhood adversities of an interpersonal nature were strongly related to insecure adult attachment. Various types of adult psychopathologies and personality traits were also strongly related to adult attachment. Implications for adult attachment theory and future research are discussed.
Five studies examined the contribution of attachment style to mortality salience effects. In Study 1, mortality salience led to more severe judgments of transgressions only among anxious-ambivalent and avoidant persons but not among secure persons. In addition, whereas anxious-ambivalent persons showed immediate and delayed increases in severity judgments, avoidant persons showed this response only after a delay period. In Study 2, anxious-ambivalent persons showed immediate and delayed increases in death-thought accessibility after death reminders. Avoidant and secure persons showed this effect only after a delay period. Study 3 revealed that worldview defense in response to mortality salience reduced death-thought accessibility only among avoidant persons. Studies 4-5 revealed that mortality salience led to an increase in the sense of symbolic immortality as well as in the desire of intimacy only among secure persons, but not among avoidant and anxious-ambivalent persons.
This study examines whether employment status has an effect on a person's decision to volunteer and the number of hours volunteered The data are from the 1993 Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) study. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics are used to determine the rate of volunteering in relation to employment status because fewer people remain in the workforce among the older population. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between respondents who did or did not volunteer within the past 12 months. A regression analysis suggested that part-time work, age, education, importance of religion, and health status are significantly related to volunteer hours. Although only a small number of respondents are currently working, the number of volunteer hours contributed is higher in comparison to past studies.
This article explores the possibility that romantic love is an attachment process--a biosocial process by which affectional bonds are formed between adult lovers, just as affectional bonds are formed earlier in life between human infants and their parents. Key components of attachment theory, developed by Bowlby, Ainsworth, and others to explain the development of affectional bonds in infancy, were translated into terms appropriate to adult romantic love. The translation centered on the three major styles of attachment in infancy--secure, avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent--and on the notion that continuity of relationship style is due in part to mental models (Bowlby's "inner working models") of self and social life. These models, and hence a person's attachment style, are seen as determined in part by childhood relationships with parents. Two questionnaire studies indicated that relative prevalence of the three attachment styles is roughly the same in adulthood as in infancy, the three kinds of adults differ predictably in the way they experience romantic love, and attachment style is related in theoretically meaningful ways to mental models of self and social relationships and to relationship experiences with parents. Implications for theories of romantic love are discussed, as are measurement problems and other issues related to future tests of the attachment perspective.
This study examined how adult attachment styles moderate spontaneous behavior between dating couples when 1 member of the dyad is confronted with an anxiety-provoking situation. Eighty-three dating couples were unobtrusively videotaped for 5 min in a waiting room while the woman waited to participate in an "activity" known to provoke anxiety in most people. Independent observers then evaluated each partner's behavior on several dimensions. Results revealed that persons with more secure attachment styles behaved differently than persons with more avoidant styles in terms of physical contact, supportive comments, and efforts to seek and give emotional support. Findings are discussed in the context of theory and research on attachment.
The authors review the theory of romantic, or pair-bond, attachment as it was originally formulated by C. Hazan and P. R. Shaver in 1987 and describe how it has evolved over more than a decade. In addition, they discuss 5 issues related to the theory that need further clarification: (a) the nature of attachment relationships, (b) the evolution and function of attachment in adulthood, (c) models of individual differences in attachment, (d) continuity and change in attachment security, and (e) the integration of attachment, sex, and caregiving. In discussing these issues, they provide leads for future research and outline a more complete theory of romantic attachment.
A virtue is defined as any psychological process that enables a person to think and act so as to benefit both him- or herself and society. Character is a higher-order construct reflecting the possession of several of the component virtues. The process by which the topics of virtue and character fell out of favor in psychology is reviewed, with a call for a rebirth of interest in these concepts in the interface of clinical, counseling, social, and personality psychology.
Abstract The development, antecedents, and concomitants of empathic concern in the second year of life were examined. Associations with parental sensitivity, children's fearfulness and attachment security were investigated. At 16 and at 22 months, 125 firstborn girls from middle-class families were observed in their homes and in the laboratory. Empathic concern was assessed from the girls’ responses to simulated distress in their mothers and in an unfamiliar person. Temperamental fearfulness was observed when they were confronted with potentially scary items. Attachment security was assessed with the Strange Situation procedure, and parental sensitivity was measured in problem-solving situations both at home and in the lab. From 16 to 22 months, empathic concern for the mother's distress increased, whereas empathy for the stranger decreased. A more fearful temperament and less attachment security predicted less empathic concern for the stranger's distress. Antecedent and concurrent measures of parenting showed disappointingly weak associations with empathic concern. Empathy for strangers in distress requires the regulation of negative emotions for which fearful and insecurely attached girls seem to be less well equipped.
This study examines whether employment status has an effect on a person's decision to volunteer and the number of hours volunteered. The data are from the 1993 Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) study. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics are used to determine the rate of volunteering in relation to employment status because fewer people remain in the workforce among the older population. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between respondents who did or did not volunteer within the past 12 months. A regression analysis suggested that part-time work, age, education, importance of religion, and health status are significantly related to volunteer hours. Although only a small number of respondents are currently working, the number of volunteer hours contributed is higher in comparison to past studies.
A prospective study examined the influence of helpers' motives and abilities on the amount and effectiveness of a long-term altruistic activity. Crisis-counseling volunteers completed measures of altruistic motivation and perspective taking (a task-relevant ability), and their participation was followed: Volunteers either fulfilled their 9-month service commitment, terminated their participation (of their own volition) early, or were screened out because of inability to perform the work. Two predictions were tested and supported: (a) altruistic motives were related to the amount of help, early-terminating volunteers exhibiting less altruistic motivation than screened or completed service volunteers; and (b) volunteers' skills and abilities were related to the effectiveness of help, screened volunteers reporting less perspective-taking ability than early-terminating and completed-service volunteers. These findings suggest the need to consider the effectiveness of help, and helpers' task-relevant skills, in analyses of helping behavior.
The authors review the theory of romantic, or pair-bond, attachment as it was originally formulated by C. Hazan and P. R. Shaver in 1987 and describe how it has evolved over more than a decade. In addition, they discuss 5 issues related to the theory that need further clarification: (a) the nature of attachment relationships, (b) the evolution and function of attachment in adulthood, (c) models of individual differences in attachment, (d) continuity and change in attachment security, and (e) the integration of attachment, sex, and caregiving. In discussing these issues, they provide leads for future research and outline a more complete theory of romantic attachment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Evaluated the Community Progress Service's Partners for Progress consumer volunteer program, which matches patients with psychiatric disabilities to other community-dwelling clients who are further along in their recovery process, to provide companionship, emotional support and an opportunity to take part in recreational activities. Data were collected during a 6-wk period from 16 active and 7 inactive Ss who participated in the monthly Peer Support Network meeting. Ss completed semi-structured individual interviews on satisfaction with the program, perceived quality of life and personal development benefits, similarity in expectations between clients and volunteers, and mutual interaction requirements. Results show that program participation had positive effects on self-perception, sense of identity, personal development, and quality of life, the last being equal to that of the clients they served. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined how adult attachment styles moderate spontaneous behavior between dating couples when 1 member of the dyad is confronted with an anxiety-provoking situation. 83 dating couples were unobtrusively videotaped for 5 min in a waiting room while the woman waited to participate in an "activity" known to provoke anxiety in most people. Independent observers then evaluated each partner's behavior on several dimensions. Results revealed that persons with more secure attachment styles behaved differently than persons with more avoidant styles in terms of physical contact, supportive comments, and efforts to seek and give emotional support. Findings are discussed in the context of theory and research on attachment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Topics include: attachment theory and modern evolutionary theory; life history theory (within-species variation, environmental influences, what about humans); patterns of attachment as (components of) reproductive strategies (relation to Main's conditional-strategy view, limits and assumptions, secure attachment and mating/parenting, avoidant attachment and mating/parenting, resistant attachment and mating/parenting); and enduring theoretical conundrums. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Describes a new instrument, the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), which measures distress arising from interpersonal sources. The IIP meets the need for an easily administered self-report inventory that describes the types of interpersonal problems that people experience and the level of distress associated with them before, during, and after psychotherapy. In Study 1, psychometric data are presented for 103 patients who were tested at the beginning and end of a waiting period before they began brief dynamic psychotherapy. On both occasions, a factor analysis yielded the same six subscales; these scales showed high internal consistency and high test–retest reliability. Study 2 demonstrated the instrument's sensitivity to clinical change. In this study, a subset of patients was tested before, during, and after 20 sessions of psychotherapy. Their improvement on the IIP agreed well with all other measures of their improvement, including those generated by the therapist and by an independent evaluator. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The book is primarily intended for upper-level undergraduate classes and graduate courses in psychology, sociology, and related disciplines. [It] provides students with a comprehensive review of research literature on helping and altruism and gives the reader a sense of how individual studies fit into the big picture of prosocial behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
the purpose of the research program described here is to explore and describe systematically, from the perspective of attachment theory, the role of individual differences in the caregiving system as it functions in the context of adult romantic relationships / emphasizes the provision of care—noticing and responding to another's needs and distress—as opposed to the seeking of assistance and support / argue that attachment theory, with its history of emphasis on the continuity of careseeking and caregiving behaviors across the life span, . . . provides a useful framework for the study of caregiving between adult partners (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This research tested the proposition that attachment and caregiving are central, interrelated components of adult love relationships. A sample of 229 married couples was used to assess the association between attachment and caregiving styles and the implications of these variables for marital satisfaction. There was evidence of partner matching in terms of dimensions of attachment (Comfort with closeness, Anxiety over relationships) and caregiving (Responsive care, Compulsive care). Secure attachment (high Comfort with closeness, low Anxiety over relationships) was associated with beneficial caregiving to the spouse (high Responsive care, low Compulsive care). These associations were modest in size, however, suggesting that attachment and caregiving are separate constructs; further, these constructs were related in different ways to retrospective reports of early parenting. Marital satisfaction was higher for securely attached spouses, and for those whose partners reported more beneficial caregiving. For husbands, however, the link between caregiving and satisfaction was restricted to short-term marriages, and to those high in Anxiety over relationships. Overall, the results support the role of attachment and caregiving in marriage, but suggest that variables such as gender have important moderating effects.
In the context of boarding schools, the transactions between adolescents internal working models of self and others, their peers perceptions of them, as well as the reciprocity between perceptions of others and by others were explored. Findings supported the assumed effect of models of the other on a persons social environment, as well as the expected relations between the congruency of models of self and other and the actual reciprocity between perceptions of others and others perceptions of self. Patterns of reciprocity in interpersonal relationships were found to characterize secure (positive reciprocity) and fearful (negative reciprocity) attachment styles, while non-reciprocal relations appeared more frequently among preoccupied and dismissing persons. These findings suggest specific person-environment transactions that may be involved in securing the continuity of styles of relating.
The purpose of the present study was to compare the motives of volunteers (career, esteem, protective, social, understanding, and value) as assessed by an open-ended probe and the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) which employs a Likert rating scale. One-hundred-and-twenty-nine individuals, who volunteered for an organization that focuses on episodic volunteering in the community, completed both measures of volunteer motives and reported their frequency of volunteering for the organization. The Spearman rank correlation between the rankings of the six volunteer motives in the two distributions was 0.71. The maximum variance shared between the same motive as assessed by the two methods was 0.14. Frequency of volunteering for the organization was predicted by the value (positive predictor) and social (negative predictor) VFI scale scores. A post hoc analysis of the data from the open-ended probe revealed three additional motives for volunteering—enjoyment, religiosity, and team building. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This investigation focuses on cultural differences in the relationship between maternal sensitivity, emotional expression, and control strategies during the first year of life and infant attachment outcomes at 12 months. Participants were middle-class Puerto Rican and Anglo mother–infant pairs (N = 60). Ratings of physical control, emotional expression, and maternal sensitivity during mother–infant interactions in five everyday home settings, videotaped when the infants were 4, 8, and 12 months old, were examined in combination with 12-month Strange Situation classifications. Results suggest that physical control shows a different pattern of relatedness to maternal sensitivity, emotional expression, and attachment outcomes among the Puerto Rican compared to the Anglo mothers in this study. These findings have implications for practitioners and researchers interested in normative parenting among diverse cultural groups. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.
Objectives. To assess health habits, and their relationship with psychological wellbeing, among Australian women; in particular to examine the relationship between health habits and the Women's Health Questionnaire (WHQ; Hunter, 1992). Design. A cross-sectional postal survey of women in three age groups was carried out. Methods. Questionnaire responses from a representative sample of 612 women from three age groups (18-23, 45-50 and 70-75) were analysed. Data included the WHQ, 12-item General Health Questionnaire, Medical Outcomes Study SF-12 and self-reports of smoking, height and weight, alcohol use and exercise status. Results. Young women had the highest rates of smoking and drinking and were most likely to be underweight, while middle-aged and older women were most likely to be overweight or obese. Psychological distress was highest in the youngest group; the middle-aged group were most likely to report vasomotor symptoms and difficulties with memory and concentration; and the older women difficulty in sleeping. Health habits were related to psychological well-being; smoking, unhealthy body weight and lack of exercise were most closely related to the depression subscale of the WHQ. Conclusions. Young adulthood appears the time of greatest distress for women. Distress, particularly depression, is associated with behaviours which predispose to later disease, suggesting that psychological interventions with young women may be particularly important for long-term physical health. The WHQ appears a useful measure of well-being and a good predictor of health-related behaviour across a range of ages.
A community sample of 362 married couples participated in a study of attachment and spousal caregiving, which combined qualitative and quantitative components. The qualitative component focused on actual experiences of caregiving, assessed by participants' semi-structured accounts of a situation involving their role as caregiver for their spouse. Attachment styles and their underlying dimensions (comfort with closeness, anxiety over relationships) were related to the type of support provided, the coping strategies used in the situation, caregivers' feelings about the quality of their care, perceived effects on the couple bond, and the emotional tone of the accounts. The quantitative component tested a theoretical model of factors predicting willingness to provide care for the spouse if he or she should become dependent in later life. Measures of attachment and caregiving styles, attachment to spouse, and anticipated burden provided reliable prediction of willingness to care. The results support the conceptualization of attachment and caregiving as interrelated features of marital bonds, and they have important implications for patterns of family caregiving. Yes Yes
A new 4-group model of attachment styles in adulthood is proposed. Four prototypic attachment patterns are defined using combinations of a person's self-image (positive or negative) and image of others (positive or negative). In Study 1, an interview was developed to yield continuous and categorical ratings of the 4 attachment styles. Intercorrelations of the attachment ratings were consistent with the proposed model. Attachment ratings were validated by self-report measures of self-concept and interpersonal functioning. Each style was associated with a distinct profile of interpersonal problems, according to both self- and friend-reports. In Study 2, attachment styles within the family of origin and with peers were assessed independently. Results of Study 1 were replicated. The proposed model was shown to be applicable to representations of family relations; Ss' attachment styles with peers were correlated with family attachment ratings.
A genetical mathematical model is described which allows for interactions between relatives on one another's fitness. Making use of Wright's Coefficient of Relationship as the measure of the proportion of replica genes in a relative, a quantity is found which incorporates the maximizing property of Darwinian fitness. This quantity is named “inclusive fitness”. Species following the model should tend to evolve behaviour such that each organism appears to be attempting to maximize its inclusive fitness. This implies a limited restraint on selfish competitive behaviour and possibility of limited self-sacrifices.
Special cases of the model are used to show (a) that selection in the social situations newly covered tends to be slower than classical selection, (b) how in populations of rather non-dispersive organisms the model may apply to genes affecting dispersion, and (c) how it may apply approximately to competition between relatives, for example, within sibships. Some artificialities of the model are discussed.
A conceptual framework that identifies psychological and behavioral features associated with antecedents, experiences, and consequences of volunteerism is presented, and an inventory that measures 5 specific motivations for AIDS volunteerism is developed and cross-validated. Then a field study of 116 AIDS volunteers is presented in which a helping disposition, volunteer motivations, and social support (as antecedents), and personal satisfaction and organizational integration (as experiences) are used to predict duration of service over 2 1/2 years. Structural equation analyses indicate that dispositional helping influences satisfaction and integration but not duration of service, whereas greater motivation and less social support predict longer active volunteer service. The model is generalized to the prediction of perceived attitude change. Implications for conceptualizations of motivation, theoretical issues in helping, and practical concerns of volunteer organizations are discussed.
Five studies examined the association between adult attachment style and information processing. Studies 1-2 focused on information search (curiosity-related beliefs and behaviors). Studies 3-5 focused on the integration of new information within cognitive structures; namely, the level of cognitive closure and its expressions in social judgements. Secure and anxious-ambivalent persons described themselves as more curious and held more positive attitudes toward curiosity than did avoidant persons. Time competition between information search and social interaction increased information search among avoidant persons, but decreased it among anxious-ambivalent persons. Finally, secure persons reported less preference for cognitive closure and were more likely to rely on new information in making social judgements than avoidant and anxious-ambivalent persons. The theoretical implications of the link between attachment and information processing are discussed.
The authors applied functionalist theory to the question of the motivations underlying volunteerism, hypothesized 6 functions potentially served by volunteerism, and designed an instrument to assess these functions (Volunteer Functions Inventory; VFI). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on diverse samples yielded factor solutions consistent with functionalist theorizing; each VFI motivation, loaded on a single factor, possessed substantial internal consistency and temporal stability and correlated only modestly with other VFI motivations (Studies 1, 2, and 3). Evidence for predictive validity is provided by a laboratory study in which VFI motivations predicted the persuasive appeal of messages better when message and motivation were matched than mismatched (Study 4), and by field studies in which the extent to which volunteers' experiences matched their motivations predicted satisfaction (Study 5) and future intentions (Study 6). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Although a number of authors have proposed that older volunteers should benefit in terms of better health and well-being, few researchers have examined the issue empirically to see whether this is true. The purpose of this article is to build on this literature by empirically examining the association between volunteering and mortality among older adults.
Using data from a nationally representative sample, we use Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the effects of volunteering on the rate of mortality among persons aged 65 and older.
We find that volunteering has a protective effect on mortality among those who volunteered for one organization or for forty hours or less over the past year. We further find that the protective effects of volunteering are strongest for respondents who report low levels of informal social interaction and who do not live alone.
We discuss the possibility that the curvilinear relationship we observe between volunteering and mortality is due to a combination of factors, including self-identity, role strain, and meaningfulness. Other research using more precise data is needed to determine whether these ideas are supportable.
Attachment theorists maintain that cultural differences are relatively minor, and they focus on universals. Here the authors highlight evidence of cultural variations and note ways in which attachment theory is laden with Western values and meaning. Comparisons of the United States and Japan highlight the cultural relativity of 3 core hypotheses of attachment theory: that caregiver sensitivity leads to secure attachment, that secure attachment leads to later social competence, and that children who are securely attached use the primary caregiver as a secure base for exploring the external world. Attachment theorists use measures of sensitivity, competence, and secure base that are biased toward Western ways of thinking: The measures emphasize the child's autonomy, individuation, and exploration. In Japan, sensitivity, competence, and secure base are viewed very differently, calling into question the universality of fundamental tenets of attachment theory. The authors call for an indigenous approach to the psychology of attachment.