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See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232814820 Interpersonal attachment predicts identification with groups Article in Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · January 2009 DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2008.09.006 CITATIONS 11 READS 43 6 authors, including: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Counter-stereotypes and creativity View project Reducing prejudice and improving attitudes among children: The use of direct and indirect contact interventions. View project Richard J Crisp Aston University 137 PUBLICATIONS 3,588 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Claire V Farrow Aston University 64 PUBLICATIONS 1,312 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Harriet E.S. Rosenthal-Stott Durham University 25 PUBLICATIONS 284 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Judi Walsh University of East Anglia 24 PUBLICATIONS 234 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Harriet E.S. Rosenthal-Stott on 14 September 2017. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Interpersonal attachment predicts identiﬁcation with groups Richard J. Crisp a,*, Claire V. Farrow b, Harriet E.S. Rosenthal c, Judi Walsh d, Jackie Blissett e, Nicola M.K. Penn e a Centre for the Study of Group Processes, Department of Psychology, Keynes College, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NP, UK b Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK c Psychology Department, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK d University of East Anglia, School of Social Work and Psychology, Elizabeth Fry Building, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK e School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 27 September 2007 Revised 8 September 2008 Available online 30 September 2008 Keywords: Attachment Social identiﬁcation Interpersonal relations a b s t r a c t We propose a model documenting the relationship between interpersonal attachment style and identi- ﬁcation with groups. We hypothesized that following threat to a romantic interpersonal relationship higher attachment anxiety would be associated with lowered tendencies to identify with groups. In two studies using varied social groups we observed support for this hypothesis. In Experiment 1 we found that participants higher in attachment anxiety identiﬁed less with a salient ingroup after imagining a dis- tressing argument with their romantic partner. In Experiment 2 we replicated these ﬁndings using an implicit measure of social identiﬁcation and additionally observed a moderating role for attachment avoidance. We discuss the implications of these ﬁndings for theoretical models of interpersonal attach- ment and social identiﬁcation. 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. We experience many different types of relationship. On the one hand we have relationships with individuals (e.g., a spouse, part- ner, sister, mother or son). On the other we have relationships with broader, inclusive, and sometimes more abstract, collectives (e.g., a sports team, college society, nationality, or ethnic group). Research programs focusing on these different types of relationship have typically progressed quite independently from one another and have correspondingly speciﬁed distinct psychological processes (although for some preliminary integrations see Mikulincer & Sha- ver, 2001; Smith, Murphy, & Coates, 1999). In this article we pro- pose that, under certain conditions, interpersonal and group level afﬁliations will be related. In particular, we argue that interper- sonal attachment style will predict identiﬁcation with social groups contingent upon the presence or absence of threat to a romantic interpersonal relationship. Adult interpersonal attachment Adult attachment style is believed to develop from childhood relationship experiences, a functional trend that is designed to en- sure predictability in future relationships (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007). Attachment style can be conceptualized as the combination of two continuous dimensions: attachment anxiety (fear of separa- tion and abandonment) and attachment avoidance (discomfort with intimacy and dependency) (see Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998).1 Research has primarily focused on the implications of attachment style for romantic relationships (Shaver & Mikulincer, 2002). Individuals higher in attachment anxiety are concerned with seeking support, acceptance, and closeness in response to their fear of rejection. In response to threats to a romantic relationship these individuals hyperactivate their attachment system, demonstrating excessive reassurance seeking (Shaver, Schachner, & Mikulincer, 2005) and intense efforts to maintain proximity, accompanied by excessive rumination about abandonment fears (Shaver & Mikulin- cer, 2002). In contrast, individuals lower in attachment anxiety are more comfortable with closeness. Such individuals report more trust (Mikulincer, 1998b), empathy (Mikulincer et al., 2001), cognitive openness (Mikulincer & Arad, 1999) and less hostile intent towards others when angry (Mikulincer, 1998a). Orthogonal to attachment anxiety is the attachment avoidance dimension. Individuals higher in attachment avoidance deactivate the attachment system when they are exposed to threats to their relationships. Mikulincer and Shaver (2007) argue that these indi- viduals try to garner interpersonal support while maintaining self- reliance and distance from the partner, but also try to ignore the 0022-1031/$ - see front matter 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2008.09.006 * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: r.crisp@kent.ac.uk (R.J. Crisp), c.farrow@lboro.ac.uk (C.V. Farrow), h.e.s.rosenthal@durham.ac.uk (H.E.S. Rosenthal), Judi.Walsh@uea.ac.uk (J. Walsh), j.blissett@bham.ac.uk (J. Blissett). 1 Although we deﬁne attachment styles here as continua, we also acknowledge that it is possible for behaviours associated with particular styles to be contextually primed. For instance, priming the secure base schema leads to more positive affective reactions, independent of chronically-deﬁned attachment style (Mikulincer, Hirsch- berger, Nachmias, & Gillath, 2001). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 45 (2009) 115–122 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Experimental Social Psychology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jesp needs that might activate the attachment system in the ﬁrst place. Attachment avoidance can interact with attachment anxiety to produce unique patterns of relationship behavior. For instance, while those lower on both dimensions may be conceptualized as ‘‘secure”, those higher on both may be conceptualized as ‘‘fearful avoidant” (Bartholomew & Shaver, 1998). Such individuals may deny support needs, but still experience anxiety and a desire for proximity with close others (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007). In what follows we focus our investigation ﬁrst on attachment anxiety (as it is key to the theoretical integration we propose). Later (in Experiment 2) we will further specify our model by examining a qualifying role for attachment avoidance. Identiﬁcation with groups As well as helping us to understand how people act and react in close interpersonal relationships, attachment theory has also en- abled an understanding of how people identify with others outside of romantic relationships. Of particular relevance is the ﬁnding that individuals lower in attachment anxiety seek social support beyond primary attachment ﬁgures in times of stress (e.g., friends and fam- ily; Florian, Mikulincer, & Bucholtz, 1995). This tendency to some- times look beyond primary attachment relationships for social and emotional support inspired the theoretical model we propose. In particular, we argue that sometimes these ‘‘others” may constitute not only individuals but also social groups. Social groups are an important part of how we deﬁne ourselves (e.g., an avid football team supporter, a political party member, or a valued occupational role). Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) argues that identiﬁcation with groups is important psycho- logically because it satisﬁes basic human motives of self-veriﬁca- tion, self-evaluation, and epistemological clarity (for a recent account see Hogg, 2006). Given the positive self-deﬁnitional prop- erties of group identiﬁcation, our initial proposition is that groups will become particularly appealing as sources of social support at times of interpersonal distress. In other words, if identiﬁcation with groups serves to satisfy goals ranging from feeling positive about oneself to understanding ones’ place in the world, it seems reason- able to propose they will also serve to satisfy a need to afﬁliate arising from interpersonal distress. However, we believe that these consequences for ingroup iden- tiﬁcation will be qualiﬁed by individuals’ attachment style. We dis- cussed earlier how lower levels of attachment anxiety can be associated with seeking more social and emotional support beyond primary attachment ﬁgures in times of interpersonal distress (Flo- rian et al., 1995), whereas individuals higher in attachment anxiety become ﬁxated upon their attachment ﬁgure, with excessive prox- imity seeking (Shaver et al., 2005). These different behavioral ten- dencies should be reﬂected in the extent to which individuals identify with groups following interpersonal distress. Individuals lower in attachment anxiety should act as described above, identi- fying with groups to capitalize on the self-evaluative beneﬁts they offer. Individuals higher in attachment anxiety, however, would not be expected to identify with groups under these conditions. These individuals tend to ﬁxate upon their attachment ﬁgures, especially in times of distress. Therefore, rather than seeing groups as an additional source of support, they are likely to withdraw their afﬁliative efforts to focus on their most important attachment rela- tionship:their romantic partner. Experiment 1 To examine the interplay of attachment style, attachment threat, and ingroup identiﬁcation we compared reactions following an envisaged relationship-threatening event. We measured both ingroup identiﬁcation and behavioral action tendencies. Action tendencies are intentions related to experienced emotion and re- ﬂect the extent to which people are inclined to approach or avoid others (Mackie, Smith, & Devos, 2000). As such, they are particu- larly useful for indexing relative tendencies to approach or avoid groups and individuals. We also uploads/Litterature/ crisp-et-al-2009.pdf