1 IARR CONFERENCE July 12-16, 2012 Chicago, IL ABSTRACTS FRIDAY, JULY 13 8:30-9:45 am Panel Sessions 1301 Attachment: Antecedent and Consequence of Relationship Change Adult Attachment and Accuracy and Bias of Partner Perceptions of Behavioral Indicators of Investment Model Variables in Close Relationships Sylvia Matcher (University of Graz) Amiene Haidmayer (University of Graz) The present research investigated accuracy and bias in partner perceptions of behavioral indicators of investment model variables (i.e., relationship satisfaction, quality of alternatives, investments, and relationship commitment) in consideration of individuals’ attachment anxiety and avoidance. Participants (both partners of 100 heterosexual couples) completed a self-administered online-questionnaire that assessed the frequency of their use of behavioral indicators of the four investment model variables, individuals’ perceptions of the frequency of their partners’ use of these behavioral indicators, and individuals’ attachment anxiety and avoidance. Path analysis using Mplus were conducted to simultaneously test for women’s and men’s perception accuracy and bias and direct and indirect effects of attachment anxiety and avoidance on partner perceptions. Results reveal on the one hand, that greater attachment avoidance is significantly associated with individuals’ less frequent use of behavioral indicators of satisfaction, investments, and commitment, and that greater attachment anxiety is significantly associated with perceptions of the partner’s less frequent use of behavioral indicators of satisfaction, investments, and commitment. On the other hand, individuals’ perceptions of their partner’s use of behavioral indicators of satisfaction, alternatives, investments, and commitment are significantly predicted by their own, as well as by their partner’s use of these behaviors. Hence, attachment avoidance affects individuals partner perceptions indirectly (via its effect on individuals own behavior), whereas attachment anxiety affects partner perceptions directly. These direct and indirect effects and the simultaneous occurrence of perception accuracy and bias in romantic relationships and their theoretical and practical implications will be discussed. 2 Longitudinal Changes in Adolescent Attachment Relationships: The Movement of Attachment from Friends to Romantic Partners Yun Lin Daphne Goh (The Australian National University) Ross B. Wilkinson (The Australian National University) Relationship researchers argue that there is a reorientation of attachment functions from parents to friends and romantic partners over adolescence, but few studies have actually examined this premise. As part of a larger study, the movement of attachment functions across a 12-month period is investigated in both younger (n = 53, mean age = 13.81, SD = .45) and older adolescents (n = 103, mean age = 18.35, SD = .65). Self-reported attachment to mothers, fathers, friends, and romantic partners is examined using the modified Attachment Network Questionnaire across romantic status and age. Results reveal that attachment strength to romantic partners increased across the 12-month period regardless of whether the same or a different partner was reported. Attachment to friends decreased significantly only for those adolescents who report being in the same romantic relationship over the past 12 months. Across time, older adolescents used their friends significantly less for attachment needs whilst a non-significant increase in friend attachment was reported by younger adolescents. No significant change in attachment to mothers or fathers was demonstrated. Changes in attachment across time were associated with individual differences in attachment anxiety and avoidance. It is suggested that the normative process of attachment reorganization is moderated by previous experience in attachment relationships. Implications and future directions for similar research are discussed. Predicting Change in Attachment in Committed Relationships: Which Perceptions of the Partner Matter? Ximena Arriaga (Purdue University) Laura VanderDrift (Purdue University) Madoka Kumashiro (Goldsmiths University of London) Laura Luchies (Redeemer University College) Eli Finkel (Northwestern University) Attachment orientation is theorized to be rooted in interpersonal experiences, especially those that convey whether a close other is responsive to one’s needs (or not). Which specific intimate partner behaviors convey being responsive and reduce insecurity? It has been theorized that individuals will experience reduced attachment insecurities if they can infer that their partner is responsive to their needs and supports them in pursuing personal ideals and goals, but this has not been directly tested. Decreased insecurity also might occur from perceiving that a partner forgoes self-interest when his/her interests clash with one’s own interests. We thus anticipated increases in attachment security (reduced anxiety and avoidance) as a function of perceiving that the partner: (1) is responsive to one’s needs, (2) supports one’s own personal goals and ideals, and (3) accommodates during conflict. We analyzed data from two longitudinal studies (89 newlywed couples, 3 six-month lags; 187 “newly-committed” couples, 3 one-year lags). Partners provided independent self-reports of their own attachment, and their perceptions of their partner’s: responsiveness, affirmation of their ideal goals, and accommodation. Multilevel modeling predicting change in anxiety or avoidance supported most predictions: Individuals became less avoidant if they perceived their partner as responsive to their needs, and also less avoidant and less anxious if their partner supported their goals and ideals. The findings were weak for accommodation predicting decreased insecurity. This research provides the first direct evidence of specific partner behaviors that predict change in attachment, and it has implications for broader attachment and interdependence concepts. 3 Potential Benefits of Relationship Reflection for Avoidantly Attached Individuals: Decreased Negative Affect and Increased Connection Sarah C. E. Stanton (University of Western Ontario) Jennifer C. Pink (University of Western Ontario) Sara Hopkins (University of Western Ontario) Lorne Campbell (University of Western Ontario) Avoidantly attached individuals are typically reluctant to develop high levels of intimacy with their romantic partners. Two studies investigated the effect of indirect relationship priming on negative affect and feelings of connection for more avoidant individuals. In both studies, simply reminding more avoidant individuals of their relationship led such individuals to behave more like less avoidant individuals. Specifically, Study 1 revealed that more avoidant individuals asked to reflect positively on their partner and relationship reported significantly less negative affect compared to more avoidant individuals in a control condition. Study 2 revealed that more avoidant individuals asked to look briefly at their partner’s Facebook page reported less negative affect and greater feelings of connection compared to more avoidant individuals in a control condition. Implications for invisible support and other relationship processes are discussed. Alone Again (Irrationally): The Interactive Effects of Chronic Attachment Anxiety and Acute Threats on the Belonging Regulation System Sara K. Quinn (McGill University) John E. Lydon (McGill University) The need to belong is a particularly powerful human motivation. When the need to belong is thwarted, individuals can behave pro-socially, trying to restore threatened needs, or can react anti-socially, withdrawing from social situations. I propose that chronic individual differences in attachment may account for these divergent responses to belonging threats. Specifically, I suggest that chronic attachment anxiety interacts with acute belonging threats to predict belonging regulatory behaviors. In a 3-cell (exclusion vs. acceptance vs. control) experimental design, participants played Cyberball (Williams et al., 2000), a computerized ball-tossing game designed to manipulate belongingness. Participants were either excluded from the game (i.e., never thrown the ball), accepted in the game, or did not play Cyberball (control condition). For the dependent measures, participants were presented with photographs of potential dating partners, and were asked to rate how dateable they found each partner. Multiple regression analyses found a significant interaction between attachment anxiety and condition, such that those high in attachment anxiety rated potential dating partners significantly less dateable following exclusion. The opposite pattern was true for the low anxious. This research suggests that low attachment anxiety may be associated with belonging regulatory behaviors, as these individuals were more interested in dating partners following exclusion. In contrast, highly anxious people perceived others as less dateable, suggesting that acute belonging threats influence their relational ambivalence by dampening their hopes of acceptance and increasing their chronic fears of abandonment. 4 1302 CMC: Facebook and the Internet Being Unfriended on Facebook: An Application of Expectancy Violation Theory Jennifer Bevan (Chapman University) Pei Chern Ang (Chapman University) James Fearns (Chapman University) William Miller (Chapman University) Carson Simms (Chapman University) Expectancy Violation Theory is employed as a