Document Type
Article
Source Publication Title
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
First Page
242
Last Page
254
Abstract
The current studies tested how attachment orientations are related to empathic accuracy (i.e., the accuracy with which one infers a partner's private thoughts and feelings) during attachment-relevant discussions. In Study 1, married couples were videotaped discussing a severe or a less severe relationship issue that involved intimacy or jealousy. In Study 2, dating couples were videotaped trying to resolve a relationship conflict. Consistent with the revised empathic accuracy model, highly avoidant individuals were less empathically accurate in both studies. Relative to less anxious persons, highly anxious individuals were more empathically accurate when discussing intimacy issues that posed a potential threat to their relationship (in Study 1) and when they were rated as more distressed when discussing a relationship conflict (in Study 2). The findings are discussed in terms of how highly anxious and highly avoidant people differentially manage empathic accuracy to regulate negative affect and facilitate their interpersonal goals.
Disciplines
Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Publication Date
2-1-2011
Language
English
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Ickes, William; Fillo, J.; Kim, John S.; Oriña, M. Minda; Rholes, S.; Simpson, Jeffry A.; and Winterheld, Heike A., "Attachment and the management of empathic accuracy in relationship threatening situations" (2011). Psychology Faculty Publications. 31.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/psychology_facpubs/31