Desiring and Avoiding Close Romantic Attachment in Response to Mortality Salience

The purpose of this study was to examine individual differences in the effects of mortality salience on romantic attachment style. Participants were categorized as high or low in both agency and communion. After exposure to either a mortality salience or a control videotape, participants rated the i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 2002-05, Vol.44 (3), p.257-276
Main Authors: Coolsen, Michael K., Nelson, Lori J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Individual differences
Mortality
Mortality salience effects
Personal relationships
Psychology
Romantic relationships
Theory
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to examine individual differences in the effects of mortality salience on romantic attachment style. Participants were categorized as high or low in both agency and communion. After exposure to either a mortality salience or a control videotape, participants rated the idealness of Hazan and Shaver's (1987) three romantic attachment styles and rated the appeal of romantic involvement. Participants who were high in agency responded to mortality salience with increased endorsement of avoidant attachment, decreased endorsement of secure and anxious-ambivalent attachment, and diminished desire for involvement in a romantic relationship. Participants who were low in communion responded to morality salience with increased endorsement of anxious-ambivalent attachment. The results are discussed in light of research on defense mechanisms, Becker's (1973) theories about the role of romance in symbolic transcendence of death, and terror management theory (Solomon, Greenberg,&Pyszczynski, 1991).
ISSN:0030-2228
1541-3764
DOI:10.2190/2X6Q-JRDW-2J7B-5J8K