2-006 - Attachment Styles: A Window Into Emotional Processes Across Development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Emotions primarily occur in the context of interpersonal relationships (Butler, 2015), and emotion processes differ greatly between individuals and across development. Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1977) provides a framework for understanding how individuals experience and regulate emotions in relationships (Main et al., 1985), yet rarely do we adopt a lifespan perspective to examine attachment and emotion in relationships. This symposium bridges this gap by exploring associations between attachment styles and emotional processes in close relationships across multiple developmental stages (infancy to parenthood).

Group 1 presents data showing that fathers’ attachment is differentially related to fathers’ observed emotion and sensitivity to their toddlers’ emotion during an interaction task, demonstrating the influence of attachment style in emotion socialization. Group 2 discusses pre-adolescents’ and parents’ attachment styles and their associations with pre-adolescents’ self-reported and observed suppression of emotion during an emotionally evocative task. Group 3 presents data examining dating partners’ attachment styles and their associations with observed emotion expression when the attachment system is activated. Taking a developmental perspective, this group provides insight into how early patterns of attachment can perpetuate anxious and avoidant regulatory strategies in future relationships. Group 4 presents ecological momentary assessment data illustrating how attachment influences mothers’ real-time emotions in situations with and without their children. Taking a step into the next generation, these findings provide insight into how attachment impacts caregivers’ emotions in their capacity as attachment figures. Together, these presentations examine the interplay between attachment style and emotion across developmental stages and how role changes impact emotional processes.

Sub Unit

• Social, Emotional, Personality

Chairs

• Hannah F. Rasmussen, University of Southern California

• Margaret Lee Kerr, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Individual Presentations

• Differential Associations between Fathers’ Anxious and Avoidant Attachment, Parental Well-Being, and Emotion Sensitivity - Presenting Author: Katherine V Buttitta, Claremont Graduate University; Non-Presenting Author: Patricia A Smiley, Pomona Colege; Non-Presenting Author: Gerin Elizabeth Gaskin, Claremont Graduate University; Non-Presenting Author: Melissa Pedroza, Rutgers University

• Hiding How You Really Feel: Child and Parent Attachment Predict Expressive Suppression in Middle Childhood - Presenting Author: Jacquelyn Gross, University of Maryland, College Park; Non-Presenting Author: Jessica A Stern, University of Maryland, College Park; Non-Presenting Author: Erica Kelman, University of Maryland-College Park; Non-Presenting Author: Jude Cassidy, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland-College Park

• Associations Between Attachment Style and Emotional Processes During Conflict in Young-Adult Dating Couples - Presenting Author: Hannah F. Rasmussen, University of Southern California; Non-Presenting Author: Geoffrey W Corner, University of Southern California; Non-Presenting Author: Corey Pettit, University of California, Irvine; Non-Presenting Author: Stassja Sichko, University of Southern California; Non-Presenting Author: Gayla Margolin, University of Southern California

• Mothers’ Real-Time Emotion Intensity as a Function of Attachment and Proximity to their Children - Presenting Author: Margaret Lee Kerr, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Non-Presenting Author: Jessica Borelli, University of California, Irvine