Kansas University studies people's 'attachment styles'

Kansas University studies people's 'attachment styles'

Whether you're confident and secure, or shy and anxious, how you form personal relationships depends on what's known as 'attachment style.'

This trait is thought to play a critical role in close bonds, including romantic and familial relationships, and according to new research, it may dictate our behaviour across social media as well.

The study found that people with an anxious attachment style tend to push others away, causing ties with people in their networks to dissolve â€" but, those who are secure are likely to better manage their connections, and reap more benefits.

Whether you're confident and secure, or anxious and avoidant, how you form personal relationships depends on what's known as 'attachment style.' According to a new study,  people who have higher anxiety are more likely to dissolve ties on social media. Stock image

WHAT THEY FOUND 

Researchers at the University of Kansas found that attachment style could be a strong predictor of a person's activity on social media.

They also found that the number of friends you have on social media is tied to the nature of these bonds as well, with a higher number of friends tied to weaker tie strength and multiplexity.

'If you're high on attachment avoidance, you're trying to avoid intimacy and tend not to trust others â€" downplaying the importance of emotions and relationships,' Gillath said.

'Conversely, if you're high on attachment anxiety, you're very concerned with rejection and abandonment and tend to be overwhelmed by emotions.

'Being low on both â€" securely attached â€" associates with long, stable satisfying relationships.'

The new investigation, led by researchers at the University of Kansas, found that attachment style can be a strong predictor of a person's activity on social media, like Facebook.

And, they also found that the number of friends you have on social media is tied to the nature of these bonds as well.

Those with a higher number of friends are likely to have more ' diluted' networks, meaning fewer close and complex personal relationships.

'Attachment theory describes how people are creating bonds in their lives,' said Omri Gillath, professor of psychology at the University of Kansas.

'Attachment style is basically a relationship style. It's the way we think, feel, and behave in our close relationships.

'It's known to affect relationship processes and emotion regulation.

'People can be secure or insecure â€" and if they are insecure, anxious, or avoidant in their attachment style.'

In the paper, the researchers conducted four studies on the relationship between attachment style and the management and perception of social networks.

Each participant was first evaluated to determine their attachment style.

Then, the rese archers assessed characteristics in their networks known as 'tie strength' and 'multiplexity.'

Tie strength describes the sense of closeness in the relationships.

So, the researcher explains, this could describe feelings of intimacy, or the frequency of interaction.

Multiplexity, on the other hand, describes how many roles are filled or functions served by the individuals in the network.

The new investigation, led by researchers at the University of Kansas, found that attachment style could be a strong predictor of a person's activity on social media, like Facebook. A stock image is pictured 

'For example, you can be my co-worker, play basketball with me, or we can engage in political activism together,' Gillath said.

'Further, network members can fulfil roles such as instrumental or emotional help, or informational function.

'The more roles fulfilled and functions served, the higher the multiplexity.

'The higher the tie strength and multiplexity, the more benefits one gains from her network.'

The study revealed that people who exhibit an attachment style characterized by higher levels of concern, and the desire to merge with others actually tend to push people awa y and dissolved the ties within their networks.

HOW TO IMPROVE ATTACHMENT SECURITY 

According to the researchers, these behaviours can be improved for those who wish to strengthen their networks.

Using a tactic known as priming to boost the participant's attachment security, the researchers found people were subsequently more likely to initiate and maintain ties.

'There are different ways to enhance attachment security,' Gillath said.

'You can ask participants to think about a relationship that made them feel secure or an event that made them feel loved or supported. 

'You can also expose them to specific words like 'love' or 'hug.' Once we do that, we want to see if that changes how people think about network management and, in turn, how that affects network characteristics. 

'We found that priming indeed influenced management in that it made people more likely to initiate and less likely to dissolve ties. This, in turn, leads to higher tie strength and multiplexity.'

Those with attachment avoidance are likely to dissolve ties, too, as they tend to shy away from initiating or maintaining bonds.

'Surprisingly, people high on anxiety were expected to be less likely to dissolve ties â€" they're often concerned about being rejected or abandoned and want to merge with their relationship partners, which made us think they would be less likely to dissolve ties,' Gillath said.

'However, they we re found to report higher tendency for dissolution than nonanxious people.'

According to the researchers, these behaviours can be improved for those who wish to strengthen their networks.

Using a tactic known as priming to boost the participant's attachment security, the researchers found people were subsequently more likely to initiate and maintain ties.

The researchers also found that the number of friends you have on social media is tied to the nature of these bonds as well. Those with a higher number of friends are likely to have more 'diluted' networks, meaning fewer close and complex personal relationships. Stock image

This involved asking the participants to think about the relationships in their lives that did make them feel secure, or an event that made them feel loved and supported, using words such as 'love' and 'hug.'

The researchers say people with more attachment security are better able to manage their social networks, and see more benefits as a result.

'There are many things that can be bad about social networks, if you tend to search for hours on your exes and do Facebook lurking and are not involved in relational process â€" that can lead to jealousy and all kinds of negative emot ions,' he said.

'However, if you're using your social networks for fulfilling or serving your attachment needs â€" such as a secure base or safe haven â€" that's likely to result in positive outcomes.' 

 

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