The relation between attachment styles and fear of personal death was assessed. We classified a sample of Israeli undergraduate students into secure, ambivalent, and avoidant attachment groups and assessed the extent of, and the meaning attached to, overt fear of personal death as well as the extent of fear at a low level of awareness. Ambivalent subjects exhibited stronger overt fear of death than did secure and avoidant subjects, and both ambivalent and avoidant subjects showed stronger fear of death at a low level of awareness than secure subjects. Ambivalent subjects were also more likely to fear the loss of their social identity in death, and avoidant subjects were more likely to fear the unknown nature of their death. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of attachment styles on affect regulation.This study was conducted by Rami Tolmacz in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the master's degree at Bar-Ilan University under the supervision of Mario Mikulincer and Victor Florian.

Based on clinical evidence and theoretical writings that pointed to the importance and uniqueness of the sense of entitlement in couple relationships, two studies were designed to develop and validate the Sense of Relational Entitlement (SRE) scale. A factor analysis performed on the scale's items yielded five factors that identified three basic entitlement-related attitudes toward a romantic partner. Findings indicated that both exaggerated and restricted forms of relational entitlement seem to be maladaptive and put people at risk for emotional problems. Findings also indicated that excessive and restricted forms of relational entitlement were significantly associated with attachment insecurities. In addition, the SRE scale was found to tap a unique psychological construct that moderately overlapped with constructs of narcissism and global entitlement. The discussion focuses on the developmental and psychodynamic sources of the sense of relational entitlement.

Our sense of entitlement is activated and influences our interactions and attitudes in a wide range of contexts, but it seems to have special relevance to couple relationships, as these intimate relationships serve as a unique meeting point between needs, wishes, and expectations. Emphasis is placed on the connection between one's sense of entitlement in a romantic relationship and early experiences of entitlement in the context of relationships with primary caregivers. An understanding of the development of normal and pathological senses of entitlement is suggested based on attachment theory; according to this understanding, one's sense of entitlement is conceived as part of internal working models and thus is closely related to one's specific attachment style. Two clinical illustrations that show the effects of the partners' sense of entitlement on their relationship are presented and discussed in connection with early attachments.

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The quality of the adolescent–parent relationship is closely related to the adolescent's sense of entitlement. Study 1 (458 central‐Israel adolescents, 69% girls, ages: 11–16) developed the sense of relational entitlement among adolescents toward their parents (SREap, adapted from the original SRE on adults' romantic relationships) and provided initial validity evidence of its three‐factor structure: exaggerated, restricted and assertive – replicating the SRE's factor structure. Studies 2–5 (1237 adolescents, 56% girls) examined the link between the SREap factors and relevant psychological measures. Exaggerated and restricted SREap factors were associated with attachment insecurities. Restricted and exaggerated entitlement factors were related to higher levels of emotional problems, and lower levels of: wellbeing, positive mood and life satisfaction. Conversely, assertive entitlement was related to higher life satisfaction and self‐efficacy and lower levels of emotional problems. The findings also indicate that SREap is not merely a form of narcissism. The implications of SREap are discussed.

Insecure attachment orientations are disproportionately frequent in child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors and have been found to mediate some of the effects of CSA on adult interpersonal and romantic difficulties, including sexual revictimization (SR). A sense of relational entitlement (SRE) has received growing attention in psychological discourse and research in recent years. It reflects both adaptive (assertive) and pathological (restricted or inflated) attitudes to the assertion of needs and rights and has not been studied in adult CSA survivors. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between CSA, attachment orientations, SR, and SRE. Sixty-seven Israeli women aged 25 ± 3.95 years (30 adult CSA survivors and 37 healthy female controls with no history of CSA) completed a demographic questionnaire and self-reported measures of adult attachment orientations, sense of entitlement in romantic relationships, and adult SR. CSA survivors reported greater attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance, more restricted SRE, and higher revictimization rates than control women. No difference was found between the groups in inflated SRE. In the CSA but not the control group, anxious and avoidant attachment orientations were significantly and negatively associated with assertive SRE. Insecure (anxious and avoidant) attachment fully mediated the association between CSA and restricted SRE. Our findings suggest that the interplay between insecure attachment and CSA is related to a sense of impaired assertive entitlement and elevated restricted entitlement in adult CSA survivors. This entitlement pattern can be destructive to survivors’ romantic relationships and should be addressed in therapy.

Based on clinical evidence and theoretical writings on pathological forms of concern and the destructive role they might play in close relationships, we conducted 2 studies aimed at developing and validating the Pathological Concern Questionnaire (PCQ). This scale comprises items tapping a fragile view of the self, as well as a compulsive need to care for others. Findings indicated that all questionnaire items loaded on a single factor of pathological concern, which was significantly associated with egocentric motivations, attachment insecurities, imbalanced forms of relational entitlement, low self-esteem, low life satisfaction, and negative emotionality. In addition, the PCQ was found to tap a unique psychological construct that differs from constructs of healthy concern and unmitigated communion. The discussion focuses on the developmental and psychodynamic sources of pathological concern as well as its significance in the intrapersonal and interpersonal domains.

The sense of relational entitlement is the perception one has of what one deserves from one's partner, and it may play a crucial role in determining the quality of a couple's relationship. However, the concept was only recently subjected to empirical examination. The main goals of the current study were to continue the work initiated by the scale developers (Tolmacz & Mikulincer, 2011) by (1) further validating the Sense of Relational Entitlement Scale (SRE) in a sample of adult couples; and (2) examining the contribution of each partner's sense of relational entitlement to his or her own and his or her partner's relationship satisfaction. A sample of 120 Israeli, heterosexual, older couples (age = 58 years) in long-term relationships completed the study measurements. Factor analyses revealed that the SRE scale consisted of two major dimensions: conflicted entitlement and assertive entitlement. Applying an Actor-Partner-Interdependence Model (APIM) analysis indicated that the more conflicted one felt with regard to what one was entitled to, the less satisfaction one felt with the relationship. Additionally, the higher one's entitlement expectations were of one's partner (a subfactor of the assertive entitlement dimension), the more one's partner was satisfied with the relationship. The sense of entitlement construct seems to be relevant to the context of dyadic relationships and, as such, is worthy of further attention and investigation.