Attachment and prejudice

Abstract

There is a paucity of research that examines prejudice from an attachment theory perspective. Herein we make theoretical links between attachment patterns and levels of prejudice. Perceptions of outgroup threat, which activate the attachment system, are thought to lead to fear and prejudice for those high in attachment anxiety, and to distancing and prejudice for those high in attachment avoidance. We review the literature that examines the associations between attachment patterns and prejudice; evidence from attachment priming studies suggests a causal role of attachment security in reducing prejudice. We identify several mediators of these links: empathy, negative emotions, trust, social dominance orientation, romanticism, and contact quality. Future research should manipulate potential mediators and use psychophysiological assessments of threat.

The Impact of Perceived Teacher Support on Anti-Immigrant Attitudes from Early to Late Adolescence

“…These results are in line with the extended attachment perspective on the role of teacher support (Ainsworth 1989 ; Bowlby 1982 ; Roorda et al 2011 ) and the notion that a sense of secure attachment can diminish prejudice toward potentially threatening outgroups (Boag and Carnelley 2016 ; Carnelley and Boag 2019 ; Mikulincer and Shaver 2001 ). They also support the idea that trust is crucial for positive attitudes toward immigrants (Herreros and Criado 2009 ; Van Linden et al 2017 ) and show that supportive teachers are relevant for promoting this trust in adolescents (Lundberg and Abdelzadeh 2018 ).…”

“…From an attachment perspective, the experience of supportive and secure relations with important others such as teachers should make individuals less afraid of strangers, including members of outgroups (Bowlby 1982 ; Mikulincer and Shaver 2001 ), and one of the explanations for this is that such relations promote a sense of social trust (for review see Carnelley and Boag 2019 ; Lundberg and Abdelzadeh 2018 ; Glanville and Paxton 2007 ). Our findings are clearly consistent with this idea and with the conclusion that people’s situational experience of attachment security and their global attachment styles are independent predictors of their outgroup attitudes (Mikulincer and Shaver 2001 ).…”

“…This does not refute the result that a change in perceived support is associated with a change in prejudice. Fourth, it is likely that trust is not the only mechanism that connects teacher support and anti-immigrant attitudes and other studies should examine, for instance, the role of empathy (Carnelley and Boag 2019 ; Miklikowska and Hurme 2011 ). Fifth, given that previous research shows that attachment in other contexts, with parents or romantic partners, can also play a role in the formation of intergroup attitudes (Boag and Carnelly 2016 ; Goedert et al 2019 ; Miklikowska 2016 ; Miklikowska and Hurme 2011 ), future studies should examine how attachments with various figures interact in producing prejudice.…”

“…Stephan et al ( 2009 ) suggested that people may be predisposed to view outgroup members, such as immigrants, as threatening. The way people think about outgroup members has been suggested to be partly determined by attachment experiences because they are associated with how individuals regulate affect and deal with threat (Carnelley and Boag 2019 ; Mikulincer and Shaver 2001 ). According to Bowlby ( 1982 ) infants have a natural fear and distrust of the unknown that can threaten their emotional security in the presence of strangers.…”

“…In line with attachment theory, Mikunlincer and Shaver ( 2001 ) showed that university students with insecure attachment styles reported less positive outgroup evaluations and that the situational activation of relational security (via a secure base priming procedure) improved the evaluations of outgroups by diminishing the experience of outgroup threat. Since Mikunlincer and Shaver’s paper (2001), a small but growing body of research has further supported the notion that attachment security diminishes prejudice toward different types of outgroups while demonstrating the importance of theoretically relevant mediators such as trust, openness to social exploration, and empathy (for a review, see Carnelley and Boag 2019 ). For instance, experimental research has shown that priming of the romantic relationship attachment style had effects on prejudice and discriminatory behaviour of British majority students (Boag and Carnelly 2016 ).…”