Attachment styles and fear of personal death: A case study of affect regulation.

Abstract

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.

Adult Romantic Attachment: Theoretical Developments, Emerging Controversies, and Unanswered Questions

“…For example, researchers have examined the influence of working models on the inferences people make about their partner's intentions (Collins, 1996); the interplay of distress and working models as determinants of attachment and caregiving behavior Simpson, Rholes, & Nelligan, 1992); the role of working models in partner preferences (Chappell & Davis, 1998;Frazier, Byer, Fischer, Wright, & DeBord, 1996;Pietromonaco & Carnelley, 1994), relationship stability Kirkpatrick & Hazan, 1994), and relationship dissolution (Feeney & Noller, 1992;Pistole, 1995;Simpson, 1990); and the psychodynamic organization and functioning of working models (Bartholomew, 1990;Fraley, Davis, & Shaver, 1998;Fraley & Shaver, 1997;Mikulincer, 1998;Mikulincer, Florian, & Tolmacz, 1990;Mikulincer & Orbach, 1995).…”

Modulation of dental anxiety — the role of past experiences, psychopathologic traits and individual attachment patterns

“…This 15-item scale was found to be highly reliable and valid in studies of Israeli samples. [32][33][34] Similar to Birnbaum et al 34 items corresponding to each style were averaged, the values of these scores were compared and each participant was assigned to the style that had …”

“…This questionnaire, developed by Mikulincer et al 32 is based on the descriptions of Hazan and Shaver 14 of feelings and cognitions regarding attachment, each corresponding to an attachment style, and was used to define the personal attachment style of each respondent (secure, ambivalent or avoidant). The AS questionnaire consists of 15 statements (5 statements per attachment style), eg 'I find it relatively easy to get close to others' (secure attachment), 'I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to others' (avoidant attachment), and 'I find that others are reluctant to get as close as I would like' (ambivalent attachment style).…”

Adult attachment security and symptoms of depression: The mediating roles of dysfunctional attitudes and low self-esteem.

“…Although no research has tracked attachment styles longitudinally from early childhood to adulthood, cross-sectional studies have found proportions of adult attachment prototypes roughly equivalent to those found in infancy (e.g., Hazan & Shaver, 1987;Mikulincer, Florian, & Tolmatz, 1990;Mikulincer, Florian, & Wellet;Mikulincer & Nachshon, 1991 ), a pattern of results consistent with the notion of continuity (Rothbard & Shavea;. In contrast to the continuity view, other investigators argue that extant measures of adult attachment, particularly self-report instruments, may be heavily influenced by current relationship functioning (Bartholomew, 1994;Kobak, 1994).…”