Premium
Weakening Relationships We Try to Preserve: Motivated Sacrifice, Attachment, and Relationship Quality
Author(s) -
MATTINGLY BRENT A.,
CLARK EDDIE M.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00893.x
Subject(s) - psychology , social psychology , attachment theory , association (psychology) , anxiety , psychotherapist , psychiatry
Individuals' motivations for sacrificing are associated with relational outcomes, such that approach‐motivated sacrifices lead to increased satisfaction, whereas avoidance‐motivated sacrifices lead to decreased satisfaction (Impett et al., 2005). Because attachment styles are associated with relational outcomes (Feeney & Collins, 2003), the current study examined whether approach‐ and avoidance‐motivated sacrifices would mediate the association between attachment and satisfaction. Results indicated that avoidance motives did not mediate the relationship between attachment avoidance and satisfaction. However, avoidance motives mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and satisfaction, whereas approach motives suppressed that relationship. Taken together, these findings suggest that individuals high in attachment anxiety (but not attachment avoidance) seem to unintentionally weaken the relationship for which they are making sacrifices.