Attachment and Suggestion-Related Phenomena

Abstract

This study uses a new classification of suggestion-related phenomena and investigates the relationship between attachment styles and reaction to suggestion. The authors used 3 traditional experimental tasks: a stimulus-misinformation task, an inkblot perception task, and a subjective estimation of a nonexistent difference task. A measure of adult attachment was also taken. Participants with a high attachment insecurity as opposed to those with a low one were less influenced by suggestions in the recall phase of the memory task. Results are discussed within the framework of suggestion models, the dual models of social behavior, and the adult attachment model. Implications of findings are limited to simple suggestion rather than the more complex set of responses related to hypnotizability.