Exploring the Impact of Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance on the Perception of Couple Conflict

An attachment perspective on family relations.

“…These theoretical ideas have received extensive empirical support. Studies based on measures of both attachment orientation and responses to conflict have shown that less secure people appraise conflicts in more threatening terms, report poorer conflict management skills, express less affection during conflicts, are less likely to adopt compromise strategies and more likely to use coercive and controlling strategies or to withdraw from the conflict, engage more often in attacks of various kinds, and end up experiencing more postconflict distress (e.g., Baptist, Thompson, Norton, Hardy, & Link, 2012;Wood, Werner-Wilson, Parker, & Perry, 2012). In addition, attachment-anxious people report high concern with closeness during conflicts and strong conflict-related distress (e.g., Creasey & Hesson-McInnis, 2001;Pistole & Arricale, 2003).…”

Argument Beliefs Mediate Relations Between Attachment Style and Conflict Tactics

“…Both theory and research suggest several reasons why anxiously attached individuals find disagreement within close relationships to be threatening. Anxious individuals are less confident about controlling their emotions in conflict settings (Creasey & Hesson‐McInnis, ), and they tend to perceive more conflict and greater escalation of conflict in their relationship experiences when compared with less anxious individuals (Campbell et al, ; Li & Chan, ; Wood, Werner‐Wilson, Parker, & Perry, ). Anxious individuals are also more distressed by conflict than individuals who are more securely attached, and they are less comforted by supportive behaviors from their partners during conflict episodes (Campbell et al, ).…”

The impact of marital withdrawal and secure base script knowledge on mothers’ and fathers’ parenting.

“…However, this was only true for fathers who lacked secure base script knowledge. Relationship insecurity may prime individuals to perceive negative couple interactions more harshly (Wood et al, 2012). As demonstrated in the current study, insecure scripts may serve as a diathesis for fathers that become activated under the stress (Phelps, Belsky, & Crnic, 1998) of emotionally distant marital interactions, and may threaten quality of paternal care.…”

“…On the other hand, lack of security (and presumably, lack of a secure base script) may increase vulnerability to stressors, leading to more maladaptive coping. Indeed, research has shown that relationship insecurity may be related to perceiving negative couple interactions more intensely, and positive interactions less favorably (Wood, Werner-Wilson, Parker, & Perry, 2012). Hence, presence, or lack of, the secure base script may impact individuals’ perceptions and responses to stressors, including marital conflict.…”