Mate-retention behaviors mediate the association between spouses' attachment insecurity and subsequent partner satisfaction

The (bidirectional) associations between romantic attachment orientations and mate retention behavior in male-female romantic couples

“…Attachment anxiety, in particular, is a robust predictor of the frequency with which both men and women perform negative mate retention behaviors, which include manipulation and aggression, collectively referred to as cost-inflicting mate retention behaviors (Altgelt & Meltzer, 2019;Barbaro et al, 2016Barbaro et al, , 2019. In a subsequent study (Barbaro et al, 2019), it was found that an individual's perception of their partner's potential infidelity mediates the association between attachment anxiety, specifically, and performance frequencies of mate retention behaviors.…”

“…Both men and women perform mate retention behaviors, which may serve a variety of functions, from reducing the likelihood of a romantic partner's infidelity or dissolution of the established relationship to maintaining a partner's relationship satisfaction and decreasing the attractiveness of alternative potential mates (Buss, 1988;Buss et al, 2008). Whereas much of the work on mate retention behaviors has focused on infidelity-based cues that predict greater frequency of mate retention behaviors, the results of several recent studies suggest that individual difference factors, such as attachment orientations, also are strong predictors of men's and women's mate retention behaviors (Altgelt & Meltzer, 2019;Barbaro et al, 2016Barbaro et al, , 2019.…”

“…Testing this model, Barbaro and colleagues (2016) hypothesized that attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance are associated with performance frequencies of mate retention behaviors. The results of survey studies conducted with men and women residing in the United States (Barbaro et al, 2016) and in Iran (Barbaro et al, 2019) suggest that, overall, attachment anxiety is associated with more frequent performance of mate retention behaviors (see also, Altgelt & Meltzer, 2019).…”

“…In a subsequent study (Barbaro et al, 2019), it was found that an individual's perception of their partner's potential infidelity mediates the association between attachment anxiety, specifically, and performance frequencies of mate retention behaviors. Longitudinal research (Altgelt & Meltzer, 2019) has further shown that attachment anxiety predicts cost-inflicting mate retention behaviors, which decreases marital satisfaction across three years -an endogenous threat that may trigger a continued cycle of increased attachment anxiety.…”

“…The aim of the current research was to investigate associations between attachment orientations and mate retention behaviors in a dyadic context to evaluate: (1) the bivariate associations between attachment orientations and mate retention domains, replicating previous work; (2) whether an individual's attachment orientation predicts their partner's mate retention behaviors; and (3) whether, over time, mate retention behaviors influence attachment orientations within couples. Both studies reported here test for sex differences in associations in an exploratory manner given the inconsistency of sex differences across previous studies (see , Altgelt & Meltzer, 2019;Barbaro et al, 2016Barbaro et al, , 2019. To achieve these aims, we used data from two dyadic studies, both of which were part of larger research projects.…”