When thinking hurts: Attachment, rumination, and postrelationship adjustment

Saffrey, Colleen; Ehrenberg, Marion F.

doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00160.x

Cited by 119 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Items, such as "I think about my ex-partner constantly" and "Everything seems to remind me of my expartner", were rated on a 7-point Likert scale (from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Previous research has demonstrated a good internal consistency of the RPS Saffrey & Ehrenberg, 2007), concordant with the current high alpha value of .94.…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 52%

Unwanted Pursuit Behavior After Breakup: Occurrence, Risk Factors, and Gender Differences

et al. 2015

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This study investigated unwanted pursuit behavior (UPB) perpetration in 631 adult expartners. UPB involves the unwanted pursuit of intimacy, a widespread and usually less severe form of stalking. The occurrence and various risk factors of UPB perpetration were examined, accounting for differences between male and female ex-partners and same-and opposite-gender ex-partners. Ex-partners showed on average five to six UPBs after their separation. Male and female and same-and opposite-gender ex-partners displayed an equal number of UPBs. The number of perpetrated UPBs was explained by breakup characteristics (ex-partner initiation of the breakup and rumination or cognitive preoccupation with the expartner), relationship characteristics (anxious attachment in the former relationship), and individual perpetrator characteristics (borderline traits and past delinquent behaviors).Rumination was a stronger predictor in female than male ex-partners. Borderline traits and anxious attachment positively predicted UPB perpetration in opposite-gender but not in samegender ex-partners. Implications of these findings are discussed.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 52%

Unwanted Pursuit Behavior After Breakup: Occurrence, Risk Factors, and Gender Differences

et al. 2015

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“…Lecci et al (1994), for example, found that the more individuals ruminated on their regrets, the lower their life satisfaction. In addition, Saffrey and Ehrenberg (2007) found that across both general and romantic relationship contexts, individuals who reported experiencing more regret also reported more negative adjustment. Thus, even as intense regrets are predictive of impaired psychological functioning, the present research reveals that people's explicit beliefs place regret in a favorable, even self-enhancing, light.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Praise for regret: People value regret above other negative emotions

2008

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What do people think about the emotion of regret? Recent demonstrations of the psychological benefits of regret have been framed against an assumption that most people find regret to be aversive, both when experienced but also when recalled later. Two studies explored lay evaluations of regret experiences, revealing them to be largely favorable rather than unfavorable. Study 1 demonstrated that regret, but not other negative emotions, was dominated by positive more than negative evaluations. In both studies 1 and 2, although participants saw a great deal of benefit from their negative emotions, regret stood out as particularly beneficial. Indeed, in study 2, regret was seen to be the most beneficial of 12 negative emotions on all five functions of: making sense of past experiences, facilitating approach behaviors, facilitating avoidance behaviors, gaining insights into the self, and in preserving social harmony. Moreover, in study 2, individuals made self-serving ascriptions of regret, reporting greater regret experiences for themselves than for others. In short, people value their regrets substantially more than they do other negative emotions. KeywordsRegret; Counterfactual; Affect; Emotion At first glance, it would seem uncontroversial to make the claim "regret is bad." After all, regret is a negative emotion hinging on the recognition that a personal action could have made the past better (Landman 1993;Zeelenberg 1999). Regret typically implies self-blame for unfortunate events (Connolly and Zeelenberg 2002). Individuals who ruminate on their regrets are more likely to report reduced life satisfaction and to experience difficulty coping with negative life events (e.g., Lecci et al. 1994;Schwartz et al. 2002). Regret is additionally problematic because of its biasing effect on decision-making, an idea central to regret theories in economics (e.g., Bell 1982; Connolly and Butler 2006). At a more basic level, regret (like any negative emotion) is intrinsically aversive, hence individuals are motivated to avoid it, even if this means sacrificing an objectively superior reward (Zeelenberg et al. 1996).Although early depictions of regret emphasized various dysfunctional aspects, newer conceptions additionally have emphasized its functional basis, particularly in terms of triggering behavior change aimed at remediation (Landman 1993;Roese and Summerville Correspondence to: Neal J. Roese. Markman et al. 2008;Roese 1994Roese , 1997. Counterfactual inference, by identifying a cause of a problem, helps make sense of negative experience. For example, a student thinking "If only I had studied harder" may on subsequent exams study harder and hence perform better. Counterfactual thinking may be useful both for approach behaviors (e.g., studying harder) as well as avoidance behaviors (e.g., staying away from parties the night before an exam). Further, in seeing causal connections between past actions and outcomes, counterfactual thinking and hence regret may help people to place events into context, thereby making ...

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“…and ''How heartbroken are you when you think about the breakup?''). Participants indicated the extent of their negative feelings toward the ex-partner by rating how much anger, disappointment, confusion, hate, betrayal, hurt, frustration, and sadness they currently felt (selected in part from other work 10,17 ). Sexual desire for the ex-partner included items measuring lust, sexual arousal, and desire.…”

Section: Procedures and Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facebook Surveillance of Former Romantic Partners: Associations with PostBreakup Recovery and Personal Growth

Marshall

2012

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking

110

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Previous research has found that continuing offline contact with an ex-romantic partner following a breakup may disrupt emotional recovery. The present study examined whether continuing online contact with an expartner through remaining Facebook friends and/or engaging in surveillance of the ex-partner's Facebook page inhibited postbreakup adjustment and growth above and beyond offline contact. Analysis of the data provided by 464 participants revealed that Facebook surveillance was associated with greater current distress over the breakup, more negative feelings, sexual desire, and longing for the ex-partner, and lower personal growth. Participants who remained Facebook friends with the ex-partner, relative to those who did not remain Facebook friends, reported less negative feelings, sexual desire, and longing for the former partner, but lower personal growth. All of these results emerged after controlling for offline contact, personality traits, and characteristics of the former relationship and breakup that tend to predict postbreakup adjustment. Overall, these findings suggest that exposure to an ex-partner through Facebook may obstruct the process of healing and moving on from a past relationship.

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When thinking hurts: Attachment, rumination, and postrelationship adjustment

Cited by 119 publications

References 42 publications

Unwanted Pursuit Behavior After Breakup: Occurrence, Risk Factors, and Gender Differences

Unwanted Pursuit Behavior After Breakup: Occurrence, Risk Factors, and Gender Differences

Praise for regret: People value regret above other negative emotions

Facebook Surveillance of Former Romantic Partners: Associations with PostBreakup Recovery and Personal Growth

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