Affect Regulation as a Stylistic Process within Adult Attachment

Abstract

The literature on adult attachment indicates consistent differences in the emotional experiences of individuals according to their attachment styles. With the idea that these differences in experience are accompanied by systematic differences in the ways people with different attachment styles regulate their affect, a broad range of findings are reviewed and reorganized according to a process-level explanation of affect regulation, including specific mechanisms by which affect is regulated. This reexamination of findings does suggest consistent, or stylistic, ways of regulating affect that are particular to each attachment style. Variation is particularly evident in the management of attention, appraisal styles and the ability to interact with others as agents of affect regulation. Implications for future research are discussed.