Abstract
Attachment anxiety and avoidance are generally associated with detrimental relationship processes, including more negative and fewer positive relationship behaviours. However, recent theoretical and empirical evidence has shown that positive factors can buffer insecure attachment. We hypothesised that relationship mindfulness (RM)—open or receptive attention to and awareness of what is taking place internally and externally in a current relationship—may promote better day-to-day behaviour for both anxious and avoidant individuals, as mindfulness improves awareness of automatic responses, emotion regulation, and empathy. In a dyadic daily experience study, we found that, while an individual’s own daily RM did not buffer the effects of their own insecure attachment on same-day relationship behaviours, their partner’s daily RM did, particularly for attachment avoidance. Our findings for next-day relationship behaviours, on the other hand, showed that lower (vs. higher) prior-day RM was associated with higher positive partner behaviours on the following day for avoidant individuals and those with anxious partners, showing this may be an attempt to “make up” for the previous day. These findings support the Attachment Security Enhancement Model and have implications for examining different forms of mindfulness over time and for mindfulness training.
Highlights
Attachment orientations play a vital role in shaping emotional patterns, relationship behaviours, and wellbeing [1,2]
We explored whether relationship mindfulness (RM) buffers the relations between attachment insecurity and next-day positive and negative relationship behaviours to examine whether the above hypothesised effects held over a 24-h period
Data analyses were guided by the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (APIM), using multilevel modelling with necessary adjustments for indistinguishable dyadic data [49]
Summary
Attachment orientations play a vital role in shaping emotional patterns, relationship behaviours, and wellbeing [1,2]. Attachment orientations are patterns of expectations, needs, emotions, and social behaviour which result from a particular history of attachment experiences, usually beginning in relationships with caregivers in infancy [3]. In recent years, research has begun to discover how to buffer insecure attachment (a term used to describe individuals who score high on attachment anxiety or avoidance) and improve relationship outcomes [4,5,6]. Our understanding of the specific processes that buffer attachment insecurity day-to-day, is still in its infancy. RM may buffer attachment insecurity through an increased awareness of automatic reactions and increased emotion regulation and empathy, thereby downregulating engagement in hyperactivating (excessive proximity-seeking) and deactivating
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