The Role of Psychological Attachment in Trust Violation and Repair

Abstract

Interpersonal trust is the willingness to accept vulnerability based upon positive expectations about another person’s behaviour. A breach in trust occurs when these expectations are not met. Apologies are one way to restore trusting relations and encourage forgiveness. Because past relationships may affect both trust development and forgiveness, I draw on psychological attachment theory for insight into the nature of people’s past relationships. A person may develop one of three attachment styles: secure, anxious, or avoidant. A secure style represents a normal healthy relationship, whereas anxious individuals cling to others and fear rejection and avoidant individuals are self reliant and distance themselves from others. This laboratory experiment tests the extent to which individuals with different attachment styles develop trust with a stranger, change their emotions and reported trust levels after the trust has been violated, and respond to an apology designed to repair trust. To develop trust in the laboratory, participants share information about themselves and complete an obstacle course while blindfolded. Trust violation then occurs during a planned activity early in the experiment, after which half of the participants receive an apology and the other half do not. Questionnaires then assess levels of emotion and trust, which are compared between individuals in the apology and no‐apology conditions. This research may help establish a close relationship between attachment style and trust violation and repair. Future research may look into other ways to repair trust, particularly for insecure individuals who may not respond positively to an apology.