scholarly journals Extending the Study of Gelotophobia, Gelotophilia, and Katagelasticism in Romantic Life Toward Romantic Attachment

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay Brauer ◽  
René T. Proyer ◽  
Willibald Ruch

Abstract. Gelotophobia (fear of being laughed at), gelotophilia (joy in being laughed at), and katagelasticism (joy in laughing at others) describe individual differences in how people deal with ridicule and being laughed at. We study their association with romantic attachment styles and romantic outcomes in adults. Study 1 ( N = 247) shows that gelotophobia goes along with higher expressions in attachment anxiety and avoidance. This study also provides support for the notion that gelotophobes demonstrate a lower likelihood of entering romantic relationships (odds ratio = 0.62/0.64 for past/current relationship status). Gelotophilia goes along with lower avoidance and katagelasticism exists independently from romantic attachment. Study 2 replicates the findings in 154 heterosexual romantic couples using Actor–Partner Interdependence Model analyses. However, katagelasticism was related to greater attachment anxiety in this sample of couples. A mini-meta analysis using data from both studies ( N = 555) clarified this association and showed that the joy in laughing at others yields a small positive association with attachment anxiety. Further, attachment styles mediate associations between the dispositions and relationship satisfaction in the couples. Overall, the dispositions are distinctively related with romantic attachment styles and our findings contribute to the understanding of the role of dealing with ridicule and laughter in romantic life.

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110551
Author(s):  
Marie-Eve Leclerc ◽  
Marie-France Lafontaine ◽  
Audrey Brassard ◽  
Katherine Péloquin

The attachment theory has commonly been used to examine intimate partner psychological aggression (IPPA), but few studies have examined its association with self-reported justifications for one’s own use of IPPA. Behaviors, including the use of IPPA, are influenced, maintained, and function within the context of their justifications, highlighting the importance of investigating these justifications to obtain a clearer picture of IPPA. This study examined whether insecure romantic attachment (i.e., attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) in both partners of a couple was associated with their justifications for their own use of IPPA. A community sample of 81 mixed-sex couples who reported using IPPA in the last year completed self-reported questionnaires on adult romantic attachment and their justifications for their use of IPPA. Results of a path analysis based on the actor-partner interdependence model revealed moderate positive associations between attachment anxiety and one’s use of internal and external justifications for their IPPA perpetration in men and women. An unexpected dyadic positive association is discussed. These results suggest that the use of justifications for one’s use of IPPA may reflect a strategy of hyperactivation that could contribute to the cycle of psychological aggression. Uncovering the function of these justifications could provide important therapeutic benefits, which are discussed in the study’s implications.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 2624-2651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Karan ◽  
Robert Rosenthal ◽  
Megan L. Robbins

Interdependence is a hallmark of romantic relationships, and first-person plural pronoun use (“we-talk”) can indicate interdependence between self and other. We-talk often positively, but sometimes negatively, relates to relationship and personal functioning. A meta-analysis of 30 studies supported a positive association overall between one’s own and partners’ we-talk and relationship and personal functioning, as well as each of five indicators (relationship outcomes, relationship behaviors, mental and physical health, and health behaviors) for individuals in romantic relationships. Partner use of we-talk was generally more strongly related to relationship functioning than own use. Females’ and spouses’ use of we-talk was related more to males’ and patients’ functioning, respectively. In general, our results revealed that we-talk was most strongly associated with relationship functioning and that partner effects tended to be stronger than actor effects. Both patterns of meta-analytic findings support the notion that we-talk reflects interdependence between romantic partners.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-France Lafontaine ◽  
Katherine Péloquin ◽  
Christine Levesque ◽  
Stéphanie Azzi ◽  
Marie-Pierre Daigle ◽  
...  

Abstract This study examined the mediating role of romantic perfectionism in the associations linking romantic attachment insecurity and self-perceived dyadic coping in a community sample of 170 mixed-sex couples. Path analyses, based on the actor-partner interdependence model, revealed that other-oriented perfectionism in men and women mediated the link between their own attachment-related avoidance and dyadic coping. Other-oriented perfectionism in women mediated the link between their own attachment-related anxiety and dyadic coping. Findings contribute to advancing knowledge about the intrapersonal and interpersonal mechanisms underlying coping processes in couples. Results also inform clinical interventions targeting attachment insecurities and perfectionism in the context of romantic relationships.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 2890-2897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay Brauer ◽  
René T. Proyer

The fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia) plays a detrimental role in courtship (e.g., predicting a lower likelihood of entering a relationship) and romantic relationships (e.g., low relationship satisfaction). Gelotophobia correlates positively with anxious and avoidant romantic attachment. This study aims to replicate (a) the associations between gelotophobia and romantic attachment and (b) the mediating role of attachment in the association between gelotophobia and relationship experience using a sample of N = 531 participants ( M = 32.1 years; 63.7% singles). Previous findings replicated well, as gelotophobia positively relates to avoidant and anxious attachment and lower likelihood of entering a romantic relationship. Contrary to earlier research, only anxiety mediated the association between gelotophobia and relationship status. We discuss the findings regarding the attachment framework of long-term singlehood.


2020 ◽  
pp. 194855062094411
Author(s):  
Gul Gunaydin ◽  
Emre Selcuk ◽  
Betul Urganci ◽  
Sumeyra Yalcintas

Past work has shown that perceived responsiveness is a key predictor of relational outcomes. However, this work has focused solely on average levels of responsiveness and never studied the role of responsiveness variability (consistency of responsiveness) in intimate relationships. The present study addressed this gap by investigating the long-held but scarcely tested tenet that responsiveness variability and average responsiveness play differential roles in romantic attachment. New romantic couples ( N = 151) reported partner-specific attachment anxiety and avoidance in six sessions. Every evening during the 3-week period in between the first two sessions, participants reported perceived partner responsiveness, allowing us to assess both average responsiveness and responsiveness variability. Our findings provided the first empirical evidence that responsiveness variability uniquely predicted increases in partner-specific attachment anxiety, whereas average responsiveness uniquely predicted decreases in partner-specific attachment avoidance. Average responsiveness and responsiveness variability continued to predict attachment orientations assessed about half a year later.


2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Anthony Billings ◽  
Xinghua Gao ◽  
Yonghong Jia

SUMMARY: The alleged perverse role of managerial incentives in accounting scandals, and the distinctive role of auditors in identifying and intervening in attempted earnings manipulation, highlight the importance of explicitly considering executive incentive plans by auditors in the auditing process. By empirically testing auditors' responses to CEO/CFO equity incentives in planning and pricing decisions using data from 2002 through 2009, we document compelling evidence that CFO equity incentives are positively associated with audit fees and CEO equity incentives are not statistically related to audit fees, suggesting that auditors perceive heightened audit risk associated with CFO equity incentives. Our further analyses reveal that the positive association between CFO equity incentives and audit fees is more pronounced in firms with weak internal controls, indicating heightened risk associated with CFO equity incentives in this setting perceived by auditors. JEL Classifications: G30, G34, M42, M52.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 940-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Barbaro ◽  
Yael Sela ◽  
Mohammad Atari ◽  
Todd K. Shackelford ◽  
Virgil Zeigler-Hill

Previous research indicates that the romantic attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance are associated with performance frequency of Benefit-Provisioning and Cost-Inflicting domains of mate retention. The current research aimed to replicate previous findings in a non-Western sample (Iran, Study 1) and to extend this research by investigating the mediating role of perceived risk of partner infidelity (Study 2). Studies 1 and 2 tested the hypotheses that attachment anxiety is positively associated with mate retention and that attachment avoidance is negatively associated with mate retention. Study 2 tested the hypothesis perceived risk of partner infidelity mediate the association between attachment dimensions and mate retention domains. Results of Studies 1 and 2 replicated previous research and also revealed that perceived risk of partner infidelity mediated the association between attachment anxiety, specifically, and mate retention. The current research advances our understanding of romantic attachment from an evolutionary psychological perspective.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1745-1765
Author(s):  
Anna L. Olsavsky ◽  
Meghna S. Mahambrey ◽  
Miranda N. Berrigan ◽  
Sarah J. Schoppe-Sullivan

Using data from a sample of 182 dual-earner different-gender couples who were followed across their transition to parenthood, we adopted a dyadic approach to examine associations between expectant mothers’ and fathers’ attachment anxiety and avoidance in the third trimester of pregnancy and their own and their partners’ jealousy of the partner–infant relationship at 3 months postpartum. Results of an actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) revealed that expectant mothers and fathers higher in attachment anxiety reported greater jealousy of the partner–infant relationship at 3 months postpartum. The partners of expectant mothers and fathers higher in attachment anxiety also reported greater jealousy of the partner–infant relationship. There were no parent gender differences in actor or partner paths linking attachment anxiety and jealousy. Attachment avoidance was not associated with one’s own or one’s partner’s jealousy of the partner–infant relationship. An exploratory mediation analysis revealed greater jealousy of the partner–infant relationship as a potential mechanism linking higher attachment anxiety to lower dyadic adjustment at 9 months postpartum. Overall, results suggest that attachment anxiety in either partner may precipitate maladaptive relationship dynamics in the early postpartum period that may ultimately interfere with the establishment and maintenance of healthy parent–child and coparenting relationships.


Author(s):  
Jane Hutton ◽  
Lyn Ellett ◽  
Katherine Berry

AbstractAttachment theory may develop understanding of the occurrence and maintenance of persecutory delusions. This study investigates the role of dispositional attachment and contextually primed secure base attachment representations in the occurrence of paranoid thinking. Sixty participants were randomly allocated to one of three conditions: a secure attachment priming condition, a positive affect condition, or a neutral control condition. Following priming, all participants were exposed to a paranoia induction. State paranoia was measured at baseline and following the paranoia induction. Dispositional insecure attachment was associated with both trait and state paranoid thinking. Contrary to predictions, the secure attachment prime did not appear to buffer paranoid thinking and had a negative impact for participants with high levels of attachment anxiety, highlighting the potentially aversive effects of exposure to secure attachment material in those with existing insecure attachment styles.


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