Attachment theory suggests that anxious attachment is associated with hypervigilance to threatening social stimuli, and avoidant attachment with avoidance or suppression of processing such stimuli. Twenty-five students viewed angry, fearful and neutral female faces in four visual oddball tasks, and completed the Attachment Style Questionnaire, the Autonomy-Connectedness Scale, and Anxiety and Depression subscales of the Symptom Checklist-90. When the oddballs were angry faces in a background of neutral frequents, we found higher levels of autonomy and secure attachment to be related to larger N100 and smaller P300 amplitudes; higher levels of anxious attachment were, on the contrary, associated with smaller N100 and larger P300 amplitudes. Variation in attachment is related to approaching, or withdrawing from threatening stimuli, and ERP-techniques add to our understanding of how the attachment system actually works.
KeywordsEvent-Related PotentialsAttachment Styles or DimensionsAutonomyAnxietyAttentional Bias Theory
J. Bowlby, “Attachment and Loss (Vol. I). Attachment,” Hoghart Press, London, 1969.
J. Bowlby, “Attachment and Loss (Vol. II). Separation, Anxiety and Anger,” Basic Books, New York, 1973.
J. Bowlby, “Attachment and Loss (Vol. III). Loss, Sadness and Depression,” Basic Books, New York, 1980.
J. Bowlby, “Attachment and Loss (Vol. I). Attachment,” Basic Books, New York, 1982.
A. T. Beck, “Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders,” International Universities Press, New York, 1976.
Y. Minagawa-Kawai, S. Matsuoka, I. Dan, N. Naoi, K. Nakamura and S. Kojima, “Prefrontal Activation Associated with Social Attachment: Facial-Emotion Recognition in Mothers and Infants,” Cerebral Cortex, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2009, pp. 284-292. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhn081
M. W. Baldwin, J. P. R. Keelan, B. Fehr, V. Enns and E. Koh-Rangarajoo, “Social Cognitive Conceptualization of Attachment Working Models: Availability and Accessibility Effects,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. ,71 No. 1, 1996, pp. 94-104. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.71.1.94
M. W. Baldwin and B. Fehr, “On the Instability of Attachment Style Ratings,” Personal Relationships, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1995, pp. 247-261. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.1995.tb00090.x
R. C. Fraley, “A Connectionist Approach to the Organization and Continuity of Working Models of Attachment,” Journal of Personality, Vol. 75, No. 6, 2007, pp. 1157-180. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00471.x
R. C. Fraley, N. G. Waller and K. A. Brennan, “An Item Response Theory Analysis of Self-Report Measures of Adult Attachment,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 78, No. 2, 2000, pp. 350-365. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.78.2.350
M. D. S. Ainsworth, M. C. Blehar, E. Waters and S. Wall “Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation,” Routledge, New York, 1978.
A. Ward, R. Ramsay and J. Treasure, “Attachment Research in Eating Disorders,” British Journal of Medical Psychology, Vol. 73, No. 1, 2000, pp. 35-51. doi:10.1348/000711200160282
A. Bifulco, P. Moran, C. Ball and O. Barnazzani, “Adult Attachment Style: Its Relationship to Clinical Depression,” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, Vol. 37, No. 2, 2002, pp. 50-59. doi:10.1007/s127-002-8215-0
S. Blatt and K. Levy, “Attachment Theory, Psychoanalysis, Personality Development and Psychopathology,” Psychoanalytic Inquiry, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2003, pp. 102-150. doi:10.1080/07351692309349028
M. H. J. Bekker and M. A. L. M. van Assen, “A Short Form of the Autonomy Scale: Properties of the Autonomy-Connectedness Scale (ACS-30),” Journal of Personality Assessment, Vol. 86, No. 1, 2006, pp. 51-60. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa8601_07
M. H. J. Bekker, N. Bachrach and M. A. Croon, “The Relationship of Antisocial Behaviour with Attachment Styles, Autonomy-Connectedness and Alexythimia,” Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 63, No. 6, 2007, pp. 507-527. doi:10.1002/jclp.20363
J. Cassidy, J. Lichtenstein-Phelps, N. J. Sibrava, C. L. Thomas Jr. and T. D. Borkovec, “Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Connections with Self-Reported Attachment,” Behavioral Therapy, Vol. 40, No. 1, 2009, pp. 3-38.
S. Guttmann-Steinmetz and J. A. Crowell, “Attachment and Externalizing Disorders: A Developmental Psychopathology Perspective,” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Vol. 45, No. 4, 2006, pp. 440-450. doi:10.1097/01.chi.0000196422.42599.63
R. Kobak, J. Cassidy, K. Lyons-Roth and Y. Ziv, “Attachment, Stress, and Psychopathology: A Developmental Pathways Model,” In: D. Cicchetti and D. J. Cohen, Eds., Developmental Psychopathology: Theory and Method, 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, 2006, pp. 333-369.
M. Main, N. Kaplan and J. Cassidy, “Security in Infancy, Childhood and Adulthood: A Move to the Level of Representation,” In: I. Bretherton and E. Waters, Eds., Grow- ing Points in Attachment Theory and Research Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 50 (1-2, Serial No. 209), University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1985, pp. 66-104.
M. H. J. Bekker and U. Belt, “The Role of Autonomy-Connectedness in Anxiety and Depression,” Depression and Anxiety, Vol. 23, No. 5, 2006, pp. 274-280. doi:10.1002/da.20178
M. H. J. Bekker and M. A. Croon, “The Roles of Autonomy-Connectedness and Attachment Styles in Depression and Anxiety,” Journal of Personal and Social Relations, Vol. 27, No. 7, 2010, pp. 908-923. doi:10.1177/0265407510377217
M. Main, “Cross-Cultural Studies of Attachment Organization: Recent Studies, Changing Methodologies and the Concept of Conditional Strategies,” Human Development, Vol. 33, No. , 1990, pp. 48-61. doi:10.1159/000276502
K. A. Brennan, C. L. Clark and P. R. Shaver, “Self-Report Measurement of Adult Romantic Attachment: An Integrative Overview,” In: J. A. Simpson and W. S. Rholes, Eds., Attachment Theory and Close Relationships, Guilford Press, New York,1998, pp. 46-76.
M. Dewitte, E. H. Koster, J. De Houwer and A. Buysse, “Attentive Processing of Threat and Adult Attachment: A Dot-Probe Study,” Behaviour Research and Therapy, Vol. 45, No. 6, 2007, pp. 1307-1317. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2006.11.004
K. Mogg, P. Philippot and B. P. Bradley, “Selective At- tention to Angry Faces in Clinical Social Phobia,” Jour- nal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 113, No. 1, 2004, pp. 160-165. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.113.1.160
M. Mikulincer, G. Birnbaum, D. Woddis and O. Nachmias, “Stress and Accessibility of Proximity-Related Thoughts: Exploring the Normative and Intraindividual Components of Attachment Theory,” Journal of Personality and So- cial Psychology, Vol. 78, No. 3, 2000, pp. 509-523. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.78.3.509
A. Besser and B. Priel, “A Multisource Approach to Self- Critical Vulnerability to Depression: The Moderating Role of Attachment,” Journal of Personality, Vol. 71, No. 4, 2003, pp. 515-556. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.7104002
K. B. Carnelley, P. R. Pietromonaco and K. Jaffe, “Depression, Working Models of Others and Relationship Functioning,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 66, No. 1, 1994, pp. 127-140. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.66.1.127
J. E. Roberts, I. H. Gotlib and J. D. Kassel, “Adult Attachment Security and Symptoms of depression: The Mediating Roles of Dysfunctional Attitudes and Low Self-Esteem,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 70, No. 2, 1996, pp. 310-320.
J. Holmes, “Attachment Theory: A Biological Basis for Psychotherapy?” British Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 163, No. 4, 1993, pp. 430-438. doi:10.1192/bjp.163.4.430
K. N. Ochsner, “Current Directions in Social Cognitive Neuroscience,” Current Opinion in Neurobiology, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2004, pp. 254-258. doi:10.1016/j.conb.2004.03.011
J. K. Olofsson, S. Nordin, H. Sequeira and J. Polich, “Affective Picture Processing: An Integrative Review of ERP Findings,” Biological Psychology, Vol. 77, No. 3, 2008, pp. 247-265. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2007.11.006
R. N??t?nen and T. W. Picton, “N2 and Automatic versus Controlled Processes,” In: W. C. McCallum, R. Zappoli and F. Denoth, Eds., Cerebral Psychophysiology: Studies in Event-Related Potentials, Elsevier, New York, 1986, pp. 169-186.
E. Donchin and M. G. H. Coles, “Is the P300 Component a Manifestation of Context Updating?” The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Vol. 11, No. 3, 1988, pp. 355-425. doi:10.1017/S0140525X00058027
R. Verleger, “On the Utility of P3 Latency as an Index of Mental Chronometry,” Psychophysiology, Vol. 34, 1997, pp. 131-156. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1997.tb02125.x
A. Gasbarri, B. Arnone, A. Pompili, A. Marchetti, F. Pa- citti, S. S. Calil, C. Pacitti, M. C. Tavares and C. Tomaz, “Sex-Related Lateralized Effect of Emotional Content on Declarative Memory: An Event Related Potential Study,” Behavioural Brain Research, Vol. 168, No. 2, 2006, pp. 177-184. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2005.07.034
M. Falkenstein, J. Hohnsbein and J. Hoormann, “Effects of Choice Complexity on Different Subcomponents of the Late Positive Complex of the Event-Related Potential,” Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, Vol. 92, No. 2, 1994, pp. 148-160. doi:10.1016/0168-5597(94)90055-8
J. T. Cacioppo, S. L. Crites Jr., W. L. Gardner and G. G. Bernston, “Bioelectrical Echoes from Evaluative Catego- rizations: I. A Late Positive Brain Potential That Varies as a Function of Trait Negativity and Extremity,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 67, No. 1, 1994, pp. 15-125.
B. N. Cuthbert, H. T. Schupp, M. M. Bradley, N. Birbau- mer and P. J. Lang, “Brain Potentials in Affective Picture Processing: Covariation with Autonomic Arousal and Af- fective Report,” Biological Psychology, Vol. 52, 2000, pp. 95-111. doi:10.1016/S0301-0511(99)00044-7
S. Orozco and C. L. Ehlers, “Gender Differences in Elec- trophysiological Responses to Facial Stimuli,” Biological Psychiatry, Vol. 44, No. 4, 1998, pp. 281-289. doi:10.1016/S0006-3223(97)00487-3
D. Palomba, A. Angrilli and A. Mini, “Visual Evoked Po- tentials, Heart Rate Responses and Memory to Emotional Pictorial Stimuli,” International Journal of Psychophysi- ology, Vol. 27, No. 1, 1997, pp. 55-67. doi:10.1016/S0167-8760(97)00751-4
J. T. Cacioppo, W. L. Gardner and G. G. Bernston, “The Affect System Has Parallel and Integrative Processing Components: Form Follows Function,” Journal of Perso- nality and Social Psychology, Vol. 76, No. 5, 1999, pp. 839-855.
M. Soltani and R. T. Knight, “Neural Origins of the P300,” Critical Review of Neurobiology, Vol. 14, No. 3-4, 2000, pp. 199-224.
H. Barbas, “Connections Underlying the Synthesis of Co- gnition, Memory, and Emotion in Primate Prefrontal Cor- tices,” Brain Research Bulletin, Vol. 52, No. 5, 2000, pp. 319-330.
A. R. Damasio, T. J. Grabowski, A. Bechara, H. Damasio, L. L. B. Ponto, J. Parvizi and R. D. Hichwa, “Subcortical and Cortical Brain Activity during the Feeling of Self- Generated Emotions,” Nature Neuroscience, Vol. 3, No. 10, 2000, pp. 1049-1056. doi:10.1038/79871
M. Beauregard, S. Karama, J.-M. Leroux, A. R. Lecours, G. Beaudoin and P. Bourgouin “The Functional Neuro- anatomy of Amusement, Disgust, and Sexual Arousal,” NeuroImage, Vol. 7, No. 4, 1998, p. S909.
R. D. Lane, E. M. Reiman, G. L. Ahern, G. E. Schwartz and R. J. Davidson, “Neuroanatomical Correlates of Hap- piness, Sadness, and Disgust,” American Journal of Psy- chiatry, Vol. 154, No. 7, 1997, pp. 926-933.
F. Eugène, J. Lévesque, B. Mensour, J. M. Leroux, G. Beaudoin, P. Bourgouin and M. Beauregard, “The Impact of Individual Differences on the Neural Circuitry Under- lying Sadness,” NeuroImage, Vol. 19, No. 2 Pt 1, 2003, pp. 354-364.
Y. Bar-Haim, D. Lamy and S. Glickman, “Attentional Bias in Anxiety: A Behavioral and ERP Study,” Brain and Cog- nition, Vol. 59, No. 1, 2005, pp. 11-22. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2005.03.005
E. Fox, “Processing Emotional Facial Expressions: The Role of Anxiety and Awareness,” Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2002, pp. 52-63. doi:10.3758/CABN.2.1.52
M. Eimer and A. Holmes, “Event-Related Potential Cor- relates of Emotional Face Processing,” Neuropsychologia, Vol. 45, No. 1, 2007, pp. 15-31. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.04.022
M. Sugiura, R. Kawashima, M. Nakagawa, K. Okada, T. Sato, R. Goto, K. Sato, S. Ono, T. Schormann, K. Zilles and H. Fukuda, “Correlation between Human Personality and Neural Activity in Cerebral Cortex,” NeuroImage, Vol. 11, No. 5, 2000, pp. 541-546. doi:10.1006/nimg.2000.0564
T. Canli, Z. Zhao, J. E. Desmond, E. Kang, J. Gross and J. D. E. Gabrieli, “An fMRI Study of Personality Influences on Brain Reactivity to Emotional Stimuli,” Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol. 115, No. 1, 2001, pp. 33-42. doi:10.1037/0735-7044.115.1.33
M. A. L. M. van Assen and M. H. J. Bekker, “Sex Dif- ferences in Autonomy-Connectedness: The Role of Per- sonality Factors,” Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 47, No. 1, 2009, pp. 12-17. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.01.039
R. E. Mark, “Worry, Information Processing and Event- Related Potentials,” Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, 1993.
X. Zhang, T. Li and X. Zhou, “Brain Responses to Facial Expressions by Adults with Different Attachment-Orien- tations,” NeuroReport, Vol. 19, No. 4, 2008, pp. 437-441. doi:10.1097/WNR.0b013e3282f55728
A. Zilber, A. Goldstein and M. Mikulincer, “Adult Atta- chment Orientations and the Processing of Emotional Pic- tures—ERP Correlates,” Personality and Individual Dif- ferences, Vol. 43, No. 7, 2007, pp. 1898-1907. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2007.06.015
P. J. Lang, M. M. Bradley and B. N. Cuthbert, “Interna- tional Affective Picture System (IAPS): Instruction Man- ual and Affective Ratings. Technical Report A-4,” The Center for Research in Psychophysiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, 1999.
V. Zayas, Y. Shoda, W. Mischel, L. Osterhout and M. Ta- kahashi, “Neural Responses to Partner Rejection Cues,” Psychological Science, Vol. 20, No. 7, 2009, pp. 813-821. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02373.x
M. Kutas and S. A. Hillyard, “Reading Senseless Sen- tences: Brain Potentials Reflect Semantic Incongruity,” Science, Vol. 207, No. 4427, 1980, pp. 203-205. doi:10.1126/science.7350657
E. M. Fraedrich, K. Lakatos and G. Spangler, “Brain Ac- tivity during Emotion Perception: The Role of Attach- ment Representation,” Attachment and Human Develop- ment, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2010, pp. 231-48. doi:10.1080/14616731003759724
J. A. Feeney, P. Noller and M. Hanrahan, “Assessing Adult Attachment,” In M. B. Sperling and W. H. Berman, Eds., Attachment in Adults, Guilford Press, New York, 1994, pp. 128-152.
A. Fossati, J. A. Feeney, D. Donati, M. Donini, L. Novel- la, M. Bagnato, I. Carretta, B. Leonardi, S. Mirabelli and C. Maffei, “Personality Disorders and Adult Attachment Domains in a Mixed Psychiatric Sample: A Multivariate Study,” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol. 191, No. 1, 2003, pp. 30-37. doi:10.1097/00005053-200301000-00006
M. H. J. Bekker, J. J. Willemse and J. W. De Goeij, “The Role of Individual Differences in Particular Autonomy- Connectedness in Women’s and Men’s Work-Family Ba- lance,” Women Health, Vol. 50, No. 3, 2010, pp. 241-261. doi:10.1080/03630242.2010.480902
M. H. J. Bekker and M. A. L. M. van Assen, “Autonomy- Connectedness and Gender,” Sex Roles, Vol. 59, No. 7-8, 2008, pp. 532-544. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9447-x
L. R. Derogatis, “SCL-90 Administration, Scoring and Pro- cedures Manual-I,” Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, 1977.
D. Matsumoto and P. Ekman, “Japanese and Caucasian Fa- cial Expressions of Emotion and Neutral Faces (JACFEE and JACNeuF),” 1988. http://www.paulekman.com
H. A. Jasper, “The Ten-Twenty Electrode System of the International Federation,” Electroencepholography and Clinical Neurophysiology, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1958, pp. 371- 375.
J. K. Olofsson, S. Nordin, H. Sequeira and J. Polich, “Af- fective Picture Processing: An Integrative Review of ERP Findings,” Biological Psychology, Vol. 77, No. 3, 2008, pp. 247-265. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2007.11.006
J. M. G. Williams, F. N. Watts, C MacLeod and A. Ma- thews, “Cognitive Psychology and Emotional Disorders,” Wiley, Chichester, 1988.
S. A. Hillyard and T. W. Picton, “Electrophysiology of Cognition,” In: S. R. Geiger, Ed., Handbook of Physiol- ogy: A Critical, Comprehensive Presentation of Physio- logical Knowledge and Concepts, American Physiology Association, New York, 1987, pp. 519-584.
S. J. Kirsh and J. Cassidy, “Preschoolers’ Attention to and Memory for Attachment-Relevant Information,” Child De- velopment, Vol. 68, No. 6, 1997, pp. 1143-1153. doi:10.2307/1132297
O. Gillath, S. A. Bunge, P. R. Shaver, C. Wendelken and M. Mikulincer, “Attachment-Style Differences in the Abi- lity to Suppress Negative Thoughts: Exploring the Neural Correlates,” NeuroImage, Vol. 28, 2005, pp. 835-847.
J. Cassidy, “Attachment and Generalized Anxiety Disor- der,” In: D. Cicchetti and S. Toth, Eds., Rochester Sym- posium on Developmental Psychopathology: Emotion, Cog- nition, and Representation, University of Rochester Press, Rochester, 1995, pp. 343-370.
J. Cassidy and P. R. Shaver, “Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications,” Guilford Press, New York, 1999.
J. A. Coan, “Toward a Neuroscience of Attachment,” In: J. Cassidy and P. R. Shaver, Eds., Handbook of Attach- ment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications, 2nd Edition, Guilford Press, New York, 2008, pp. 241-265.
M. Davis and P. J. Whalen, “The Amygdala: Vigilance and Emotion,” Molecular Psychiatry, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2001, pp. 13-34. doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4000812
N. McNaughton and P. J. Corr, “A Two-Dimensional Neu- ropsychology of Defense: Fear/Anxiety and Defensive Dis- tance,” Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, Vol. 28, No. 3, 2004, pp. 285-305. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2004.03.005
C. George and M. West, “The Development and Prelimi- nary Validation of a New Measure of Adult Attachment: The Adult Attachment Projective,” Attachment and Hu- man Development, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2001, pp. 30-61. doi:10.1080/14616730010024771
C. George, N. Kaplan and M. Main, “An Adult Attach- ment Interview,” University of California, Berkeley, 1984.