Effect of Priming Attachment Styles on Gratitude in Close Relationships

<p>Individuals with enhanced gratitude have higher well-being, a greater capacity to trust, and more appreciation of others. Studies have found that people who show secure attachment also tend to be high in trait gratitude, however, a direct causal relationship has yet to be established. It was hypothesized that secure attachment priming would enhance state gratitude more than other attachment primes. Furthermore, it was predicted that securely attached individuals would have more positive affectivity than insecurely attached individuals, in general. To assess these questions, an experimental design was used to study the relationship between gratitude and attachment. State gratitude was measured by using an instrument to assess gratitude after the priming of attachment occurred. Specifically, participants were primed with one of the following: secure, insecure, or neutral memories through a writing exercise, with the experimental conditions designed to induce a secure or insecure attachment style. Results indicated that secure attachment prime resulted in significantly greater state gratitude than the insecure attachment prime. These findings suggest compelling possibilities for enhanced interpersonal relationship satisfaction.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year

2014

Author dc:creator

• Konkler, Jessica

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Philip Watkins
• Dr. Amani El-Alayli
• Prof. Doris Munson

• Psychology

Statement dc:rights

• Access is available to all users

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/265

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.ewu.edu:theses-1264