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Individual differences in attachment orientation, social goal orientation, and meaning in life
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Blake, Elizabeth N.. Individual differences in attachment orientation, social goal orientation, and meaning in life. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-1c9b-as79

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TitleIndividual differences in attachment orientation, social goal orientation, and meaning in life
NameBlake, Elizabeth N. (author); Abeyta, Andrew (chair); Hart, Daniel (internal member); Whitlow, Bill (internal member); Rutgers University; Camden Graduate School
Date Created2020
Other Date2020-05 (degree)
SubjectAttachment behavior, Psychology
Extent1 online resource (iii, 51 pages)
DescriptionPrevious research suggests that individuals with insecure attachment orientations experience deficits in meaning in life. The current research investigates whether an individual’s relationship goal orientation can help to explain the relation between attachment insecurity and meaning in life. I hypothesized three indirect pathways. The first two pathways link attachment-related anxiety to lower presence of meaning, but higher search for meaning via greater deficit reduction goals. The third pathway links attachment-related avoidance to lower presence of meaning via reduced growth-oriented goals. The pathways were tested non-experimentally (Studies 1 and 2) by measuring trait attachment orientations, two types of social goals (growth-oriented and deficit-reduction), and two dimensions of meaning in life (presence of meaning and search for meaning), and experimentally (Study 2) by manipulating attachment and measuring the two types of social goals, and the two dimensions of meaning in life. There was consistent non-experimental support that attachment-related anxiety is associated with greater search for meaning indirectly via more commitment to deficit reduction goals. Additionally, there was consistent non-experimental support that attachment-related avoidance is associated with lower presence of meaning via less commitment to growth-oriented social goals. However, there was not strong support for the pathway linking attachment-related anxiety to presence of meaning via deficit reduction goals. Moreover, there was no experimental support for the three hypothesized pathways. Thus, this research can only provide preliminary evidence that social goals may explain the link between insecure attachment and deficits in meaning in life.
NoteM.A.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses, ETD graduate
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-1c9b-as79
LanguageEnglish
CollectionCamden Graduate School Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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