Attachment Style Differences and Similarities in Evaluations of Affective Communication Skills and Person‐centered Comforting Messages

Abstract

Recent research has explored moderating factors that shape the perception and production of emotional support messages. The current study extends this agenda and examines how attachment patterns influence values for affective communication skills and evaluations of verbal person‐centered comfort. A total of 280 participants completed categorical and continuous attachment measures as well as a measure of communication values, and provided evaluations of comforting messages. Results indicated that avoidants viewed affective communication skills as significantly more important than did nonavoidants. Dismissives and preoccupieds viewed low person‐centered comforting messages as more comforting than did secures and fearful avoidants. Fearful avoidants viewed these messages as least comforting of the four attachment styles. These findings have important implications for differences in how people evaluate affective communication skills and particularly comforting messages that vary in person centeredness.

Keywords:

• Attachment Styles
• Communication Skills
• Person Centeredness

Notes

[1] Data had to be collected over the course of two consecutive semesters because the CFQ was accidentally omitted from the initial survey. Therefore, the sample size for the CFQ was somewhat lower (n = 135). The second survey contained all instruments as well as the CFQ.

[2] Information concerning reliabilities of the attachment measures can be obtained from the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susanne M. Jones

Susanne M. Jones is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. The author would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and Brant Burleson for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.