Attachment and prejudice
Introduction
Prejudice and discrimination are important social problems worldwide [1]. Our aim is to review the small body of research that applies attachment theory to understand individual differences in prejudice. Because this area is understudied, we chose a more comprehensive approach that covered papers published from 2001 to most recently, 2016, that focused on ethnicity, immigrants, religion, gender, lesbian/gay/bisexual and elderly outgroups. (We excluded two papers on disabled, mentally ill and physically ill because these targets potentially represent a large number of varied categories that were not comprehensively examined.) In general, attachment anxiety and avoidance are positively associated with prejudice via different mechanisms; however most presumably involve threat that activates the attachment system. Perceptions of outgroup threat are thought to lead to fear and prejudice for those high in attachment anxiety, and to distancing and prejudice for those high in attachment avoidance (see Figure 1).
Section snippets
Attachment and theoretical links to prejudice
Attachment theory explains how childhood relationship experiences influence expectations and behaviours within relationships throughout life [2, 3]. Individual experiential differences in consistency of sensitivity and responsiveness to needs in early childhood lay the foundations for individual attachment-related behavioural repertoires (patterns). Attachment patterns vary on two dimensions: attachment-related anxiety (related to fear of abandonment) and attachment-related avoidance (related
Attachment and prejudice: evidence about ethnic and gender outgroups
The most consistently examined targets of prejudice in this area are immigrants and people of different ethnicities or religions, with a few studies of other outgroups (e.g. aged adults [19], LGB individuals with mixed results, [20, 21, 22, 23], and gender). For example, Di Pentima and Toni [24] examined the links between attachment orientation and subtle and blatant prejudice against immigrants. They discovered that secure Italian adolescents (age 13–19) were lower in blatant and subtle
Primed attachment and prejudice studies
The above studies are correlational and cannot address causal processes. In an attempt to examine causation, researchers have manipulated attachment security temporarily by priming it subliminally or supraliminally to examine how it affects prejudice and discrimination. Research shows that participants primed with an attachment pattern think, act and feel in ways consistent with those who have that attachment orientation, due to the activation of working models of attachment [31]. For example,
Discussion and conclusions
Research involves participants from several countries (UK, US, Italy, Israel, Netherlands) using different prejudice targets, suggesting some robustness in effects. Exceptions are homonegativity, disability, and ageism, where research is sparse or has mixed results. Future research should continue to test causal effects and include the experimental manipulation of mediators [46]. Researchers should directly measure perceived threat (and its reduction), perhaps using psychophysiological
Funding
This research did not received any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Conflict of interest statement
Nothing declared.
Acknowledgment
We thank Janet Ruscher for helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.
References and recommended reading
Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as:
• of special interest
•• of outstanding interest
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