Support Behaviours in Long-Distance Relationships

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Support-seeking refers to how an individual elicits support from an attachment figure, and the supportprovided in response is defined as caregiving (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016; Mikulincer, 2006). There arethree attachment styles which an individual can have towards their caregiving - secure (comfortablegiving and seeking support), avoidant (resistant to seek or provide support; Simpson et al., 1992), oranxious (excessive seeking, or hesitant if they doubt availability, ineffective caregiving; (Fraley & Shaver,1998; Mikulincer, 2006). Couples in long-distance relationships (LDRs) rarely have an option for face-tofacecommunication and therefore must employ other communication channels to seek and providesupport, like technology (Morris, 2020). Currently, there is no research assessing these supportbehaviours in LDRs, despite partner support being the best predictor or satisfaction for these couples(Freitas, 2004). Therefore, this research aims to address this gap by investigating the support-seekingbehaviours which are employed by members of long-distance relationships, whilst assessing whethercertain communication channels serve specific purposes and if these behaviours are influenced byattachment style. Additionally, the research aims to assess the influence of these behaviours onrelational and personal wellbeing. It is speculated that LDR's will rely on technology to seek support, butavoidant individuals will seek and provide less support and favour channels that do not provideimmediate responses (like email) whilst anxious individuals seek and provide excessive support usingintrusive channels (like unplanned video calls). I expect that these individuals will have lower personaland relational wellbeing due to these mistimed communications.