Two-Way SBE-RCUK/ESRC Lead Agency Agreement: Relationship Strategies to Bolster Interpersonal Security Over Time

在与他人建立安全感的纽带方面，人们的意愿和能力各不相同。获得更高依恋安全感的人有更好的关系结果，在追求个人目标方面更有信心，更有能力应对挑战，总体上表现出更大的幸福感。虽然依恋不安全感通常是一种慢性疾病，但它可以而且确实会随着新的经历而改变。这个项目利用浪漫关系中的互动，唤起在调节安全感方面具有强大作用的经历。这项研究介绍了夫妻可以采取的关系策略，包括加强信任或信心的沟通策略，以及有助于积极重新解读互动的感知练习。许多夫妇渴望改善他们的关系，并承认，理想情况下，他们希望帮助对方茁壮成长。然而，他们努力改变既定的人际关系，这可能会让他们陷入人际焦虑(害怕失去伴侣的接受和支持)和/或人际回避(对依赖他人或亲密感到不舒服)的状态。这项研究中考察的关系策略针对每种类型的不安全感，并被设计成纳入典型的夫妻互动和日常事件中。该项目的主要目标是找出影响夫妻交流和感知的策略，以实现两个目标：减少不安全的关系动态和随着时间的推移增强依恋安全感。在一系列随机实验中，夫妻被分配了针对焦虑倾向或回避倾向的策略。第一个目标是检查旨在缓解焦虑和回避的沟通策略，每种策略都针对一种控制条件进行测试。这种交流可能会减少直接的关系紧张，但可能不足以导致依恋安全的持久变化。因此，第二个目标涉及检查互动和感知，这些互动和感知可以增加焦虑的个人的信心，增加回避的个人的信任。将在较长时间内审查这些加强安全战略的效果，并结合缓解不安全的通信。夫妻互动中的这些相对较小的调整预计将在总体依恋安全方面产生更深刻的变化，这有利于人际关系，并促进对社会福祉至关重要的有意义的活动。

People differ in how willing and able they are to forge bonds in which they feel secure with others. People who achieve greater attachment security have better relationship outcomes, are more confident in pursuing personal goals and better able to handle challenges, and exhibit greater well-being in general. Although attachment insecurity is often a chronic condition, it can and does change with new experiences. This project capitalises on interactions in romantic relationships, which evoke experiences that have powerful effects in regulating a sense of security. This research introduces relationship strategies that couples can adopt, including communication strategies that strengthen trust or confidence and perception exercises that aid in positive reinterpretations of interactions. Many couples desire to improve their relationship and acknowledge that, ideally, they would like to help each other thrive. However, they struggle to modify established interpersonal dynamics that may keep them stuck in a state of interpersonal anxiety (fear of losing a partner's acceptance and support) and/or interpersonal avoidance (discomfort with relying on others or intimacy). The relationship strategies examined in this research target each type of insecurity and are designed to be incorporated in typical couple interactions and daily events. These strategies may also be adopted in non-romantic settings by individuals who have endured negative interpersonal experiences.The primary goal of this project is to identify strategies that affect couple communication and perceptions to achieve two aims: reduce insecure relational dynamics and enhance attachment security over time. In a series of randomized experiments, couples are assigned to strategies to target anxious tendencies or avoidant tendencies. The first aim is to examine communication strategies aimed at mitigating anxiety versus avoidance, each tested against a control condition. Such communication may reduce immediate relational tension but may not be sufficient to cause enduring changes in attachment security. The second aim, therefore, involves examining interactions and perceptions that can increase confidence among anxious individuals and increase trust among avoidant individuals. The effect of these security-enhancing strategies, combined with communication that mitigates insecurity, will be examined over an extended time. These relatively minor adjustments in couple interactions are expected to ripple into more profound changes in general attachment security, which benefits relationships and promotes meaningful activities that are fundamental to societal well-being.