Adult attachment theory:Adult attachment theory: Does it relate to anxiety, Does it relate to anxiety,
compassion, kindness, and compassion, kindness, and
forgiveness?forgiveness?
Adult attachment theory:Adult attachment theory: Does it relate to anxiety, Does it relate to anxiety,
compassion, kindness, and compassion, kindness, and
forgiveness?forgiveness?
Phillip R. ShaverPhillip R. ShaverUniversity of University of CaliforniaCalifornia, Davis, Davis
SBM pre-conferenceSBM pre-conferenceSanta Clara University 3/22/06Santa Clara University 3/22/06
Phillip R. ShaverPhillip R. ShaverUniversity of University of CaliforniaCalifornia, Davis, Davis
SBM pre-conferenceSBM pre-conferenceSanta Clara University 3/22/06Santa Clara University 3/22/06
Thanks to NSF, the Fetzer Institute, the Marchionne Foundation; Mario Mikulincer, Bar-Ilan University, Israel; Omri Gillath, UC Davis
OverviewOverviewOverviewOverview• Attachment theory: origins, aims, and essenceAttachment theory: origins, aims, and essence
• The theory applied to adult love, at first focused The theory applied to adult love, at first focused on romantic love or “pair bonding” on romantic love or “pair bonding”
• The theory extended to a broader sense of “love”The theory extended to a broader sense of “love”
• New findings regarding compassion and altruismNew findings regarding compassion and altruism
• New findings regarding gratitude and forgiveness New findings regarding gratitude and forgiveness
• Possible parallels with Buddhist psychology Possible parallels with Buddhist psychology
Bowlby and Bowlby and Ainsworth’s Ainsworth’s
attachment theoryattachment theory
Bowlby and Bowlby and Ainsworth’s Ainsworth’s
attachment theoryattachment theoryCreated by John Bowlby, a British psychiatrist, Created by John Bowlby, a British psychiatrist, to explain why “maternal deprivation” so often to explain why “maternal deprivation” so often leads to anxiety, anger, delinquency, and leads to anxiety, anger, delinquency, and depressiondepression
Bowlby published five major books between 1969 and 1988
Bowlby and Ainsworth’s Bowlby and Ainsworth’s attachment theoryattachment theory
Bowlby’s theory was first tested on infants Bowlby’s theory was first tested on infants and their mothers by Mary Ainsworth, an and their mothers by Mary Ainsworth, an American psychologist, and her colleagues American psychologist, and her colleagues (whose major book appeared in 1978)(whose major book appeared in 1978)
She invented a laboratory procedure, the Strange Situation, to assess the quality of an infant’s “attachment” to its mother
Harlow’s monkeys and Harlow’s monkeys and Ainsworth’s “strange Ainsworth’s “strange
situation”situation”
Secure attachment facilitates exploration; insecure attachment interferes with it, especially under stressful conditions
The theoryThe theorysimplifiedsimplifiedThe theoryThe theorysimplifiedsimplified
• Human beings, especially children, rely on Human beings, especially children, rely on attachment figuresattachment figures (“safe havens”) to protect them (“safe havens”) to protect them from danger and help them cope with threats and from danger and help them cope with threats and dangersdangers
• The The attachmentattachment behavioralbehavioral systemsystem is an evolved, is an evolved, innate regulator of proximity (hence of safety, innate regulator of proximity (hence of safety, security, and emotion-regulation)security, and emotion-regulation)
• When threats abate, other behavioral systems – When threats abate, other behavioral systems – e.g., e.g., explorationexploration (curiosity) and (curiosity) and caregiving caregiving (compassion) – can be fully activated (the “secure (compassion) – can be fully activated (the “secure base” effect)base” effect)
• Three major patterns of infant attachment have Three major patterns of infant attachment have been studied: been studied: secure,secure, anxious,anxious, avoidantavoidant
Is mother
near, attentive, responsive?
Child feels secure, confident
Child explores, is playful and un-
inhibited; smiles, is sociable
Anxiety
Activates attachment behaviors ranging from simple looking to intense crying, searching, and clinging
Yes
No
Defensive suppression of anxiety
Maintains proximity while protectively avoiding expression of intense need
The attachment behavioral system in The attachment behavioral system in infancyinfancyThe attachment behavioral system in The attachment behavioral system in infancyinfancy
Socially induced patterns of infant Socially induced patterns of infant attachment (Ainsworth)attachment (Ainsworth)
Socially induced patterns of infant Socially induced patterns of infant attachment (Ainsworth)attachment (Ainsworth)
• Secure:Secure: Confident that parent is available and responsive. Exploration-oriented, emotionally positive. Soothes easily. Shows early empathy and ability to talk about emotions. (Documented origin:Documented origin: sensitive, empathic parental caregiving; coherent parental discussion of emotions)
• Anxious:Anxious: Cries a lot, is anxious, angry. Lacks confidence that parent is accessible and responsive. Inhibited exploration. Attachment behavior is too readily activated. (Documented origin:Documented origin: parental anxiety and uncertainty, parental self-centeredness, misperception of the child’s needs and signals, intrusiveness, inconsistency)
• Avoidant:Avoidant: Cries little during separation and actively avoids parent upon reunion. Engages in rigid, displaced exploratory activity, “turning to the neutral world of things without the true interest of exploration.” (Documented Documented origin:origin: parental rejection, lack of warmth, discomfort with negative emotions, vulnerability, and physical contact)
____ I am uncomfortable being close to others; I find it difficult to trust them completely, difficult to allow myself to depend on them. I’m nervous when anyone gets too close, and relationship partners often want me to be more intimate than I feel comfortable being. ((Avoidant, ~ Avoidant, ~ 25%25%))
____ Relationship partners are reluctant to get as close as I would like. I often worry that my partner doesn’t really love me or won’t want to stay with me. I want to get very close to my partner, and this sometimes scares people away. ((Anxious, ~ 20%Anxious, ~ 20%))
____ I find it relatively easy to get close to others and am comfortable depending on them. I don’t often worry about being abandoned or about someone getting too close to me. ((Secure, ~ 55%Secure, ~ 55%))
In 1987, using a simple questionnaire, In 1987, using a simple questionnaire, we identified attachment patterns in we identified attachment patterns in
adultsadults
In 1987, using a simple questionnaire, In 1987, using a simple questionnaire, we identified attachment patterns in we identified attachment patterns in
adultsadults
Today we conceptualize attachment Today we conceptualize attachment patterns as regions in a two-dimensional patterns as regions in a two-dimensional
spacespace
HIGH
ANXIETY
HIGH
AVOIDANCE
SECUREANXIOUS /
PREOCCUPIED
FEARFULLY AVOIDANT
DISMISSINGLY AVOIDANT
LOW
ANXIETY
LOW AVOIDANCE
In my lab, we measure adult In my lab, we measure adult attachment patterns with two attachment patterns with two
agree-disagree scales agree-disagree scales
In my lab, we measure adult In my lab, we measure adult attachment patterns with two attachment patterns with two
agree-disagree scales agree-disagree scales Avoidance Avoidance (sample items)(sample items)
1. I prefer not to show how I feel deep down.2. I try to avoid getting too close to my partner.3. I feel comfortable depending on my partner.
(reverse-scored)4. I turn to my partner for many things, including
comfort and reassurance. (reverse-scored)Anxiety Anxiety (sample items)(sample items)
1. I rarely worry about being abandoned. (reverse-scored)
2. I need a lot of reassurance that my partner loves me.
3. I get frustrated if my partner is not available when needed.
4. I resent it when my partner is away from me.
• less invested in close relationships (lower interest and commitment)
• describes parents as rejecting and/or emotionally cool (and maybe also abusive, alcoholic)
• has difficulty recalling emotional episodes from childhood (repression)
• expresses less grief following loss• doesn’t use touch to communicate affection or intimacy• withdraws from partner when partner is distressed (poor at
caregiving)• feels bored and distant during social interactions (in diary
studies)• doesn’t like to self-disclose and doesn’t approve of others who
disclose• projects own negative traits onto others and moves away from
them• claims not to be afraid of death but exhibits death anxiety on
the TAT
Diverse sample of research findings: Diverse sample of research findings: The adult The adult avoidantavoidant pattern pattern
Diverse sample of research findings: Diverse sample of research findings: The adult The adult avoidantavoidant pattern pattern
• deeply invested in relationships yet contributes to frequent break-ups
• describes parents as intrusive and unfair; is still angry at them• grieves intensely following loss and has trouble achieving
resolution• is frequently jealous and afraid romantic partner will leave• one negative emotional memory initiates a flood of others• worries about rejection or disapproval during daily interactions
(in diary studies)• self-discloses too much and indiscriminately, wants to get close
quickly • is both consciously and unconsciously afraid of death (“the
ultimate separation”)
Diverse sample of research findings:Diverse sample of research findings:The adult The adult anxiousanxious pattern pattern
Diverse sample of research findings:Diverse sample of research findings:The adult The adult anxiousanxious pattern pattern
• values and enjoys relationships and tends to have long ones • describes parents in generally favorable (though not
unrealistic) terms• grieves losses but achieves resolution or reorganization• enjoys sexual exploration, but usually in the context of a long-
term relationship• copes with stress by seeking actual or symbolic social support • supports partner when partner is distressed (compassionate,
responsive)• self-discloses appropriately and likes others to self-disclose
appropriately• relatively unafraid of death (at both conscious and unconscious
levels)• Reacts to mortality salience with an increased desire for
intimacy and a heightened sense of symbolic immortality (rather than becoming ethnocentric and hostile to outgroups, as insecure people tend to do)
Diverse sample of research findings:Diverse sample of research findings:The adult The adult securesecure pattern pattern
Diverse sample of research findings:Diverse sample of research findings:The adult The adult securesecure pattern pattern
Newer studies, Part 1: Newer studies, Part 1:
Attachment-system Attachment-system
activation in adultsactivation in adults
Newer studies, Part 1: Newer studies, Part 1:
Attachment-system Attachment-system
activation in adultsactivation in adults
The attachment system can be The attachment system can be experimentally activated in experimentally activated in
adultsadults
The attachment system can be The attachment system can be experimentally activated in experimentally activated in
adultsadults• Subliminal (very fast) priming with a threat word
(e.g., failure, illness, death) leads to greater accessibility of attachment-related concepts – e.g., faster responses to attachment-related words (love, hug, secure, close) in a lexical decision task (Mikulincer et al., JPSP, 2000)
• Secure people activate positive but not negative attachment concepts; anxious people activate both positive and negative concepts; avoidant people activate both, but activate the negative ones only after a “cognitive load” has been added
• Avoidance seems to require effortful suppression
More on attachment-system More on attachment-system activation (Mikulincer, Gillath, & activation (Mikulincer, Gillath, &
Shaver, JPSP, 2002)Shaver, JPSP, 2002)
More on attachment-system More on attachment-system activation (Mikulincer, Gillath, & activation (Mikulincer, Gillath, &
Shaver, JPSP, 2002)Shaver, JPSP, 2002)• Subliminal priming with a threat word (e.g., failure,
separation) increases accessibility of attachment figures’ names (including “God” or “Jesus” for some people), but not names of other familiar people
• Attachment anxiety correlates with faster access to attachment figures’ names regardless of threat
• Avoidant attachment correlates with slower access to attachment figures’ names (suppression, inhibition) when the threat word is “separation,” but not “failure” (so the suppression seems to be attachment-specific, not achievement-related)
Time taken to indicate that Time taken to indicate that letter strings are words letter strings are words
(names)(names)
440460480500520540560580600620
Names ofAttachment Figures
Names of ClosePersons
Names of KnownPersons
Threat
Neutral****
= a significant difference= a significant difference**
milliseconds
Newer studies, Part 2: Newer studies, Part 2: Attachment, compassion, Attachment, compassion,
and caregivingand caregiving• Kunce and I (1994) developed a questionnaire
to measure caregiving orientations in romantic relationships and found that anxious individuals are more intrusive, less sensitive caregivers; avoidant individuals are less inclined to provide care
• Collins and Feeney have shown the same thing in several laboratory studies of couples
• This made us wonder whether compassion and generous caregiving could be enhanced by increasing a person’s sense of security (as Bowlby and Ainsworth showed exploration can be)
Part 2A: Enhanced security Part 2A: Enhanced security reduces inter-group hostilityreduces inter-group hostility
(Mikulincer & Shaver, JPSP, 2001)(Mikulincer & Shaver, JPSP, 2001)
Part 2A: Enhanced security Part 2A: Enhanced security reduces inter-group hostilityreduces inter-group hostility
(Mikulincer & Shaver, JPSP, 2001)(Mikulincer & Shaver, JPSP, 2001)• Theory: Having a sense of attachment security
allows people to open themselves to unfamiliar others and consider others’ worldviews
• This is supported by child-development research linking secure attachment with exploration, curiosity, and reduced fear of strangers
• Because of the plasticity of the attachment system (demonstrated in previous developmental and clinical studies), we thought security priming might cause even anxious and avoidant people to become more tolerant
In 5 experiments (conducted in Israel), we primed thoughts and feelings related to attachment security
• for example, by having people imagine being optimally supported and cared for
• for example, with words such as love, hug, secure, presented subliminally
We then assessed feelings toward a variety of out-groups (as viewed by secular Jewish university students: Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews, Russian immigrants, homosexuals)
Attachment style was measured beforehand. Relevant control conditions (positive affect, neutral affect, in-group targets) were included, and potential confounds (alternative explanations, such as positive mood) were measured and evaluated
Results Results Results Results • In all 5 experiments, security primes, whether
conscious or unconscious, eliminated the difference between in-group and out-group tolerance
• Similar effects did not occur for positive emotion primes (e.g., “success,” “happy”) unrelated to love or attachment
• Anxious attachment was consistently related to perceiving out-group members as threatening
• Security priming effects were not mediated (i.e., not explained) by positive mood
• Security priming did not interact with attachment style, suggesting that everyone’s sense of security can be enhanced, regardless of initial security or insecurity, with equally beneficial effects on tolerance
• Theory: A secure person is able to focus on others’ suffering and activate behavioral systems such as caregiving rather than (self-protective) anxiety
• This idea is supported by child-development research linking secure attachment with empathic responses to people who are needy or suffering, even in the preschool years
Part 2B:Part 2B: Attachment, Attachment, compassion, compassion, and altruismand altruism
We conducted large-scale questionnaire studies in the U.S., Holland, and Israel
People completed the usual ECR measures of attachment anxiety and avoidance, along with measures of number of volunteer services performed, time devoted to volunteer activities, and motives for engaging in such activities
Initial support from Initial support from survey studies (PR, survey studies (PR, 2005)2005)
•Avoidant people volunteered less, and when they did volunteer, they did it for less generous reasons, suggesting a lack of compassion or generosity
•Anxious people didn’t volunteer more or less than secure ones, but they got involved for more security-enhancing reasons (e.g., to feel included and be appreciated by others)
•Measures of alternative explanatory concepts (e.g., self-esteem, interpersonal problems) did not account for the findings
Survey resultsSurvey results
Experimentally increased security and Experimentally increased security and compassionate behavior (JPSP, 2005)compassionate behavior (JPSP, 2005)• We decided to study compassion experimentally
• In one experiment, security was increased by unconscious (subliminal) priming with names of supportive attachment figures
• In a second experiment, security was increased by conscious priming (asking people to think about specific examples of being comforted, taken care of)
• In both studies people were asked to help a suffering woman by taking her place in a stressful lab situation (in reality, she was an actress appearing via videotape, but participants didn’t know this)
Measures (based on Batson’s studies)Measures (based on Batson’s studies)Measures (based on Batson’s studies)Measures (based on Batson’s studies)• Compassion (7-point scale, 6 items)
“Rate the extent to which you felt…”compassionatesympathetic
• Personal Distress (7-point scale, 8 items)“Rate the extent to which you felt…”
alarmeddistressed
• Stated Willingness to Help (7-point scale, single item)“To what extent did you wish you could help the other participant?”
• Actual Willingness to Help (yes or no)“Would you be willing to help the other participant by replacing her and completing the rest of her tasks?”
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Security Prime
Close-Person Prime
Acquantance Prime
First study: Differences between priming First study: Differences between priming conditions in compassion, personal distress, and conditions in compassion, personal distress, and
willingness to helpwillingness to help
* Significant effect of security prime
Personal Distress
Compassion Rated Willingness to
Help
**
**
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
Security Prime
Close-Person Prime
Acquantance Prime
Actual Willingness to
Help
**
First study: Proportion of people willing to replace First study: Proportion of people willing to replace the suffering woman as a function of priming the suffering woman as a function of priming
conditioncondition
* Significant effect of security prime
Summary: Compassion Summary: Compassion experimentsexperiments
• The results were the same in both studies (using conscious and unconscious priming), and were highly similar in Israel and the U.S.
• Avoidant people were less compassionate and less willing to help
• Anxious people were more distressed, but this didn’t increase their compassion or altruism
• The beneficial effects of enhanced security appeared without regard for anxiety or avoidance; that is, the effects again were general
• Conclusion: Even dispositionally insecure people become more compassionate and altruistic when they feel more secure
Three Additional Pairs of Three Additional Pairs of Compassion StudiesCompassion Studies
• One pair (US and Israeli) showed that the effects I’ve just described couldn’t be explained by opportunity to elevate one’s own mood (a manipulated variable) or by self-esteem and neuroticism (two self-report variables).
• A second pair of studies showed that the effects couldn’t be explained by “empathic joy,” self-esteem, or neuroticism.
• A third, that the effects couldn’t be explained by relatedness to the suffering person (or by self-esteem and neuroticism).
• In two of the three sets of studies, the egoistic alternative explanations applied only to avoidant participants.
• In several studies, we examined associations between attachment anxiety, avoidance, and dispositional gratitude and forgiveness
• We also examined associations between the two attachment dimensions and people’s subjective experiences of gratitude and forgiveness (thoughts, feelings, and wishes associated with feeling grateful to someone or forgiving someone who caused suffering)
• We checked to see whether these associations could be explained by other variables, such as self-esteem and general trust
2C: Attachment, gratitude, 2C: Attachment, gratitude, forgivenessforgiveness
Conclusions: GratitudeConclusions: Gratitude
•Avoidant people were less grateful (dispositionally) and reported less positive experiences of gratitude (more threats to self, less happiness and love)
•Anxious people were neither more nor less grateful than secure ones, but reported a more ambivalent experience of gratitude (more happiness/love, but also more feelings of inferiority and obligation)
•This was not explained by self-esteem or trust; it really seemed to be due to attachment insecurity
Conclusions: ForgivenessConclusions: Forgiveness•Avoidant people were less forgiving
(dispositionally), more likely to seek revenge, and more negative in their experiences of forgiveness (deeper emotional wounds, more thoughts about relationship deterioration, fewer thoughts about relationship enhancement, less understanding of the other’s actions)
•Anxious people were neither more nor less forgiving than secure ones, but they experienced forgiveness as insufficient to cure deep psychological wounds to the self
•The findings were not explained by self-esteem or trust
Part 3: Security and self-Part 3: Security and self-transcendent valuestranscendent values
Part 3: Security and self-Part 3: Security and self-transcendent valuestranscendent values
We also explored whether security enhancement might strengthen two self-transcendent values: benevolence (being loving and kind toward people with whom one has frequent personal contact) and universalism (understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection of all people)
It did . . .
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Security Prime
Positive Priming
Neutral Priming
Differences between priming conditions Differences between priming conditions in benevolence and universalism in benevolence and universalism
* Significant effect of security primeBenevolence Universalis
m
****
Clinical possibilities: PTSD Clinical possibilities: PTSD symptom reductionsymptom reduction
Can a security induction reduce the negative psychological effects of trauma (post-traumatic stress symptoms)?
• We (Mikulincer, Shaver, & Horesh, in press) examined associations between attachment security and both explicit and implicit responses to trauma (terrorism in Israel)
• Explicit responses were assessed with a self-report measure of post-traumatic symptoms
• Implicit responses were indicated by cognitive accessibility of trauma-related concepts (words) in a Stroop task
• We examined the effects of both dispositional and experimentally manipulated (subliminally induced) security on the Stroop task
MethodMethod
• At the beginning of the semester, 120 Israeli students completed the ECR (in Hebrew)
• A month later, they completed a PTSD Inventory focused on effects of Palestinian bombings
• Based on the total PTSD symptom score, two groups of students were selected to participate in a third session One group – the PTSD group (N = 30) –
scored above the 75th percentile on symptoms
The other group – the non-PTSD group (N =30) – scored below the 25th percentile on symptoms
• 2 to 3 weeks later, the students were invited to the lab, where they performed a Stroop color-naming task including 10 terror-related words, 10 negatively valenced words unrelated to terror, and 10 neutral words
• car bomb (say “green”)
• Hamas (say “red”)
• They completed each trial while being subliminally primed with an attachment-security word (“being loved”), a positively valenced word not related to attachment (“success”), or a neutral word (“hat”)
Method (continued)Method (continued)
Results Results • Anxious students exhibited more post-
traumatic thought intrusions and hyper-arousal symptoms
• Avoidant students exhibited more defensive suppression of traumatic thoughts
• Students in the PTSD group had longer color-naming latencies for terror words (implying greater mental accessibility or activation of terror-related thoughts)
• But this effect was qualified by a significant interaction with experimentally primed security …
625
650
675
700
725
750
Neutral Positive Security
PTSDNon-PTSD
Prime Type
Color-naming latencies (in milliseconds)Color-naming latencies (in milliseconds)for terror-related wordsfor terror-related words
Attachment Security and Attachment Security and Buddhist EquanimityBuddhist Equanimity
Attachment Security and Attachment Security and Buddhist EquanimityBuddhist Equanimity
• There are striking similarities between the “secure mind” prized by attachment researchers and the “balanced, wholesome mind” advocated by Buddhist psychology. This seems odd, given the origins of the two psychologies (primate ethology and psychoanalysis, in one case; Indian philosophy and religion, in the other).
• I want to present some preliminary “loose” ideas about this similarity, for discussion.
I had an opportunity to discuss this with HH the Dalai Lama in October of 2004
I had an opportunity to discuss this with HH the Dalai Lama in October of 2004
Loose idea # 1: The Root of SufferingLoose idea # 1: The Root of Suffering“We fear losing our illusion of security – that’s what makes us so anxious.... The mind is always seeking zones of safety, and these zones are continually falling apart.... That’s the essence of samsara – the cycle of suffering that comes from continuing to seek happiness in all the wrong places” (Pema Chödrön, Comfortable with Uncertainty, 2003, pp. 23-24).
Comment: This is similar to attachment researchers’ notion that some methods of coping with threats are healthier than others. But Chödrön writes as if everyone has an anxious, grasping mind. Attachment suggests this is a relative matter. People who have been treated well by attachment figures are measurably less afraid of death, more open cognitively and emotionally, less easily thrown off course. Also, context matters (because it creates different degrees of threat).
“Repressing” and “Grasping” versus Maintaining Balance and Equanimity“Repressing” and “Grasping” versus Maintaining Balance and Equanimity
“It’s helpful to remind yourself that meditation is about opening and relaxing to whatever arises, without picking and choosing. It’s definitely not meant to repress anything, and it’s not intended to encourage grasping, either…. To the degree that we’re willing to see our enmeshment or grasping and our repressing clearly, they begin to wear themselves out…. That’s what we’re doing in meditation: Up come all these thoughts, but rather than squelch them or obsess about them, we acknowledge them and let them fade” (Chödrön, pp. 35, 47-48).
Comment: This is similar to the idea in attachment theory that the major forms of insecurity are avoidance (repression, squelching) and anxiety (grasping, obsessing), with security being more open, more relaxed, less defensive. It’s interesting that the forms of insecurity emphasized by the two ‘theories’ are so similar.
ANXIOUS, WORRIED
GRASPING
ANXIOUS, WORRIED
GRASPING
DEFENSIVE SUPPRESSION
DEFENSIVE SUPPRESSION
NONDEFENSIVE EQUANIMITY
NONDEFENSIVE EQUANIMITY
ANXIOUS
PREOCCUPATION
VACILLATION, AMBIVALENCE, DISORGANIZED ATTEMPTS AT
CONTROL
DEFENSIVE DENIAL
NOT GRASPING
OPENLY ACCEPTING
Loose idea # 2: The attachment dimensions are like the two problems noted during meditation
Loose idea # 2: The attachment dimensions are like the two problems noted during meditation
• A common Buddhist prayer is: “I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.”
• HH the Dalai Lama: “Which object of refuge will never deceive us? There are three: the rare and supreme Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha…. The Buddha is the protector and is like a doctor; the precious dharma is like the medicine; and the spiritual sangha is like a nurse, taking care of us like a good friend” (The Heart of Compassion, 2002, pp. 17-22).
• There are very similar notions in attachment theory, including the central notion that available, sensitive attachment figures provide a “safe haven” (a refuge, a “nurse”) and a “secure base.”
Loose idea # 3: Taking refuge in the “triple gem”Loose idea # 3: Taking refuge in the “triple gem”
Loose idea #4: Our experiments parallel the Buddhist cultivation of compassion
Loose idea #4: Our experiments parallel the Buddhist cultivation of compassion
“To begin, we start where we are. We connect with the place where we currently feel loving-kindness, compassion, joy, or equanimity, however limited. We aspire that we and our loved ones enjoy the results of our practice. Then we gradually extend that aspiration to a widening circle of relationships: May I be free from suffering and the root of suffering. May you be free from suffering and the root of suffering. May all beings be free of suffering and the root of suffering” (Chödrön, pp. 66-67).
Comment: This and related practices are similar to our attachment security inductions, which reduce outgroup prejudice and foster compassion, altruism, gratitude, and forgiveness. We began with reminders of others who served as security-providing attachment figures; then we checked to see whether compassion for others increased as a result. And it did!
Conclusions and QuestionsConclusions and Questions• Attachment theory is being creatively researched, and its
implications for personal development and social harmony are empirically supported.
• Attachment theory and Buddhist psychology share important insights (which isn’t to say they are identical).
• It may be worthwhile to search the attachment literature for clues about differences between people who are secure, anxious, or avoidant and see if this maps onto the kinds of success or difficulty they have with meditation. This can be studied with a combination of self-report questionnaires, interviews, behavioral observations, and brain-imaging, as is being done with attachment.
• Attachment theory helps to explain why insecure people are less compassionate and kind than secure people: “Caregiving,” an innate behavioral system, is undermined by attachment insecurity.
• Can meditation “cure” insecure attachment or weaken some of the defensive strategies associated with it? How ‘social’ is meditation training, and does this matter? How does it work in the brain?
• We are undertaking the Shamatha Project to find out.
Clinical considerations, 1: Are Clinical considerations, 1: Are security effects only security effects only
momentary?momentary?• In a recent preliminary study we assessed
extended effects of repeated subliminal exposure to security words
• Participants: 30 UC Davis students, aged 18-23 • Completed a standard measure of positive mood
(the PANAS positive affect scale) 3 times: once at the beginning of the experiment, a second time 3 weeks later (at the end of a repeated-priming procedure), and a third time, 1 week after the experiment ended
• The priming occurred every other morning (M, W, F) over a 3-week period, with the subliminal stimuli appearing in the midst of cognitive tasks shown on a computer screen; during the 4th week, no priming occurred
2
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3
3.2
1 2
secure prime
neutral prime
Result: Mood change was Result: Mood change was sustained for a week without sustained for a week without
further primingfurther priming
0 1 2 3 4Weeks
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