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Are anxiously attached women better mindreaders?

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Abstract

This research was aimed at providing first evidence concerning the relationship between adults’ self-reported attachment style and their performance on a standard ‘theory of mind’ task. Based on adult attachment theory, we hypothesized that the two dimensions of self-reported adult attachment, anxiety and avoidance, are differently related to ‘theory of mind,’ and that this relationship is moderated by variables concerning the ‘theory of mind’ stimuli. The ‘Experiences in Close Relationships’ questionnaire and the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ test were administered to 132 young women. In line with our expectations, women’s attachment-related anxiety was associated with better mind reading concerning stimuli that were emotionally neutral or difficult to recognize.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ECONA, Interuniversity Centre for Research on Cognitive Processing in Natural and Artificial Systems, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Thomas Hünefeldt

  2. Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Fiorenzo Laghi

  3. Department of Clinical and Dynamic Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Francesca Ortu

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  1. Thomas Hünefeldt
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  2. Fiorenzo Laghi
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  3. Francesca Ortu
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Correspondence to Thomas Hünefeldt.

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Hünefeldt, T., Laghi, F. & Ortu, F. Are anxiously attached women better mindreaders?. Cogn Process 14, 317–321 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-013-0556-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-013-0556-2

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