Attachment and prejudice.

Curr Opin Psychol

Birmingham City University, School of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, Room C333, Curzon Building, Cardigan Street, Birmingham B4 7BD, UK.

Published: February 2019

AI Article Synopsis

  • There’s a lack of research exploring prejudice through the lens of attachment theory, which looks at how people's emotional bonds impact their behaviors and thoughts.
  • People with high attachment anxiety may respond to perceived threats from outgroups with fear and heightened prejudice, while those with high attachment avoidance might react by distancing themselves and also showing prejudice.
  • The paper reviews studies that connect attachment styles with prejudice and suggests that having secure attachments can help reduce prejudiced attitudes, identifying key factors like empathy and trust that influence these relationships.

Article Abstract

There is a paucity of research that examines prejudice from an attachment theory perspective. Herein we make theoretical links between attachment patterns and levels of prejudice. Perceptions of outgroup threat, which activate the attachment system, 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. We review the literature that examines the associations between attachment patterns and prejudice; evidence from attachment priming studies suggests a causal role of attachment security in reducing prejudice. We identify several mediators of these links: empathy, negative emotions, trust, social dominance orientation, romanticism, and contact quality. Future research should manipulate potential mediators and use psychophysiological assessments of threat.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.04.003DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

attachment
9
attachment patterns
8
prejudice high
8
high attachment
8
prejudice
6
attachment prejudice
4
prejudice paucity
4
paucity examines
4
examines prejudice
4
prejudice attachment
4

Similar Publications

Optimal strategies for correcting merotelic chromosome attachments in anaphase.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

February 2025

Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences and Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10012.

Accurate chromosome segregation in mitosis depends on proper connections of sister chromatids, through microtubules, to the opposite poles of the early mitotic spindle. Transiently, many inaccurate connections are formed and rapidly corrected throughout the mitotic stages, but a small number of merotelic connections, in which a chromatid is connected to both spindle poles, remain lagging at the spindle's equator in anaphase. Most of the lagging chromatids are eventually moved to one or the other pole, likely by a combination of microtubules' turnover and the brute force of pulling by the microtubules' majority from the one pole against the microtubules' minority from the other pole.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Errors are robustly tamed in cumulative knowledge processes.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

February 2025

Computer Science, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02134.

As knowledge accumulates in science and society in a distributed fashion, erroneous derivations can be introduced into the corpus of knowledge. Such derivations can compromise the validity of any units of knowledge that rely on them in the future. Can societal knowledge maintain some level of integrity given simple distributed error-checking mechanisms? In this paper, we investigate the following formulation of the question: assuming that a constant fraction of the new derivations is wrong, is it possible for simple error-checking mechanisms that apply when a new unit of knowledge is derived to maintain the integrity of the corpus of knowledge? This question was introduced by Ben-Eliezer et al.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Human adenovirus type 36 (HAdV-D36) has been putatively linked to obesity in animals and has been associated with obesity in humans in some but not all studies. Despite extensive epidemiological research there is limited information about its receptor profile. We investigated the receptor portfolio of HAdV-D36 using a combined structural biology and virology approach.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Histopathology of the small airways: Similarities and differences between ageing and COPD.

Pulmonology

December 2025

Division of Immunology, Immunity to Infection and Respiratory Medicine, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK.

Age-related lung function decline is associated with small airway closure and gas trapping. The mechanisms which cause these changes are not fully understood. It has been suggested that COPD is caused by accelerated ageing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Relaxin in pregnancy: a narrative review of a pleiotropic molecule.

Minerva Obstet Gynecol

January 2025

Unit of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Mothers, Children and Adults, Policlinic University Hospital, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.

Introduction: Relaxin is a hormone primarily produced by the corpus luteum during pregnancy, and it plays a critical role in various physiological processes related to pregnancy and childbirth.

Evidence Acquisition: Studies have suggested a possible link between relaxin levels and preterm birth. Relaxin's effects on the cervix and pelvic ligaments suggest it could influence the mode of delivery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!