Mental Representations in Stressful Situations: The Calming and Distressing Effects of Significant Others

• Published in: Journal of experimental social psychology Vol. 38; no. 2; pp. 152 - 161
• Main Author: McGowan, Stephanie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01.03.2002; Elsevier; Academic Press
• Subjects: adult attachment; Adulthood; Adults; Anxiety; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition & reasoning; Experimental psychology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Interpersonal relations; mental representations; Mental stress; Personal relationships; Personality. Affectivity; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Self; significant others; Social psychology; Stress; mental representations; anxiety; adult attachment; significant others; Human; Life events; Affective attachment; Mental representation; Cognition; Personality; Coping; Self concept; Stress
• ISSN: 0022-1031; 1096-0465
• DOI: 10.1006/jesp.2001.1493

According to attachment theory, attachment figures serve a safe haven function in stressful situations by reducing anxiety through physical proximity. The current study tested the effects of cognitive safe haven in adulthood. Thoughts of a significant other who was not physically present were hypothesized to reduce feelings of anxiety in a stressful situation. Participants imagined and described either a significant other or an acquaintance while waiting to take part in a potentially stressful task. An interaction between working models of attachment and experimental condition was found for distress scores. Thinking about a significant other led to lower levels of distress for individuals with a positive model of self, but higher levels of distress for individuals with a negative model of self.