Attachment Style and Decoding of Nonverbal Cues‪.‬

The present study examined individual differences in adult attachment style and nonverbal decoding accuracy. It was predicted that secure and preoccupied participants (i.e., those with a positive view of others) would demonstrate more nonverbal accuracy than would those with a negative view of others (i.e., dismissing and fearful participants). Participants were 59 single, female college students with a mean age of 19.20 years. Attachment styles were categorized using Bartholomew and Horowitz's two-dimensional model (1991) and nonverbal decoding accuracy was assessed through four subtests of the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy-2 (DANVA-2) (Nowicki, 2004). Thirty-six students were identified as "positive other" and 23 as "negative other." These groups did not differ in the nonverbal decoding of faces (adult or child) or child voices, p's .05. However, there were significant group differences in the decoding of adult voices, t (57) = 2.24, p .02 and total nonverbal accuracy scores, t (57) = 2.48, p .01, with the "positive other" group demonstrating more nonverbal accuracy than the "negative other" group. Largely influenced by early parent-child relationships, children develop characteristic styles of attachment that persist into adulthood and influence interpersonal relationships (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) have proposed a two-dimensional model representing four possible styles of attachment based on views of the self (positive vs. negative) and views of other people (positive vs. negative). The four attachment styles are secure (positive self, positive other), preoccupied (negative self, positive other), dismissing (positive self, negative other), and fearful (negative self, negative other). Attachment and attachment styles are important constructs for exploring adult functioning because insecure styles of attachment have been shown to be associated with psychopathology and dysfunctional attitudes (Roberts, Gotlib, & Kassel, 1996), as well as stress-related coping styles (Mikulincer & Florian, 1998).