Attachment and dependence regulation within daily interactions with romantic partners

For 2 weeks, 74 New Zealand undergraduate students recorded their reactions to two components of situational dependence during interactions with their romantic partner: low personal control and high partner impact. Lower personal control predicted lower perceived regard and intimacy, greater partner derogation and withdrawal (self-protective dependence regulation), and reduced attempts to improve interaction quality (relationship-promotive dependence regulation). Participants also reported greater self-protective dependence regulation the more their partner was impacting on their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. As expected, more anxious individuals reported higher drops in perceived regard and greater self-protective dependence regulation when experiencing lower control, whereas more avoidant individuals reported lower regard and reduced relationship-promotive behavior when experiencing stronger partner impact. The links between attachment and dependence are discussed.