Do You See What I See? Actor and Partner Attachment Shape Biased Perceptions of Partners

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

The present research examined how actor and partner attachment insecurity relates to biases in perceptions of partners’ core relationship-relevant constructs. Across three dyadic studies (N couples = 333, N individuals = 666), we examined attachment anxiety and avoidance as predictors of over- or underestimation of partners’ relationship satisfaction, commitment, and responsiveness, using partners’ own reports as the reference point for evaluating bias. Actors higher in avoidance and actors with partners higher in avoidance perceived their partners to be less satisfied and committed. In addition, actors higher in avoidance and actors higher in anxiety displayed a pessimistic bias, perceiving their partners to be less satisfied and committed than their partners reported being. Finally, actors with partners higher in avoidance displayed an optimistic bias, perceiving their partners to be more satisfied and committed than their partners reported being. Results underscore the importance of adopting a dyadic perspective on perceptual biases in romantic relationships.

Original languageEnglish
JournalPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Volume45
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)587-602
Number of pages16
ISSN0146-1672
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

    Research areas

  • attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, bias, partner perceptions, romantic relationships

ID: 291121692