Abstract

This study tested whether working models of attachment guide how people construe and respond to social interactions by examining immediate responses to a range of everyday interactions and to specific attachment-relevant interactions. Patterns for immediate reports were compared with those for more memory-based, global reports. Secure, preoccupied, fearful, and dismissing participants provided immediate reports after their social interactions for 1 week and completed retrospective questionnaires. Attachment differences were accentuated in attachment-relevant, high-conflict interactions. Preoccupied participants responded more favorably after conflict than did secure or dismissing-models contribute to perceptions may depend on the fit between attachment goals and the situation and on the extent of memory-based processing.