Attachment Avoidance and Attachment Anxiety as Individual Characteristics Affecting Job Search Behavior

an article by Monique V. E. Leenders (University of Groningen, the Netherlands and University of Applied Sciences Drechtsteden, Dordrecht, the Netherlands), Abraham P. Buunk (University of Groningen, the Netherlands) and Kène Henkens (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, the Hague; University of Amsterdam; University Medical Center Groningen) published in Journal of Career Development Volume 46 Issue 5 (October 2019)

Abstract

In this study, the relationship was investigated between attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety on the one hand, and job search intention, job search self-efficacy, job search self-esteem, and job search attitude on the other hand.

Our sample consisted of 180 employees from an international industrial organization in the Netherlands.

Results showed that attachment avoidance had a larger impact on the job search process than attachment anxiety. More avoidantly attached people had lower job search intentions, lower job search self-efficacy, and more negative job search attitudes. Attachment avoidance had an effect on job search intentions through job search self-efficacy and job search attitude but not through job search self-esteem.

Attachment anxiety had no effect on job search intention through job search self-efficacy, job search self-esteem, and job search attitude. Attachment style is discussed as individual characteristic that impacts the job search process.

Full text (PDF 15pp)

---

From attachment to addiction: The mediating role of need satisfaction on social networking sites

an article by Adela Chen (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA) published in Computers in Human Behavior Volume 98 (September 2019)

Highlights

• Need satisfaction for relatedness mediated the positive relationship between attachment anxiety and SNS addiction.
• Need satisfaction for self-presentation mediated the positive relationship between attachment anxiety and SNS addiction.
• Need satisfaction for relatedness mediated the negative relationship between attachment avoidance and SNS addiction.
• Need satisfaction for self-presentation mediated the negative relationship between attachment avoidance and SNS addiction.
• Need satisfaction for autonomy mediated the positive relationship between attachment avoidance and SNS addiction.

Abstract

We develop a mediation model to explain the relationship between attachment and Social Networking Site (SNS) addiction. Drawing upon the Needs-Affordances-Features model, we investigate the mediating role of satisfaction of the innate psychological needs that are salient in the SNS context (i.e., need for relatedness, need for self-presentation, and need for autonomy).

Based on an empirical study of 314 daily Facebook users, results reveal distinct effects of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance on SNS addiction through the satisfaction of different psychological needs. Satisfaction of the need for relatedness and the need for self-presentation mediates the positive relationship between attachment anxiety and SNS addiction.

Satisfaction of these needs also mediates the negative relationship between attachment avoidance and SNS addiction. Satisfaction of the need for autonomy mediates the positive relationship between attachment avoidance and SNS addiction. We conclude the study with the implications for research and practice.

---