Attachment styles have a modulatory impact on psychophysiological arousal evoked by reciprocated and unreciprocated gaze
Abstract
Gaze processing plays an essential role during social interactions. Here, it was investigated whether variations in attachment style (secure, anxious and avoidant) were associated with differential expressions of sympathetic autonomic arousal upon live dyadic gaze interactions. To do so, 47 participants were presented with either reciprocated or unreciprocated eye gaze from a live model and skin conductance responses (SCRs) were collected. In line with previous observations, SCRs and subjective ratings of arousal were higher in response to reciprocated, compared to unreciprocated gaze. In terms of the modulation by attachment style, it was shown that participants with low attachment security and high attachment avoidance displayed overall higher sympathetic arousal upon the presentation of the live dyadic gaze cues, irrespective of whether the observed model showed reciprocal or unreciprocated gaze. Together, these observations indicate that attachment styles have a modulatory effect on individuals' psychophysiological responses to dyadic gaze interactions.
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The link between gaze and attachment in general, or its onset in particular, is not widespread and far from completely understood.
“its link to attachment in general, or its onset in particular, are not widespread and far from completely understood.”
From Back to basics: A re-evaluation of the relevance of imprinting in the genesis of Bowlby’s attachment theory (2022) · cites this paper as Prinsen et al., 2019
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Robledo, J.-P., Cross, I., Boada-Bayona, L., & Demogeot, N. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1033746 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“For instance, although the link between gaze and attachment has been explicitly studied, it has been so in the context of young adults in their twenties (Cecchini et al., 2015; Prinsen et al., 2019).”
BackgroundSoriano, J. R., Daniëls, N., Prinsen, J., & Alaerts, K. (2020) · Brain Communications · doi:10.1093/braincomms/fcaa093 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
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“In human infants, gazing elicits a response from the caregiver, as does crying or smiling [14, 15].”
BackgroundAssociation between attachment anxiety and the gaze direction-related N170
Burra, N., & Vrtička, P. (2022) · Attachment & Human Development · doi:10.1080/14616734.2022.2091337 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Two behavioural studies investigated the relation between AX and the detection of gaze direction (Burra et al., 2019) or the physiological response to open or closed eyes (Prinsen et al., 2019).”
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Eye contact effect: The role of vagal regulation and reactivity, and self-regulation of attention
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In the eye of the beholder: Social traits predict motor simulation during social gazePreprint
Prinsen, J., & Alaerts, K. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/e58an
Tang, T. Y., Piers, S., Gistelinck, L., Daniëls, N., Moerkerke, M., Steyaert, J. G., Ortibus, E., Naulaers, G., Alaerts, K., & Boets, B. (2026) · Pediatric Research · doi:10.1038/s41390-025-04613-w
“Subsequently, a 7-min dyadic eye contact paradigm (ECP) 37 – 39 was performed, where participants sat in front of a 20 × 30 cm voltage-sensitive liquid crystal shutter screen (DreamGlass Group, Spain) that could rapidly transition from opaque to transparent (controlled by Psychtoolbox-3 version…”
Ecer, E., & Gąsiorowska, A. (2026) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjop.70060
- Authors
- Prinsen, J., Deschepper, A., Maes, E., & Alaerts, K.
- Affiliations
- KU Leuven (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Alaerts, Kaat
- Venue
- Biological Psychology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-11
- Volume
- 148
- Pages
- 107773
- ISSN
- 0301-0511 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2974673290
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 1.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Biological Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Lirias (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- KU Leuven (STG/14/001)
- The Branco Weiss Fellowship – Society in Science
- Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS
- Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (KAN 1506716N, G079017N, KAN 1521313N)
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
- Marguerite-Marie Delacroix foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- attachment styles, gaze, sympathetic activation, skin conductance response, attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, social interaction, psychophysiological arousal
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Arousal, Autonomic Nervous System, Female, Fixation, Ocular, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Object Attachment, Young Adult
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