Attachment, Caregiving, and Altruism: Boosting Attachment Security Increases Compassion and Helping.
Abstract
Recent studies based on J. Bowlby's (1969/1982) attachment theory reveal that both dispositional and experimentally enhanced attachment security facilitate cognitive openness and empathy, strengthen self-transcendent values, and foster tolerance of out-group members. Moreover, dispositional attachment security is associated with volunteering to help others in everyday life and to unselfish motives for volunteering. The present article reports 5 experiments, replicated in 2 countries (Israel and the United States), testing the hypothesis that increases in security (accomplished through both implicit and explicit priming techniques) foster compassion and altruistic behavior. The hypothesized effects were consistently obtained, and various alternative explanations were explored and ruled out. Dispositional attachment-related anxiety and avoidance adversely influenced compassion, personal distress, and altruistic behavior in theoretically predictable ways. As expected, attachment security provides a foundation for care-oriented feelings and caregiving behaviors, whereas various forms of insecurity suppress or interfere with compassionate caregiving.
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The same physiological processes that characterize the relaxation response occur in the context of secure attachment and mother-child dyads, which provide a foundation for compassion.
“The same physiological processes that characterize the relaxation response have been shown to occur in the context of secure attachment and mother-child dyads, which provide a foundation for compassion (Fricchione, 2011; Hill-Soderlund et al, 2008; Mikulincer, Shaver, Gillath, & Nitzberg, 2005; Oosterman, De Schipper, Fisher, Dozier, & Schuengel, 2010).”
From A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Effects of Meditation on Empathy, Compassion, and Prosocial Behaviors (2018) · cites this paper as Mikulincer, Shaver, Gillath, & Nitzberg, 2005
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- Authors
- Mikulincer, M., Shaver, P. R., Gillath, O., & Nitzberg, R. A.
- Affiliations
- Bar-Ilan University (IL)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2005-11
- Volume
- 89
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 817-839
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2078649529
- Cited by
- 739
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 91 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 48 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 35 · 2012: 39
- FWCI
- 22.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- attachment security, attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, compassion, altruism, caregiving, helping behavior, priming, personal distress, empathy, volunteering, cross-cultural replication
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Altruism, Analysis of Variance, California, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Female, Helping Behavior, Humans, Israel, Male, Object Attachment, Personality, Psychological Theory, Regression Analysis, Self Concept, Multivariate Analysis, Single-Blind Method
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