Getting close from far away: The role of degree of attachment security in blogging behavior
Item
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Title
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Getting close from far away: The role of degree of attachment security in blogging behavior
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:f4bccdfd4e16:10940
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identifier
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11218
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Creator
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Trub, Leora,
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Contributor
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Tracey Revenson | Arietta Slade
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Date
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2011
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Behavioral psychology | attachment | attachment security | avoidant attachment | blog | blogging | internet
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Abstract
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This study examines several aspects of the relationship between blogging and the psychological construct of attachment security. The sample included 150 participants who filled out an online questionnaire comprised of open- and closed-ended measures of attachment, psychosocial functioning and blogging. Results indicated that when compared with published studies using the Experiences of Close Relationship Scale (ECR; Brennan, Clark & Shaver, 1998), bloggers had higher levels of attachment avoidance than most normative samples of undergraduate students and adults. They also had higher levels of attachment anxiety than adults, but lower than undergraduate students. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze a theoretical model derived from the literature, finding that specific blogging behaviors differ based on attachment style. Individuals with greater attachment avoidance tended to maintain higher levels of anonymity in their blogs and report lower levels of blogging intensity. Individuals with greater attachment anxiety were more likely to be motivated by needs for self-expression and self-enhancement, but this did not lead to greater levels of blogging intensity. In contrast to both of these groups, individuals with low levels of avoidance and anxiety were more likely to describe their online and offline selves as being more similar to each other. However, they also portrayed themselves online in a lighthearted and controlled fashion, while bloggers with higher levels of both anxiety and avoidance described portraying their online selves in more authentic and expressive ways. The study concludes that while people perceived blogging to offer them many benefits, certain online behaviors enabled them to avoid intimacy and enact negative interpersonal dynamics. This supports the notion that attachment is an enduring pattern that carries over to online interaction, but that certain features of online interaction can be used to help mitigate some aspects of the ingrained interpersonal dynamics that characterize insecure attachment.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
