Attachment Dimensions and Their Link to Anxiety: Is Social Reward a Mediating Mechanism?

Till, Dieter, van (2025) Attachment Dimensions and Their Link to Anxiety: Is Social Reward a Mediating Mechanism? Master thesis, Psychology.

Text MasterThesisRUGD.van.Tills4798023.pdf Restricted to Repository staff only Download (614kB)

Abstract

Emerging adulthood is characterized by elevated anxiety levels and evolving attachment patterns, yet the social mechanisms linking these constructs remain underexplored. This thesis investigated whether the enjoyment of prosocial interaction (social reward) mediates the relationship between attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) and (general) anxiety in first-year university students. A convenience sample of 87 first-year university students (Mage = 20, SDage = 2.05) completed the Experience in Close Relationships–Revised (ECR-R), the Social Reward Questionnaire–Adolescent version (SRQ-A), and the Anxiety scale of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales–21 (DASS-21). Two separate mediation models were tested using Hayes’ PROCESS Model 4, with 5,000 bootstrap resamples, to examine the indirect effects of attachment dimensions on anxiety through social reward. This study revealed that both attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were positively associated with anxiety. Attachment avoidance was negatively correlated with prosocial social reward, whereas attachment anxiety showed no significant association with social reward. Interestingly, social reward did not correlate significantly with anxiety and did not mediate either attachment dimension-anxiety relationship. Our findings indicate that social reward experience does not account for the link between attachment dimensions and anxiety in this population. Future research should therefore explore broader social mechanisms, such as perceived social support and a sense of belonging, to better understand the pathways through which attachment dimensions are associated with anxiety. Keywords: attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, social reward, anxiety

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Kleine Deters, R.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	Clinical Psychology (CP) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	15 Dec 2025 07:17
Last Modified:	15 Dec 2025 07:17
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/6009

Actions (login required)

View Item