Research article summary (published 20 Jul 2009):

On the rebound: focusing on someone new helps anxiously attached individuals let go of ex-partners.

Full Abstract

The present research demonstrates that focusing on someone new may help anxiously attached individuals overcome attachment to an ex-romantic partner, suggesting one possible motive behind so-called rebound relationships. A correlational study revealed that the previously demonstrated link between anxious attachment and longing for an ex-partner was disrupted when anxiously attached individuals had new romantic partners. Two experiments demonstrated that this detachment from an ex can be induced by randomly assigning anxiously attached individuals to believe they will easily find a new partner (through bogus feedback in Study 2 and an ease of retrieval task in Study 3). This research suggests that for anxiously attached individuals, focusing on someone new can be an adaptive part of the breakup recovery process.

Author information

Author/s: Spielmann, Stephanie S (SS); Macdonald, Geoff (G); Wilson, Anne E (AE);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3, Canada. steph.spielmann(-atsign-)utoronto.ca

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Personality and social psychology bulletin (Pers Soc Psychol Bull), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Oct; vol 35 (issue 10) : pp 1382-94

Dates: Created 2009/09/04; Completed 2009/10/19;

PMID: 19625631, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/19/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent Adult Anxiety - psychology Attention Courtship - psychology Culture Dependency (Psychology) Emotions

Emotions Female Humans Male Motivation Object Attachment Personality Inventory Young Adult

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