title: Terror management and adults' attachment to their parents: the safe haven remains.
abstract: Six studies examined the role of young adults' parental attachment in terror management. Studies 1-3 revealed that activating thoughts of one's parent in response to mortality salience (MS) reduced death-thought accessibility and worldview defense and increased feelings of self-worth. Studies 4-5 demonstrated that MS led to greater ease of recalling positive maternal interactions and greater difficulty recalling negative interactions, and increased attraction to a stranger who was described as being similar to one's parent. If reliance on parents for terror management purposes reflects the operation of attachment mechanisms, then such effects should vary on the basis of an individual's attachment style. Study 6 demonstrated that, after MS, insecure individuals were more likely to rely on relationships with their parents, whereas secure individuals were more likely to rely on relationships with romantic partners.
authors: Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. crcr25@mizzou.edu
authors: Cathy R
authors: CR
authors: Cox
authors: Jamie
authors: J
authors: Arndt
authors: Tom
authors: T
authors: Pyszczynski
authors: Jeff
authors: J
authors: Greenberg
authors: Abdolhossein
authors: A
authors: Abdollahi
authors: Sheldon
authors: S
authors: Solomon
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D032721:Adult Children / Q000523:psychology*; D001293:Attitude to Death; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012944:Social Support