• How does the attachment system manifest itself in adult romantic relationships?
• Do securely attached children grow up to be securely attached in their romantic relationships? If so, what processes enable them to transfer a secure pattern of relating from one context to another. If not, what processes lead to change in attachment?
• What causes some people to be secure in their close relationships? What leads others to feel insecure? How can we assess individual differences in "attachment style?"
• What is the effect of losing a loved one on the way the attachment system functions? What are the psychological consequences for different ways of regulating the kind of emotions that are experienced when one is faced with the loss of a loved one?
• Why does the attachment system--a motivational system that evolved in the ecology of infancy--play a role in romantic relationships? How did it evolve? What functions does it serve?

» Lab News

June 12, 2004
Long time, no update! Here is some of the recent lab news:

• Claudia presented some phylogenetic research on attachment at the 2005 meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Austin, TX. She also presented some research at the 2005 MPA meeting.
• Mike presented his research on the sexual double standard at the 2005 MPA meeting.
• Mandy presented some of her first-year research during the SPO brown bag.
• Mary Campa, a graduate student who works with Cindy Hazan at Cornell University, will be visiting our lab in July 2005 to work with us.
• Chris presented a workshop at APS on using the Internet to conduct psychological research.

• Brumbaugh, C. C., & Fraley, R. C. (2005). Transference and attachment: How do attachment patterns get carried forward from one relationship to the next? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Accepted pending revisions.
• Fraley, R. C., Brumbaugh, C. C., & Marks, M. J. (in press). The evolution and function of adult attachment: A comparative and phylogenetic analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
• Tancredy, C. M., & Fraley, R. C. (in press). The nature of adult twin relationships: An attachment-theoretical perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
• Brumbaugh, C. C., & Fraley, R. C. (in press). The evolution of attachment in romantic relationships. In M. Mikulincer & G. S. Goodman (Eds.), The dynamics of romantic love: Attachment, caregiving, and sex. NY: Guilford Press.
• Hankin, B. L., Fraley, R. C., & Abela, J. R. Z. (2005). Daily depression and cognitions about stress: Evidence for a trait-like depressogenic cognitive style and the prediction of depressive symptoms in a prospective daily diary study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 673-685.
• Marks, M. J., & Fraley, R. C. (2005). The sexual double standard: Fact or fiction? Sex Roles, 52, 175-186.
• Hankin, B. L., Fraley, R. C., Lahey, B. B., & Waldman, I. D. (2005). Is depression best viewed as a continuum or discrete category? A taxometric analysis of childhood and adolescent depression in a population-based sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114, 96-110.

Hankin, B. L., Fraley, R. C., & Abela, J. R. Z. (in press). Daily depression and cognitions about stress: Evidence for a trait-like depressogenic cognitive style and the prediction of depressive symptoms trajectories in a prospective daily diary study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Marks, M. J., & Fraley, R. C. (in press). The sexual double standard: Fact or fiction? Sex Roles.

July 15, 2004 The new volume on adult attachment, edited by Steve Rholes and Jeff Simpson, has been published. Chris and Claudia have a chapter in the book on stability and change in attachment. In this chapter we explore the extent to which attachment patterns developed in early childhood might influence adult romantic attachment patterns. To tackle this issue, we rely upon meta-analytic techniques as a way of aggregating data from a variety of longitudinal studies. We also use computational modeling techniques to explore the implications of various developmental models for the patterns of continuity that should exist over time.