Attachment style differences and similarities in evaluations of affective communication skills and person-centered comforting messages

Recent research has explored moderating factors that shape the perception and production of emotional support messages. The current study extends this agenda and examines how attachment patterns influence values for affective communication skills and evaluations of verbal person-centered comfort. A total of 280 participants completed categorical and continuous attachment measures as well as a measure of communication values, and provided evaluations of comforting messages. Results indicated that avoidants viewed affective communication skills as significantly more important than did nonavoidants. Dismissives and preoccupieds viewed low person-centered comforting messages as more comforting than did secures and fearful avoidants. Fearful avoidants viewed these messages as least comforting of the four attachment styles. These findings have important implications for differences in how people evaluate affective communication skills and particularly comforting messages that vary in person centeredness.