The Role of Attachment Style and Threat on Information-Seeking Behaviour in New Romantic Relationships.

The current study explored the impact of the association between attachment anxiety and perceived relationship threat on information-seeking in new romantic relationships. Data used for the current study was collected for a larger study and included 62 heterosexual and non-heterosexual couples (n = 124). First, participants completed an online survey, which measured attachment anxiety. Next, the couple came into the lab for a getting-to-know-you task, in which they reported on their own and perceived partner's preferences to 16 relationship topics (e.g., wanting children), and then had the option to view their partner's responses. It was hypothesized that higher levels of perceived relationship threat (i.e., perceived discrepancies in relationship preferences with one's partner) would predict higher levels of information-seeking. Additionally, it was hypothesized that individuals higher in attachment anxiety would engage in more information-seeking by choosing to view more of their partner's self-reported relationship preferences. Lastly, it was hypothesized that attachment style would moderate the association between perceived relationship threat and information-seeking. Consistent with the hypotheses, the results showed a positive association between attachment anxiety and informationseeking, as well as a marginally significant positive association between perceived relationship threat and information-seeking. However, there was no significant interaction between attachment anxiety and perceived relationship threat on informationseeking. These results provide valuable insight into the heightened information-seeking tendencies of those higher in attachment anxiety in early-stage relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]