Recognition of emotion and adult attachment

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to examine the relationship between affective attachment and accuracy in decoding of facial expressions of basic emotions (anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise). It was expected that with the higher level of dimensions (anxiety and avoidance), the level of success in identifying facial expressions of emotions would get lower. The sample of respondents included 249 students of different professional orientations at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Niš, Serbia. The gender structure consisted of 59 (23.7%) males and 190 (76.3%) females. The average age was 22.13 (SD = 1.596) years. Instruments. As a stimulus, we have used a collection of photos, »Matsumoto and Ekman’s Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotion« (Matsumoto and Ekman, 1988). Also, we have used the ECR-r-Questionnaire for the evaluation of the pattern of affective attachment (Fraley, Waller and Brennan, 2000). The hypothesis on the connection of dimensions of affective attachment (avoidance and anxiety) and the success in identifying basic emotions (anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise) has been confirmed. The dimensions of af-fective attachment (avoidance and anxiety) are negatively connected with the subjects’ success in identifying facial expressions of emotions.