fei75766_ch05_149-178.indd 171  02/06/20 11:22 AM
Chapter 5    Klein: Object Relations Theory171
adult loverelationships thanwould people intheinsecure groups. Likewise, they
predicted thatavoidant adults would fearcloseness andlacktrust, whereas anxious-
ambivalent adults would bepreoccupied withandobsessed bytheirrelationships.
Using college students andother adults, Hazan andShaver found support for
eachofthese predictions. Securely attached adults didexperience more trustand
closeness intheirloverelationships thandidavoidant oranxious-ambivalent adults. 
Moreover, theresearchers found thatsecurely attached adults weremore likely than
insecure adults tobelieve thatromantic lovecanbelonglasting. Inaddition, securely 
attached adults werelesscynical about loveingeneral, hadlonger lasting relation -
ships, andwerelesslikely todivorce thaneither avoidant oranxious-ambivalent adults.
Other researchers havecontinued toextend theresearch onattachment and
adult romantic relationships. Steven Rholes andcolleagues, forexample, tested the
ideathatattachment styleisrelated tothetypeofinformation people seekoravoid 
regarding theirrelationship andromantic partner (Rholes, Simpson, Tran, Martin, &
Friedman, 2007). Theresearchers predicted thatavoidant individuals would not
seekoutadditional information about theirpartner’s intimate feelings anddreams, 
whereas anxious individuals would express astrong desire togainmore information 
about theirromantic partner. Avoidant individuals typically strive tomaintain emo-
tional independence andtherefore donotwant anyinformation thatcould increase 
closeness. Closeness subverts theirgoalofindependence. Conversely, anxious indi-
viduals tendtobechronically worried about thestateoftheirrelationship andwant to
strengthen emotional bonds byseeking outasmuch information about theirpartner’s 
most intimate feelings aspossible.
Totesttheirpredictions, Rholes andcolleagues recruited couples whohadbeen 
dating forawhile andhadthem come intoapsychology labtocomplete measures of
attachment andinformation seeking. Attachment stylewasmeasured using astandard 
questionnaire containing self-report items about howanxious oravoidant thepartners 
feelwithin theirromantic relationship. Information seeking wasmeasured using a
clever (andbogus) computerized taskwhereby eachparticipant independently com-
pleted several items about hisorherrelationship including eachpartner’s intimate 
feelings andgoals forthefuture. Participants weretoldthatthecomputer would then
generate aprofile oftheirrelationship thatbothdating partners could viewattheend
ofthestudy. Theresearchers thenwereabletomeasure howmuch oftheinformation 
provided bytherelationship profile eachpartner readabout theother. Inaccordance 
withtheirpredictions, andattachment theory more generally, theavoidant individu -
alsshowed lessinterest inreading information about theirpartner contained inthe
relationship profile, whereas anxious individuals sought more information about their
partner’s intimacy-related issues andgoals forthefuture.
Jealousy occurs when wefeelthreatened bytheperceived lossofaclose part-
ner,usually romantic. Jealousy canoften bebased inreality—that is,there maybe
alegitimate threat ofloss.However, some people arehypersensitive tothreatened 
lossofapartner andfeeljealous evenwhen there islittleornorealbasis forit.
Psychologists callthis“pathological jealousy.” Arecent study investigated theattach -
ment styles ofpeople whoarepathologically jealous incomparison tothose whoare
not(Costa, Sophia, Sanches, Tavares, &Zilberman, 2015). Thirty-two people clas-
sified as“pathologically jealous” sought therapy forpathological jealousy andthen
werepositively diagnosed bythepsychiatric staffattheImpulse Control Disorder Final PDF to printer