Effects of internal working models of attachment on cognition about facial expressions

Abstract

This study examined the effects of internal working models of attachment on cognition about emotion in facial expressions. Ninety-five university students participated in a survey and an experiment. The results revealed that (a) effects of internal working models of attachment emerged when there were discrepancies between facial expressions and the emotions that should be rated, (b) “anxiety” did not affect the rating scores or reaction times, and (c) participants who scored high in “avoidance” needed more time to judge the absence of emotions in facial expressions. These results indicate that the dimension of “avoidance” affects automatic information processing.