My social comfort zone: Attachment anxiety shapes peripersonal and interpersonal space
Mariana von Mohr,
Paulo C. Silva,
Eleonora Vagnoni,
Angelika Bracher,
Tommaso Bertoni,
Andrea Serino,
Michael J. Banissy,
Paul M. Jenkinson,
Aikaterini Fotopoulou
Affiliations
Mariana von Mohr
Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK
Paulo C. Silva
School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, London, UK; Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK
Eleonora Vagnoni
Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK
Angelika Bracher
Max Planck Institute of Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (IMPRS), Leipzig, Germany; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Tommaso Bertoni
MySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), University of Lausanne, Laussane, Switzerland
Andrea Serino
MySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), University of Lausanne, Laussane, Switzerland
Michael J. Banissy
School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Paul M. Jenkinson
ISN Psychology, Institute for Social Neuroscience, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Aikaterini Fotopoulou
Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK; Corresponding author
Summary: Following positive social exchanges, the neural representation of interactive space around the body (peripersonal space; PPS) expands, whereas we also feel consciously more comfortable being closer to others (interpersonal distance; ID). However, it is unclear how relational traits, such as attachment styles, interact with the social malleability of our PPS and ID. A first, exploratory study (N=48) using a visuo-tactile, augmented reality task, found that PPS depended on the combined effects of social context and attachment anxiety. A follow-up preregistered study (N = 68), showed that those with high attachment anxiety demonstrated a sharper differentiation between peripersonal and extrapersonal space, even in a non-social context. A final, preregistered large-scale survey (N = 19,417) found that people scoring high in attachment anxiety prefer closer ID and differentiate their ID less based on feelings of social closeness. We conclude that attachment anxiety reduces the social malleability of both peripersonal and interpersonal space.
