Anxious aspirations: Attachment anxiety fuels status strivings through intrasexual competition.

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Authors
Gąsiorowska, Agata
Folwarczny, Michał
Otterbring, Tobias
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Date
2026
Publisher
Journal title
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
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Volume
Pages
Pages
1-24
DOI
ISSN
1939-1315
0022-3514
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Weblink
Access date
2026-01-30
Abstract PL
Abstract EN
Striving for social status is a fundamental human motive, yet individuals vary considerably in their status-seeking tendencies. Drawing on attachment literature and life history theory, we propose that attachment anxiety drives status pursuit through heightened intrasexual competition. Across six preregistered studies (N = 4,456) spanning five countries, we find that attachment anxiety, rather than attachment avoidance, predicts status strivings. This relationship is mediated by intrasexual competition—competing with same-sex rivals—rather than, as previously documented, by materialism or general competitiveness. Experimental evidence confirms causality: Inducing attachment anxiety increases the desire for high-status cars and houses through heightened intrasexual competition. A moderation-of-process design demonstrates that experimentally manipulating intrasexual competition correspondingly enhances or reduces the effect of attachment anxiety on status strivings but only for high-status possessions. These effects hold for both men and women. Our findings show that anxiously attached individuals pursue status to compensate for relational insecurities, and they do so by competing with same-sex rivals. This research extends attachment theory to status pursuit and clarifies whether, when, and why individual differences in attachment patterns predict people’s status strivings.
Abstract other
Keywords PL
Keywords EN
attachment anxiety
status strivings
status pursuit
intrasexual competition
life history theory
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Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 3. Good Health and Well-being ,
SDG 12. Responsible Consumption and Production
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https://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/2162
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cc-by
Except as otherwise noted, this item is licensed under the Attribution licence | Permitted use of copyrighted works
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Nastawienie rynkowe jako skutek pozabezpiecznego przywiązania. Eksploracja relacji i jej psychologicznych mechanizmów.
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