More materialistic by escaping experiences: experiential avoidance mediates the link between attachment anxiety and material values

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dc.abstract.enPeople with attachment anxiety frequently experience problems in social relationships and tend to form a strong attachment toward material objects as a substitute for their interpersonal insecurities. However, the underlying mechanism linking attachment anxiety with material values is not well-defined. We propose that anxiously attached people are more prone to avoid thoughts, feelings, and experiences, thereby leading to greater material values. In three correlational studies and a preregistered experiment conducted across Russian, Turkish, Polish, and U.S. samples (N = 1,397), we investigated whether experiential avoidance mediates the link between attachment anxiety and material values. The indirect effect of attachment anxiety on material values through experiential avoidance was consistently significant across all studies. In Study 4, we also demonstrated that inducing attachment anxiety (vs. negative affect) led to a suppression of unwanted experiences, feelings, and thoughts, resulting in more material values. We suggest that interventions focused on secure relationships may enhance anxiously attached individuals’ action strategies, potentially reducing their material values, with implications for the literature on attachment styles and material values as well as broader models of social and clinical psychology.
dc.affiliationInstitute of Psychology
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii we Wrocławiu
dc.affiliationInstytut Psychologii
dc.contributor.authorEcer, Emrullah
dc.contributor.authorGąsiorowska, Agata
dc.contributor.authorOtterbring, Tobias
dc.date.access2027-05-13
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-15T07:25:52Z
dc.date.available2026-05-15T07:25:52Z
dc.date.created2026-05-05
dc.date.issued2026
dc.description.accesstimeafter_publication
dc.description.grantnumber2021/43/O/HS6/00778
dc.description.granttitleNastawienie rynkowe jako skutek pozabezpiecznego przywiązania. Eksploracja relacji i jej psychologicznych mechanizmów
dc.description.physical1-19
dc.description.sdgResponsibleConsumptionAndProduction
dc.description.sdgReducedInequalities
dc.description.sdgGoodHealthAndWellBeing
dc.description.versionfinal_author
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s11031-026-10244-3
dc.identifier.eissn1573-6644
dc.identifier.issn0146-7239
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/2335
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-026-10244-3
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsEmbargo
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOPEN_REPOSITORY
dc.subject.enAttachment anxiety
dc.subject.enAttachment avoidance
dc.subject.enExperiential avoidance
dc.subject.enMaterial values
dc.swps.sciencecloudnosend
dc.titleMore materialistic by escaping experiences: experiential avoidance mediates the link between attachment anxiety and material values
dc.title.journalMotivation and Emotion
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle