The role of implicit attachment anxiety in implicit emotion regulation

The internal working model (IWM) of attachment is implicit and unconscious in nature. Nevertheless, the relationship between the anxiety induced by an individuals’ IWM and their implicit emotion regulation remains unclear. In this study, the IWM was measured by a Single-Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT). All 20 participants evaluated a transitional object (picture of a teddy bear) as a measure of implicit emotion regulation. Results showed that 1) the group with increased IWM-induced anxiety evaluated the monetary value of the picture as higher; 2) the group presented with pictures implicitly evaluated the teddy bear picture higher than those not presented pictures; and 3) the interaction of IWM-induced attachment anxiety with the implicitly presented pictures was not significant. Therefore, this study showed that people with increased IWM-induced anxiety might use transitional object transference to help them regulate their anxiety, given their lack of confidence in their abilities.