Anchored through change: attachment security and the preservation of self-continuity

Confidence in others’ support (felt attachment security) can sustain a person’s sense of continuity across time. In three experiments with Israeli young adults, we examined whether contextually activating representations of attachment security (being supported and cared for by responsive others) enhances self-continuity and buffers the effects of adverse life changes. In Study 1, participants completed a measure of attachment orientations, were randomly assigned to a security- or neutral-priming condition and recorded their sense of self-continuity using Venn diagrams depicting past-present and present-future overlap. Studies 2 and 3 introduced additional self-discontinuity manipulations: an article emphasizing anticipated university-related changes (Study 2) and a reminder of disruptions caused by the October 7 attacks on Israel (Study 3). In Study 1, security priming increased past-present self-continuity regardless of participants’ attachment orientations and increased present-future continuity primarily among participants low in attachment anxiety. In Studies 2 and 3, security priming buffered the impact of discontinuity inductions on present-future and past-present self-continuity, respectively. Attachment-related avoidance was consistently associated with lower self-continuity across the studies. These findings highlight the role of felt security in sustaining temporal coherence of the self and suggest avenues for future research on attachment processes, identity stability, and coping with life transitions.