The relationship between physical warmth and prosocial behaviors within a romantic relationship as moderated by adult attachment styles

• Main Authors: Casugbo, Jamielle J., Encarnacion, Emmanuelle L., Munoz, Maria Victoria Cecilia D., Paculan, Dominique Bernice
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Man-woman relationships > Philippines; Young adults > Psychology; Interpersonal relations
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/8263
• Institution: De La Salle University

Temperature can be associated with certain feelings and emotions, especially in terms of romantic relationships. Warmness in a relationship may signify trust and security, while coldness signifies distrust and insecurity. According to the attachment theory, an individual's attachment to his or her caregiver during infancy is transferred to their relationships in adulthood, and effects how one behave towards others, especially in their romantic relationships. This study aimed to (1) investigate the relationship between physical warmth and prosocial behavior within a romantic relationship (2) to investigate the relationship between attachment style and prosocial behaviors and (3) to determine whether the experience of physical warmth leads to prosocial behaviors within a romantic relationship, when influenced by one's attachment style. In this experiment, 58 romantic couples from De La Salle University were assessed to confirm the hypotheses that the experience of physical warmth has a significant effect on prosocial behaviors within a romantic relationship, if one is found to be insecurely attached. Results indicated that while physical warmth influenced the participant to engage in prosocial behaviors towards their partner, attachment style played no role in moderating the relationship between physical warmth and prosocial behaviors.