Attachment theory as a framework for explaining engagement with Facebook Joshua Hart ⇑ , Elizabeth Nailling, George Y. Bizer, Caitlyn K. Collins Union College, 807 Union Street, Schenectady, NY 12308, USA article info Article history: Received 3 November 2014 Received in revised form 4 December 2014 Accepted 5 December 2014 Available online 8 January 2015 Keywords: Adult attachment Personality Social media Self-presentation abstract Research on the relation between personality and styles of engagement with social media is surprisingly limited and has generated mixed results. The present research applied attachment theory to illuminate individual differences in styles of Facebook engagement. Two studies (N = 583) supported a mediational model explaining various forms of active Facebook use as stemming from attachment anxiety, which pre- disposes individuals to sensitivity about social feedback, thereby leading them to engage in attention- seeking social media behavior. These results held while controlling for extraversion, neuroticism, and self-esteem. Attachment avoidance predicted restrained Facebook use, primarily due to its association with (low) extraversion. These findings resolve inconsistencies in previous research and demonstrate that attachment theory is a particularly useful framework through which to study the influence of personality on social-media behavior. Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction As social media has become a principal mode of social interac- tion in the past decade, self-expressive profiles and postings on sites such as Facebook have become an outlet for individuals’ motivated social behavior. Even casual users likely notice that indi- viduals exhibit different patterns of social media behavior; for example, some people post frequent ‘‘status updates’’ that range from reporting mundane daily activities to espousing polemical opinions, whereas others take a reticent or pragmatic approach, visiting social media sites to view others’ activity, but infrequently engaging beyond that. One question that naturally arises is how these different pat- terns—we will call them ‘‘active’’ versus ‘‘restrained’’ social media use—relate to personality. In the present research, we use adult attachment theory (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007) to illuminate one way in which personality can explain individual differences in social-media behavior. Specifically, we examine how adult attach- ment style predicts patterns of engagement with Facebook. Based on dispositional differences in the functioning of the attachment system—a behavioral regulatory system that mediates close relationships—attachment style reflects individuals’ charac- teristic cognitions, emotions and behavior in close relationships (i.e., with parents, romantic partners), and it also predicts different ways of interacting with acquaintances and strangers (see Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007, for a comprehensive review). Two dimensions, anxiety and avoidance, characterize individuals’ attachment styles. These ‘‘insecure’’ attachment dimensions reflect, respectively, hyperactivation of the attachment system, or augmented intimacy-seeking behaviors; and deactivation of the attachment system, or reduction of intimacy-seeking behaviors and augmented self-reliance. Secure attachment is defined by low anxiety and low avoidance, reflecting comfort with both intimacy and independence. According to attachment theory, individuals develop anxiety and/or avoidance in order to manage chronic con- cerns about interpersonal loss, rejection, or abandonment. In turn, these traits are influential across a range of intrapersonal and interpersonal contexts, in which anxious attachment predisposes individuals to strive to earn others’ affection and avoidance predis- poses individuals to try to suppress relational needs. Given that attachment style reflects fundamental social motivations, it seems a likely candidate to explain personality-based variance in socially oriented behaviors on social-media platforms. 1.1. The present research in context Prior research on personality and social-media use has tended to focus on the ‘‘Big Five’’ personality traits, but such findings have been mixed. Seidman (2013) suggested that the mixed results may stem in part from a focus on behavioral variables, and http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.016 0191-8869/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, Union College, 807 Union Street, Schenectady, NY 12308, USA. Fax: +1 518 388 6177. E-mail address: hartj@union.edu (J. Hart). Personality and Individual Differences 77 (2015) 33–40 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Personality and Individual Differences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid