Attachment styles as contributors to dispositional envy and coping with contextual deficiency priming

ABSTRACT This study investigated attachment styles as contributors to dispositional envy and to the negative emotions being elicited when an individual confronts a deficiency-context situation. A total of 124 undergraduates completed self-report assessments of their attachment orientation, self-esteem, tendency towards social comparison and dispositional envy. Participants also underwent a procedure of contextual deficiency priming in which negative feelings towards the self and the other were measured. Results pointed to the contribution of attachment dimensions over and above the contribution of social comparison and self-esteem in explaining the variance of dispositional envy, negative feelings towards the self and the other. The study’s results suggest how to approach insecurely attached clients who harbour envy.