Negative self-synchronization: Will I change to be like you when it is bad for me?

Abstract

The current research examined whether people will attempt to modify internal aspects of the self to make them congruent with others, even when those modifications have negative implications for the self, a phenomenon we refer to as negative self-synchronization. We proposed that negative self-synchronization will occur only for individuals who are securely attached. Across 4 experiments, participants who were high in secure attachment were more likely than those low in attachment security to engage in negative self-synchronization (Experiments 1-4). Attachment style did not moderate positive self-synchronization (Experiments 1 and 2). In addition, priming secure attachment increased negative self-synchronization among insecure participants (Experiments 2 and 3). Conversely, priming insecure attachment decreased negative self-synchronization among secure participants (Experiment 4). Implications of these findings for social synchronization processes, the need to belong, and attachment security are discussed.