Do people who feel their partner responds to their needs feel more secure in that relationship, even if they generally feel insecure?

Details

People can feel more secure in some relationships than in others. Researchers examined whether feeling that a romantic partner responds to one’s needs for connection was associated with greater security in that particular relationship, especially among people who generally felt insecure.

The study included 472 people in 236 romantic couples. Those who perceived their partner as more responsive showed less anxiety about that relationship and less tendency to avoid closeness with that partner than those who perceived less responsiveness. This association was especially pronounced among generally insecure people. General insecurity and security with a particular partner therefore need not be the same.

The finding concerns perceived responsiveness, not necessarily how responsive a partner would appear to an independent observer. The abstract does not specify the study design or how and when the measures were collected. The reported association cannot establish whether perceived responsiveness increased security, security shaped perceptions of responsiveness, or other factors contributed to both.