cortex and the origin of developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 59–87.
114 Schulkin, J., Morgan, M.A., & Rosen, J.B. (2005). A neuroendocrine mechanism for sustaining fear. TRENDS Neuroscience, 28, 629–635.
115 Schutter, D.J. & Knyazev, G.G. (2012). Cross‐frequency coupling of brain oscillations in studying motivation and emotion. Motivation and Emotion, 36, 46–54.
116 Sette, S., Hipson, W.E., Zava, F., Baumgartner, E., & Coplan, R.J. (2018). Linking shyness with social and school adjustment in early childhood: the moderating role of inhibitory control. Early Education and Development, 29, 675–690.
117 Shackman, A.J., Fox, A.S., Oler, J.A., Shelton, S.E., Davidson, R.J., & Kalin, N.H. (2013). Neural mechanisms underlying heterogeneity in the presentation of anxious temperament. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110, 6145–6150.
118 Somel, M., Franz, H., Yan, Z., Lorenc, A., Guo, S., Giger, T., … & Webster, M.J. (2009). Transcriptional neoteny in the human brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 5743–5748.
119 Sroufe, L.A. & Waters, E. (1976). The ontogenesis of smiling and laughter: a perspective on the organization of development in infancy. Psychological Review, 83, 173–189.
120 Sutton, S.K. & Davidson, R.J. (1997). Prefrontal brain asymmetry: a biological substrate of the behavioral approach and inhibition systems. Psychological Science, 8, 204–210.
121 Tang, A., Van Lieshout, R.J., Lahat, A., Duku, E., Boyle, M.H., Saigal, S., & Schmidt, L.A. (2017). Shyness trajectories across the first four decades predict mental health outcomes. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45, 1621–1633.
122 Terburg, D., Aarts, H., & van Honk, J. (2012). Testosterone affects gaze aversion from angry faces outside of conscious awareness. Psychological Science, 23, 459–463.
123 Thatcher, R.W. (1991). Maturation of the human frontal lobes: Physiological evidence for staging. Developmental Neuropsychology, 7, 397–419.
124 Theall‐Honey, L.A. & Schmidt, L.A. (2006). Do temperamentally shy children process emotion differently than non‐shy children? Behavioral, psychophysiological, and gender differences in reticent preschoolers. Developmental Psychobiology, 48, 187–196.
125 Thompson, R.A. & Calkins, S.D. (1996). The double‐edged sword: emotional regulation for children at risk. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 163–182.
126 Thorell, L., Bohlin, G., & Rydell, A.M. (2004). Two types of inhibitory control: predictive relations to social functioning. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 193–203.
127 Tomarken, A.J., Davidson, R.J., Wheeler, R.E., & Doss, R.C. (1992). Individual differences in anterior brain asymmetry and fundamental dimensions of emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 676–687.
128 Van Honk, J. & Schutter, D.J. (2007). Vigilant and avoidant responses to angry facial Expressions: Dominance and submission motives. In E. Harmon‐Jones & P. Winkielman (Eds.), Social Neuroscience: Integrating Biological and Psychological Explanations of Social Behavior (pp. 197–223). New York: The Guilford Press.
129 Wachtmeister, C.A. & Enquist, M. (1999). The evolution of female coyness–trading time for information. Ethology, 105, 983–992.
130 Wellman, H.M., Lane, J.D., LaBounty, J.D., & Olson, S.L. (2011). Observant, nonaggressive temperament predicts theory of mind development. Developmental Science, 14, 319–326.
131 Wellman, H. & Liu, D. (2004). Scaling of Theory‐of‐Mind tasks. Child Development, 75, 523–541.
132 White, L.K., McDermott, J.M., Degnan, K.A., Henderson, H.A., & Fox, N.A. (2011). Behavioral inhibition and anxiety: the moderating roles of inhibitory control and attention shifting. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39, 735–747.
133 Wilson, D.S., Clark, A.B., Coleman, K., & Dearstyne, T. (1994). Shyness and boldness in humans and other animals. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 9, 442–446.
134 Xu, Y., Farver, J.M., Chang, L., Zhang, Z., & Yu, L. (2007). Moving away or fitting in? Understanding shyness in Chinese children. Merrill‐Palmer Quarterly, 53, 527–556.
135 Xu, Y., Farver, J.M., Yang, Y., & Zeng, Q. (2008). Chinese children’s conceptions of shyness: a prototype approach. Merrill‐Palmer Quarterly, 54, 515–544.
136 Xu, Y., Farver, J.M., Yu, L., & Zhang, Z. (2009). Three types of shyness in Chinese children and the relation to effortful control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 1061–1073.
137 Zimbardo, P.G. (1977). Shyness: What Is It and What To Do About It. New York: Symphony Press.
Note
1 * The first three authors contributed equally to writing of this chapter and are listed here in alphabetical order. The writing of this chapter was supported by operating grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) awarded to LAS, and also a SSHRC Vanier Doctoral Scholarship awarded to RH, a SSHRC Graduate Scholarship and Ontario Graduate Scholarship awarded to TLM, and a CIHR Doctoral Scholarship and an Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Fellowship from the American Psychological Foundation awarded to KLP.Please address all correspondence to: Louis A. Schmidt, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada, email: [email protected]
3 An Attachment Perspective on Solitude and Loneliness
Mario Mikulincer1, Phillip R. Shaver2, and Inbal Gal1
1Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel
2University of California Davis, USA
Being together and being alone are two core human experiences that have both rewarding and aversive aspects and can have both positive and negative implications for well‐being and psychosocial functioning (e.g., Coplan et al., 2018; Cupach & Spitzberg, 2010). In the current chapter, we focus on the experience of being alone and propose an attachment‐theoretical (Bowlby, 1973, 1982, 1988) perspective for explaining individual differences in attitudes toward solitude and feelings of loneliness. Specifically, we propose that a sense of attachment security (a belief that one can trust others and can confidently expect that they will be available and responsive when needed) provides a solid foundation for enjoying periods of solitude and developing a capacity to be comfortably alone. In contrast, attachment insecurities interfere with this capacity and transform solitude into an undesirable experience of loneliness. We begin with a brief summary of adult attachment theory and provide an account of the sense of security and the two major dimensions of attachment insecurity, anxiety, and avoidance. Next, we review findings on the interpersonal manifestations of attachment insecurities. Then we propose an attachment perspective on solitude and loneliness and review empirical research concerning attachment‐related differences, during adolescence and adulthood, in the experience of being alone.
Attachment Theory and Research
One of the core tenets of attachment theory (Bowlby, 1973, 1980, 1982) is that human beings are born with a psychobiological system (the attachment behavioral system) that motivates them to seek proximity to significant others (attachment figures) in times of need. According to Bowlby (1982), the goal of this system is to maintain adequate protection and support, which is accompanied by a subjective sense of safety and security. This goal is made salient when people encounter actual or symbolic threats and notice that an attachment figure is not sufficiently near, interested, or responsive (Bowlby, 1982). In such cases, a person’s attachment system is upregulated and the person is motivated to increase or reestablish proximity to an attachment figure so that