Adult attachment style and social anhedonia in healthy volunteers

Several studies that have explored associations between attachment measures and interpersonal dispositions have found that people with avoidant attachment consistently express a preference for being alone rather than affiliating with others. These findings suggest that the lack of sociability of avoidant individuals reflects high levels of social anhedonia. We tested such a hypothesis by administering the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the social anhedonia subscale of the Snaith–Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) to 163 healthy volunteers. Social anhedonia was not related to gender, age or current mood state, as measured by the Profile of Mood States (POMS). In a stepwise regression model, the confidence and the discomfort with closeness scales of the ASQ emerged as significant predictors of the SHAPS social score, indicating that higher levels of social anhedonia were associated with avoidant attachment but not with anxious attachment. These findings raise interesting questions about the causal link between avoidant attachment and social anhedonia. It is possible that the construct of avoidant attachment as measured by self-report measures includes a heterogeneous group of individuals and that some have a basic deficit in the capacity to experience social reward rather than a defensive deactivation of intimacy needs.