A multi-study investigation of implicit theories of attachment and relationships in ghosting experiences.

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211009308

Commentary

The experience of seeing a ghost is considered a dissolution strategy in which the initiator terminates communication with another person and ignores attempts to reestablish interaction.

This study examined the association of ghosting with anxious/avoidant individuals in attachment styles and replicated previous research on implicit theories of relationships and ghosting.

Study 1 (N = 165) examined attachment and ghosting experiences in an exploratory analysis and reported that those previously ghosted by a romantic partner had higher anxiety and avoidant behaviors than those not previously ghosted by a romantic partner.

Study 2 (N= 247) was a preregistered replication of Study 1 and was a replication of Ghost Theory and Implicit Theory.

Study 3 was preregistered and investigated the results of Studies 1 and 2 in a larger sample (N= 863). Specifically, individuals who had ghosts, both ghosts and ghosts, reported significantly higher anxiety and aversive behaviors than those who had ghosts or had no previous experience with ghosts.

Similarly, individuals who had ghosts or both ghosts reported significantly higher fate beliefs than those who had ghosts or had no prior experience with ghosts.

Meta-analyses across these three studies, examining and summarizing the strength of the association between ghost experiences and attachment, have consistently shown an association between attachment anxiety and ghosting, and an association between fate beliefs and ghosting of romantic partners.