attachmentsocial-networksbig-fivedensity
Attachment styles out-predict Big Five for personal network structure
Secure attachment → dense, supportive, noncentralized networks; avoidant → fragmented, less supportive. Attachment explained more variance than the Big Five.
Citation
González Tinoco et al. (Univ. College Cork) (2026). The Spanish Journal of Psychology
View source5 min · Updated 2026-08-25
Educational context only, not a diagnosis or clinical assessment. Product-authored items are labeled where validated instruments do not apply.
§ 01 — Findings
What the study found
- Three structural metrics — density, fragmentation, centralization — best clustered network typologies.
- Secure attachment predicted cohesive-noncentralized networks with more support providers; avoidant and high openness predicted fragmented networks.
- Effect held after controlling for Big Five and sociodemographics; country of residence was the strongest predictor overall.
§ 02 — Encoding
How we encode it
- Reinforces weighting attachment signals for relationship-neighborhood matching, not only dyadic trait similarity.
- Cultural context matters — keep our matching conservative and avoid overclaiming universality.