Problems with recall-based attachment style priming paradigms: Exclusion criteria, sample bias, and reduced power
Abstract
Attachment styles are often primed by having participants recall and describe a relationship that is prototypical of a given attachment style. Researchers may exclude participants who cannot recall such a relationship or who describe relationships that do not conform to the assigned prime. I suggest that excluding participants is untenable and may threaten a study’s validity. In the present research, I examine predictors of exclusion from an attachment-priming study. Priming insecure attachment resulted in greater odds of exclusion relative to a control condition. Female participants with greater sexual experience also had lesser odds of exclusion. These results suggest that attachmentpriming procedures contribute to participant exclusion that compromise internal and external validity. Discussion focuses on directions for future attachment-priming research.
