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Relational Entitlement, Early Recollections of Parental Care, and Attachment Orientation

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Abstract

The present study examined whether inadequate parental care has a long-term impact on pathological relational entitlement in romantic relations, and whether this impact is mediated by insecure attachment style. Our cohort of 335 Israeli adults completed Sense of Relational Entitlement (SRE), Experience in Close Relationships (ECR), and Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) questionnaires. The results generally supported our hypotheses. Avoidant attachment style fully and negatively mediated the link between maternal adequate care and SRE total entitlement. Anxious attachment style fully and negatively mediated the link between PBI paternal adequate care and SRE total entitlement. Women were found to report more relational entitlement. These results support the notion that pathological relational entitlement has its roots in recollections of early parental care and attachment experiences. The results of the study are discussed in the context of adult attachment and romantic relationships.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Behavioral Sciences, the Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yaffo, Tel-Aviv-Yaffo, Israel

    Eran Shadach, Sima Rappaport, Daphna Dollberg & Sigal Levy

  2. School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliyah, Israel

    Rami Tolmacz

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  1. Eran Shadach
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  2. Sima Rappaport
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  3. Daphna Dollberg
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  4. Rami Tolmacz
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  5. Sigal Levy
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Correspondence to Eran Shadach.

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As the corresponding author, I confirm that all procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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As the corresponding author I confirm that none of the authors of this paper has any relationships or interests that could have direct, have potential influence, or impart bias on this work. None of the authors is aware of any real or perceived conflict of interest. No funding or grants were asked or received.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Shadach, E., Rappaport, S., Dollberg, D. et al. Relational Entitlement, Early Recollections of Parental Care, and Attachment Orientation. Curr Psychol 37, 781–791 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9559-y

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