Hazan and Shaver previously have argued that work provides opportunity for exploratory behavior among adults, just as play does for children. Adults also explore through leisure activities, such as traveling or engaging in risky and disinhibiting behaviors. The reasons why people engaged in these activities--beyond the sheer enjoyment of them--was the focus of this study. Results from this British sample indicated that both attachment-related anxiety and attachment-related avoidance predicted use of leisure activity for social approval. In addition, anxiety predicted use of leisure activities to regulate negative affect.
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