Mediating role of Emotional Schemas in Relationship between Attachment styles and attention bias

The aim of present study was to examine the mediating role of emotional schemas between the attachment styles and attentional bias. Research design was Correlation; and study population included all university students at Shiraz University during academic year 1392-93. For this purpose, 250 students (125 female and 125 male) participated in the study through the convenient sampling approach. Moreover, research tools included Attachment Style Questionnaire (Besharat, 1384), revised emotional schemas scale (Shahvarani, 1393), and visual Dot Probe task. In order to analyze the data, the path analysis method by AMOS21 was used. Then, the results showed that ambivalent attachment style among attachment styles as well as emotional schema of perception and control, acceptance and general Agreement among emotional schemas indirectly predicted attention bias significantly too. Moreover, rationalization of Emotional schemas and simplification of emotion significantly were predicted by Avoidance and Secure attachment styles. Finally it became clear that the three emotional schemes of perception and control, acceptance and general agreement had a full mediating role in prediction of attention bias to threatened face based on ambivalent attachment style.