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Topic · Social Psychology

Attachment and Relationship Dynamics

Attachment and Relationship Dynamics is a research topic within Social Psychology. Science Explorer counts 33k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores theoretical developments in attachment theory, focusing on the dynamics of adult attachment, parent-child attachment, marital quality, interpersonal processes, emotion regulation, and the role of social support in intimate relationships. It covers a wide range of topics related to attachment and relationships from infancy to adulthood.

  • Attachment
  • Relationships
  • Marital Quality
  • Adult Attachment
  • Interpersonal Processes
  • Emotion Regulation
  • Parent-Child Attachment
  • Social Support
  • Intimate Relationships
  • Dyadic Coping
Research works
33k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+9%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
43% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Attachment and Relationship Dynamics

Which countries lead Attachment and Relationship Dynamics research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (2.1k and 633 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 2.1k works
  2. 2 China 633 works
  3. 3 Iran 375 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 323 works
  5. 5 Türkiye 321 works
  6. 6 Canada 318 works
  7. 7 Germany 237 works
  8. 8 Italy 189 works
  9. 9 Indonesia 188 works
  10. 10 Australia 180 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 42.8%China: 13.1%Iran: 7.8%United Kingdom: 6.7%6 others listed: 29.6%43%largest
United States2,072 · 42.8%China633 · 13.1%Iran375 · 7.8%United Kingdom323 · 6.7%6 others listed1,433 · 29.6%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Attachment and Relationship Dynamics research?

By volume in 2022-now, Islamic Azad University, Tehran publishes the most Attachment and Relationship Dynamics research, followed by Sapienza University of Rome and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 185 works
  2. 2 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 44 works
  3. 3 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 42 works
  4. 4 Brigham Young UniversityUnited States 40 works
  5. 5 The University of Texas at AustinUnited States 32 works
  6. 6 University of TorontoCanada 31 works
  7. 7 Beijing Normal UniversityChina 30 works
  8. 8 Pennsylvania State UniversityUnited States 28 works
  9. 9 University of HaifaIsrael 27 works
  10. 10 Syracuse UniversityUnited States 26 works

Who are the leading researchers in Attachment and Relationship Dynamics?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Attachment and Relationship Dynamics include Richard M. Ryan, Albert Bandura and Ronald C. Kessler.

  1. 1 Richard M. Ryan United States 395k citations
  2. 2 Albert Bandura United States 370k citations
  3. 3 Ronald C. Kessler United States 360k citations
  4. 4 Edward L. Deci United States 325k citations
  5. 5 Mika Kivimäki United Kingdom 318k citations
  6. 6 Dan J. Stein South Africa 306k citations
  7. 7 Victoria Clarke United Kingdom 285k citations
  8. 8 Icek Ajzen United States 267k citations
  9. 9 Josep María Haro Spain 250k citations
  10. 10 Peter M. Bentler United States 233k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Attachment and Relationship Dynamics?

The most cited paper in Attachment and Relationship Dynamics is "Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models" (Kristopher J. Preacher, Andrew F. Hayes, 2008), with 33,880 citations. Next come "The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation." (21,989) and "The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support" (13,379).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models Kristopher J. Preacher, Andrew F. Hayes · Behavior Research Methods Open access Aug 2008 33,880
2 The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Roy Frederick Baumeister, Mark R. Leary · Psychological Bulletin May 1995 21,989
3 The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support Gregory D. Zimet, Nancy Wray Dahlem, Sara Goodman Zimet et al. · Journal of Personality Assessment Open access Mar 1988 13,379
4 Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis Xinshu Zhao, John G Lynch, Qimei Chen · Journal of Consumer Research Open access 15 Feb 2010 12,379
5 Measuring Dyadic Adjustment: New Scales for Assessing the Quality of Marriage and Similar Dyads Graham B. Spanier · Journal of Marriage and the Family Feb 1976 7,120
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Attachment and Relationship Dynamics research done?

The largest centres of Attachment and Relationship Dynamics research in 2022-now are Tehran (Iran), Beijing (China), London (United Kingdom) and Istanbul (Türkiye). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Provo.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 TehranIran 119 works
  2. 2 BeijingChina 100 works
  3. 3 LondonUnited Kingdom 92 works
  4. 4 IstanbulTürkiye 89 works
  5. 5 New YorkUnited States 81 works
  6. 6 RomeItaly 63 works
  7. 7 ShanghaiChina 58 works
  8. 8 MontrealCanada 57 works
  9. 9 TorontoCanada 53 works
  10. 10 AnkaraTürkiye 47 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ProvoUS · 39.9 works23×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Attachment and Relationship Dynamics than the world average.

See Attachment and Relationship Dynamics on the map

Where is the best place to study Attachment and Relationship Dynamics?

Among universities, judged by research, Sapienza University of Rome, University College London and University of Groningen score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 20%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Universitat de Valèn…University of Gronin…Sapienza University …University College L…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Sapienza University of RomeItaly 65.221.4%6.2×44 +248.6%
2University College LondonUnited Kingdom 54.918.9%2.2×22 -7.7%
3University of GroningenNetherlands 54.729.0%2.6×11 +9.7%
4Universitat de ValènciaSpain 54.436.4%3.6×12 -14.1%
5University of TorontoCanada 54.019.9%2.5×31 -2.8%
6University of VirginiaUnited States 52.721.8%3.7×14 +5.9%
7Deakin UniversityAustralia 52.520.4%5.3×14 +18.8%
8Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 52.41.0%18.5×185 +28.4%
9Chinese University of Hong KongChina 51.218.1%3.2×14 +46.2%
10Beijing Normal UniversityChina 51.013.1%6.3×30 +57.2%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Attachment and Relationship Dynamics, country by country

Is Attachment and Relationship Dynamics research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 9% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Attachment and Relationship Dynamics.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Attachment and Relationship Dynamics as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.025% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Attachment and Relationship Dynamics0.029% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Attachment and Relationship Dynamics over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Attachment and Relationship Dynamics10.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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