tokens: The evidence suggests that ( a ) individuals with high attachment anxiety perceive a higher degree of distress when faced with a stressor and have higher baseline anxiety compared to those low in attachment anxiety , ( b ) most studies suggest higher cortisol reactivity to stress in anxiously attached individuals , while two studies did not support this trend ( c ) avoidant-dismissive attachment has been less consistent , with some studies showing an increase in cortisol produced in response to a stressor , and others not finding any differences in comparison to securely attached individuals The finding that those with fearful attachment would show small cortisol reactivity in response to a stressor may seem counterintuitive but is in line with the predictions of stress researcher Bruce McEwen , who hypothesized that frequent early stressors in life would cause an initial hyper-reactivity in the HPA axis that would over time become pathologically sluggish as the individual ages , leading to greater overall cortisol release and less adaptive responsivity .