THE ATTACHMENT-SIGNAL BREACH REINFORCEMENT PRINCIPLE (ASBRP)

This paper proposes the Attachment-Signal Breach Reinforcement Principle (ASBRP), a conditional theoretical framework developed from the primary case study entitled THE BROKEN-PROMISE PARADOX (BPP). The primary case concerns a person who returns before the end of a declared period of reduced contact and explains the return through intense attachment, longing, or emotional dissatisfaction in the other person's absence. The central proposed mechanism is that an act interpreted as a commitment breach may simultaneously function as an attachment-related signal. Consequently, perceived relational acceptance, benevolence, or closeness may increase even while perceived commitment reliability decreases. Two connected mechanisms are distinguished. The first, Breach-to-Attachment Signal Conversion, specifies the proposed transformation from commitment deviation to an interpreted attachment signal. The second, Breach-Associated System Reinforcement, specifies the additional conditions under which changed relational engagement may affect coordination or another independently defined system-level outcome. The second mechanism is not inferred automatically from the first.
The paper operationalizes the principal constructs, defines a conditional signal-activation index, specifies candidate state-transition equations, states falsifiable hypotheses, and identifies semantic, causal, temporal, and mathematical boundary conditions. It also proposes a research design and a reproducible computational template. The equations are candidate formalizations rather than empirically estimated laws. No original empirical dataset, validated parameter estimates, or causal findings are claimed. Existing research on prosocial deception, benevolence-integrity conflicts, and trust repair provides relevant comparisons and limits the scope of any originality claim. ASBRP is therefore presented as a testable, case-anchored theoretical proposal rather than an established universal law.