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Not all attachment relationships develop alike: Normative cross-sectional age trajectories in attachment to romantic partners, best friends, and parents
Abstract
Previous research has found that age is negatively correlated with general-romantic attachment anxiety and positively correlated with general-romantic attachment avoidance. The present study examined cross-sectional age trajectories in global attachment, as well as relationship-specific attachment with romantic partners, best friends, mothers, and fathers. Across all specific relationships, older individuals reported higher attachment avoidance. In contrast, attachment anxiety with romantic partners and friends was negatively associated with age, whereas attachment anxiety with parents normatively increased as a function of age. These findings underscore the importance of examining the normative age trajectories of attachment across both global and specific levels of abstraction.
... Previous research suggests that relationship-specific working models within the same relational domain (e.g., parental and peer) tend to be more strongly associated with one another than working models from different domains (e.g., Hudson et al., 2015;Klohnen et al., 2005). For example, Fraley, Heffernan, et al. (2011) administered the Relationship Structures (ECR-RS) questionnaire to 388 adults, obtaining measures of their attachment to their mothers, fathers, best friends, and romantic partners. ...
... Therefore, some attachment scholars have proposed that attachments to romantic partners (current and ex-partners) belong to a separate, romantic domain (Overall et al., 2003). Still, previous research would suggest that changes in partner-and best friend-specific working models will demonstrate somewhat stronger associations with one another (e.g., Fraley, Heffernan, et al., 2011;Hudson et al., 2015). ...
... Previous research has also suggested that relationship-specific working models within the same relationship domain (parental or peer) might be more strongly tied to one another compared to models from different domains (e.g., Fraley, Heffernan, et al., 2011;Hudson et al., 2015). In line with this idea, we found the strongest associations between changes and fluctuations in mother-and father-specific attachment, which both fall under the parental domain. ...
Attachment theorists suggest that people construct a number of distinct working models throughout life. People develop global working models, which reflect their expectations and beliefs concerning relationships in general, as well as relationship-specific working models of close others—their mothers, fathers, romantic partners, and friends. The present research investigated the interplay of these different working models over time. We analyzed longitudinal data collected from 4,904 adults (mean age = 35.24 years; SD = 11.63) who completed between 3 and 24 online survey assessments (median test–retest interval = 35 days). Using latent growth curve modeling, we examined the associations among both long-term changes and short-term fluctuations in participants’ working models. Our findings suggest that different working models not only change together over the long run, but also exhibit co-occurring, short-term fluctuations. This was true concerning the associations between global and relationship-specific models as well as among different relationship-specific models.
... The ECR-RS, in contrast, removes items that are specific to romantic relationships so that the full item set can be used for any kind of relational context. As such, the ECR-RS can be used to assess general attachment (Hudson et al., 2015), or attachment in specific relational contexts, such as parents , siblings (Corcoran, 2014), children (Ruckstaetter et al., 2017), friends (Donbaek & Elklit, 2014), romantic partners (Ren et al., 2017), supervisors (Remington, 2016), and pets (DeAraugo et al., 2014). Given its broad applicability to diverse relational contexts, the ECR-RS seems to be a promising instrument for research on children and adolescents, for whom relational contexts other than romantic partners, such as parents, may be of interest. ...
... Drawing from the current second-order factor model, general attachment was more strongly associated with attachment toward parents than it was toward friends. In contrast, some previous work found the opposite pattern (Corcoran & McNulty, 2018;Hudson et al., 2015), in which general attachment was more strongly associated with romantic partners and friends. These later samples, however, were adult samples. ...
... In other words, for Chinese participants, parental relationships may always be more important for their general attachment despite their ages. In contrast, research on Western cultures revealed that peer relationships are more important than parental relationships (Corcoran & McNulty, 2018;Hudson et al., 2015). The third possible explanation is that researchers have applied different ways to operationalize general attachment. ...
The Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationship Structures (ECR–RS) scale is designed to capture attachment among diverse relational contexts (e.g., parents, friends). Although the ECR–RS has begun to be applied to children and adolescents, its psychometric properties among children and adolescents are not well-known, especially concerning second-order structural validity, measurement invariance, and longitudinal predictive validity. To fill this gap, the current research examined the ECR–RS among 3,184 Chinese students (9- to 18-year old) using cross-sectional and longitudinal (6 months) data. The results demonstrated generally acceptable composite and test–retest reliabilities, and acceptable second-order structural validity. In addition, the measurement
invariance of the ECR–RS held across time, relational contexts, and school levels to varying degrees. Furthermore, using a partial invariance model, we depicted the cross-sectional trajectory of attachment scores across relational contexts and school levels. Finally, attachment was associated concurrently with the Big-Five personality traits in theoretically meaningful ways and longitudinally predicted depression, anxiety, stress, and self-esteem after controlling for age, gender, and pretest scores. In conclusion, the Chinese ECR–RS has proven to be a valuable instrument for future research among children and adolescents.
... With increasing evidence that individuals' attachment representation is affected by relationship structures (Baldwin et al., 1996;Baldwin & Fehr, 1995;Collins, 1996;Collins & Read, 1990J. A. Feeney & Noller, 1990;Hudson et al., 2015), ECR-R was revised, and the ECR-RS was developed to evaluate attachment characteristics according to relationship structures (Fraley, Heffernan, et al., 2011). ...
... It was found that the anxiety and avoidance dimensions of the mother, father, partner and friend subscales of the ECR-RS are positively correlated at a low and medium level. This finding is similar to the findings of previous studies (Bączkowski & Cierpiałkowska, 2015;Donbaek & Elklit, 2014;Hudson et al., 2015;Marszał, 2014;Moreira et al., 2015). However, in the validation study of the Brazilian version of the scale, Rocha et al. (2017) reported that there was no relationship between anxiety and avoidance dimensions of the mother, friend, and partner subscales. ...
... However, no relationship was found only among the dimensions of the global subscale in the current study. Since global attachment representation was evaluated by taking the average of the four subscales (Donbaek & Elklit, 2014;Hudson et al., 2015;Marszał, 2014;Moreira et al., 2015), correlations with other subscales were reported in previous studies. However, the global attachment representation was evaluated through global subscale in the current study, too. ...
... With increasing evidence that individuals' attachment representation is affected by relationship structures (Baldwin et al., 1996;Baldwin & Fehr, 1995;Collins, 1996;Collins & Read, 1990J. A. Feeney & Noller, 1990;Hudson et al., 2015), ECR-R was revised, and the ECR-RS was developed to evaluate attachment characteristics according to relationship structures (Fraley, Heffernan, et al., 2011). ...
... It was found that the anxiety and avoidance dimensions of the mother, father, partner and friend subscales of the ECR-RS are positively correlated at a low and medium level. This finding is similar to the findings of previous studies (Bączkowski & Cierpiałkowska, 2015;Donbaek & Elklit, 2014;Hudson et al., 2015;Marszał, 2014;Moreira et al., 2015). However, in the validation study of the Brazilian version of the scale, Rocha et al. (2017) reported that there was no relationship between anxiety and avoidance dimensions of the mother, friend, and partner subscales. ...
... However, no relationship was found only among the dimensions of the global subscale in the current study. Since global attachment representation was evaluated by taking the average of the four subscales (Donbaek & Elklit, 2014;Hudson et al., 2015;Marszał, 2014;Moreira et al., 2015), correlations with other subscales were reported in previous studies. However, the global attachment representation was evaluated through global subscale in the current study, too. ...
The aim of this study was to adapt the Turkish version of the Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationship Structures Questionnaire in a sample of Turkey. Study I was conducted to prove the reliability and validity of the results obtained as a result of the adaptation of the Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationship Structures (ECR-RS) Questionnaire to Turkish culture. The study showed that the Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationship Structures Questionnaire and its subscales were reliable and valid. The study showed that the ECR-RS subscales correlated with the Relationship Questionnaire, the Relationship Styles Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Subscale, the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale, the Contact with parents and the Relationship experience, denoting content validity of the Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationship Structures Questionnaire. According to the research results, the Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationship Structures Questionnaire are a reliable and valid measurement tool that can be used for the purpose of evaluating attachment representation in Turkish culture. In addition, this study provides attachment researchers with a basis for reviewing the assumption that dimensional models overlap with categorical models. It is suggested that The Experiences in Close Relationships-Relationship Structures Questionnaire be adapted to different relationship structures (e.g., therapist, god, ideological groups), retested on different age groups and its relationship with personality traits and psychological problems be investigated.
... Do attachment styles also change as romantic relationships develop? A growing body of research has been concerned with mapping the ways in which attachment styles change across time (e.g. with age; see Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015). Researchers have found, for example, that attachment anxiety tends to decrease across time and that it tends to be lower, on average, in samples of people who are in stable romantic relationships compared to people who are single (e.g. ...
... Method Two sets of cross-sectional samples were obtained from the Open Science Framework website (OSF; https://osf.io/qd9z2/) in which scientific research data are stored for public use. These data were originally collected for another study (Hudson et al., 2015). The first sample was collected from Dr. R. Chris Fraley's website, in which any visitors to the website could participated in the survey, and the second sample was collected from the Hudson et al., 2015, for more details). ...
... These data were originally collected for another study (Hudson et al., 2015). The first sample was collected from Dr. R. Chris Fraley's website, in which any visitors to the website could participated in the survey, and the second sample was collected from the Hudson et al., 2015, for more details). For the present study, we added another criterion: people were involved in a romantic relationship. ...
This study examines whether attachment preferences and attachment styles with different figures (mother, father, romantic partner, and friends) change over the course of a romantic relationship. Study 1 employed a three-wave longitudinal sample of Czech young adults who were currently in a romantic relationship (N = 870; mean age = 21.57; SD = 1.51; 81% females). Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that, as romantic relationships progressed, attachment preferences for romantic partners increased and preferences for friends decreased. However, preferences for the mother or for the father did not change over time. The parallel pattern was found for attachment avoidance; as romantic relationships progressed, attachment avoidance with romantic partners decreased and avoidance with the best friend increased. Avoidance with mother or with father, however, did not change over time. Study 2 employed a cross-sectional international sample (n = 2,593; mean age = 31.99; SD = 12.13; 79% females). Multiple regression analyses replicated the findings of attachment avoidance in the longitudinal data.
... These age differences were replicated in an independent sample of over 90,000 participants from 81 different countries . Similar trends are also found when people are asked about their attachment orientations with specific people (Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015). The one long-term longitudinal study of changes in attachment anxiety shows similar trends as those found in cross-sectional studies, with attachment anxiety declining in women from age 27 to 52 (Klohnen & John, 1998). ...
... In the aforementioned large study of age differences, attachment avoidance showed less dramatic age differences (compared to anxiety), but was higher in middle-aged adults and lower in younger and older adults (Chopik et al., 2013). These cross-sectional patterns also replicate in several different cultures and across relationships Hudson et al., 2015). However, one of the few longitudinal studies to date provides little evidence for mean-level changes in avoidance in women from young to middle adulthood (Klohnen & John, 1998). ...
... Age was grand-mean centered based on the mean from the overall combined sample and scaled in terms of decades of life (i.e., (centered age)/10); thus, all age coefficients can be interpreted as the expected increase or decrease in anxiety/avoidance per decade of life (see Hudson et al., 2015; for a similar approach). Worth noting, this transformation does not affect the direction or significance of any effects, but rather aids in interpretation of the effects. ...
Research on individual differences in attachment-and their links to emotion, cognition, and behavior in close relationships-has proliferated over the last several decades. However, the majority of this research has focused on children and young adults. Little is known about mean-level changes in attachment orientation beyond early life, in part due to a dearth of longitudinal data on attachment across the life span. The current study used a Q-Sort-based measure of attachment to examine mean-level changes in attachment orientation from age 13 to 72 using data from the Block and Block Longitudinal Study, the Intergenerational Studies, and the Radcliffe College Class of 1964 Sample (total N = 628). Multilevel modeling was employed to estimate growth curve trajectories across the combined samples. We found that attachment anxiety declined on average with age, particularly during middle age and older adulthood. Attachment avoidance decreased in a linear fashion across the life span. Being in a relationship predicted lower levels of anxiety and avoidance across adulthood. Men were higher in attachment avoidance at each point in the life span. Taken together, these findings provide much-needed insight into how attachment orientations change over long stretches of time. We conclude with a discussion about the challenges of studying attachment dynamics across the life course and across specific transitions. (PsycINFO Database Record
... Although the ECR was framed in terms of how people behave in romantic relationships generally, the results using this version often mirror the results found when referencing close others more generally and particular relational partners (e.g., mothers). Altogether, this suggests using this partner version of the ECR is an appropriate way of capturing individual differences in attachment orientation given its high degree of overlap with other versions (Hudson et al., 2015). ...
... Third, our analysis focused exclusively on emerging adulthood because this particular developmental periodand how relationships are changing throughout this periodwas most interesting from an attachment and adjustment perspective. However, future research can examine how these relationships change in concert with (or in opposition to) one another across the adult lifespan (Hudson et al., 2015). Having long-term longitudinal data with a comprehensive set of relationship characteristics will allow us to test many of the mechanisms and processes that we proposed for future research. ...
Highly satisfying social relationships make us happy and healthy—they fill us with joy and a sense of meaning and purpose. But do all the relationships in our lives contribute equally to our well-being and do some people benefit more from certain relationships? The current study examined associations between the satisfaction of specific relationships within a family (i.e., with parents, siblings) and adjustment (i.e., life satisfaction and depressive symptoms) among 572 emerging adults aged 18–25 (Mage = 19.95, SD = 1.42; 77.4% female). Overall, relationship satisfaction with mothers and fathers was associated with better adjustment. Attachment anxiety and avoidance moderated associations between relationship-specific satisfaction and adjustment. We discuss the findings in the context of the shifting of attachment functions during emerging adulthood and the dynamic nature of close relationships across the lifespan.
... Emotional bonding refers to the affectionate bonds that individuals form with certain objects or persons (Hazan & Shaver, 1994;Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015;Thomson, MacInnis, & Park, 2005). Emotional bonding originated in attachment theory (1980( , Bowlby, 1958, states that infants are born with a tendency to form close relationships with their primary caregivers in order to survive. ...
... In addition to the mother-infant relationship, scholars have appropriated the concept of attachment into other contexts. Some scholars (Hazan & Shaver, 1987;Hudson et al., 2015) extended attachment theory to explain adults' attachment to their parents or partners in romantic relationships. Other researchers applied attachment theory to different business contexts, for example, consumers' emotional attachment to brands (Proksch, Orth, & Bethge, 2013;Thomson et al., 2005) and employees' attachment to their leaders within organizations (Rahimnia & Sharifirad, 2015). ...
... Attachment patterns have long been believed to be enduring but potentially amenable (Ainsworth 1969). Capturing change in attachment patterns has been relatively rare in research studies, although Hudson et al. (2015) have been exploring whether attachment styles may be state or trait characteristics that vary over time with different relationships (parental, romantic, and friendships). In terms of addiction, several studies have examined the relationship between attachment patterns with alcoholism and drug abuse and found that insecure attachment patterns are more prevalent in this population (De Rick et al. 2009;Delvecchio et al. 2016;Schindler et al. 2005;Thorberg and Lyvers 2010), and one study found a biological link between white matter impairment and insecure attachment and negative affectivity (Unterrainer et al. 2017). ...
... Since this participant pool includes women with addictions, who are also in a treatment center designed to increase their spirituality and religious practices, while reducing concurrent mental health complaints, attempting to measure any changes in their attachment to God may be one way of evaluating whether there are any correlations existing between these constructs. This study includes a novel use of the measure, Experiences in Close Relationships-Relationships Structures, which was designed for assessing human relationships (Hudson et al. 2015), by substituting God instead of human beings. It was used to determine whether use of this instrument would correlate positively or negatively with mental health symptoms, as other studies using different measures have done (Bradshaw et al. 2010;Kerlin 2017;Miner et al. 2014). ...
The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of The Recovery Center at Shalom House Ministries and examine the relationship(s) between forgiveness, attachment styles, drug and alcohol abuse, self-reported mental health symptoms, and cognitive functioning. Participants (N = 118 women) attended Shalom Recovery (2016–2018). Statistically significant improvement was found between entrance and the 3-month mark on all measures, with 67.9% completing the program. Findings indicated that the revenge motivations correlated with depression, self-esteem, anxiety, and avoidance of intimacy with God, but only this latter scale contributed to a multiple regression model on revenge motivations at program entry.
... Several authors have suggested that attachment styles differ with age, particularly between young and old individuals [18][19][20]. Specifically, adolescents and young adults would experience more attachment anxiety, while older and middle-aged adults would experience less (after the development of enduring intimate relationships) [17,18,21]. Furthermore, a higher level of attachment avoidance may accompany changes in young adulthood [17]. ...
Background: This study aimed to analyze the associations of adult attachment styles with psychological well-being in relation to age groups (young adults vs adults) and relationship status (singleness vs close relationships). Method: The study sample consisted of 393 Italian young adults and adults, aged 18 to 62 years, with stable close relationships (n = 219) or identified in this study as singles (n = 174). The Psychological Well-being Scale was used to analyze psychological well-being, and the Attachment Style Questionnaire was chosen to evaluate adult attachment dimensions. Results: Individuals with stable close relationships reported higher levels of psychological well-being than singles. Furthermore, compared to people with stable close relationships, singles had an attachment style associated with discomfort with closeness, relationships as secondary, and avoidance. Finally, in single people, psychological well-being was moderately and positively predicted by attachment style characterized by confidence but strongly and negatively by attachment characterized by the need for approval. Regarding individuals with stable relationships, psychological well-being was strongly and negatively predicted by attachment style characterized by the need for approval. Conclusions: In adult attachment styles, close relationships can be viewed as a protective factor for long-term emotional stability and psychological well-being.
... Therefore, the relating taking place in friendship presents an opportunity and intersubjective experience that "plays" with social knowledge that may have a sustained effect on development in any number of areas, including the act of relating itself. Secondly, adolescent and emerging adult attachment styles appear to change with particular relationship partners (Carlson, Sroufe & Egeland, 2004;Overall, Fletcher & Friesen, 2003;Baldwin & Fehr, 1995) such that "attachment" theorists now separate parental and peer attachment in adolescence and beyond, with "friendship security" predicting social and emotional outcomes above and beyond that accountable by parental and romantic attachments (Hudson, Fraley, Chopik & Heffernan, 2015;Goh & Wilkinson, 2007). ...
Research, theory and mental health policy draws attention to the importance of family, social networks, community, employers and learning contexts in maintaining mental health and inclusion. Yet the meaningful complexities of friendship to psychological health and public policy has not received sustained analysis, and policy emphasis is often restricted towards family relations. This study explores the friendship-experiences of seventeen people who have endured mental health difficulties, through a critical narrative inquiry of their stories of friendship. A hermeneutics of suspicion, involving stigma, feminist and mad studies is used to explore meaning within the narratives. The study reveals the participants’ stories of problems of daily living, illness and stigma, of friendship as freedom and recognition, and friendship’s contribution to personal agency and establishing a valued position in society. The study develops a perspective of how compassion in friendship has helped articulate and reframe identities to one’s self, to others, and to distress, and therefore the potential contribution of friendship to living with mental distress. The thesis argues that mental health studies have been dominated by institutionalised relationships, of which friendship has been made to fit into theoretical frameworks of family- and kin-relationships. The thesis presents an alternative view of friendship to aid in the reformulation of the varieties of social relationships shared by people through mental distress. Additionally, there have been very few narrative studies that explore the friendship experiences of people with mental ill health and this study adds to a growing literature.
... Finally, past research is limited in its measurement of attachment orientation as a unitary construct across all attachment relationships. Recent perspectives on attachment emphasize the importance of attachment across domains, such as within familial, romantic, or friendship Hudson et al., 2015;Sibley & Overall, 2008). In the current research, we prioritized measuring attachment orientation across these domains to obtain a more accurate measure of global attachment and examine whether specific attachment domains are associated with PTSS. ...
There is an established association between posttrauma symptom severity (PTSS) and attachment insecurity (anxiety and avoidance). However, few studies have examined this association among community samples of trauma-exposed individuals and identified factors that might moderate these associations. We sought to (a) replicate existing associations between PTSS and attachment insecurity in a community sample of trauma survivors and (b) determine the potential moderating role of support-seeking and coping behaviors. Our sample included 824 trauma-exposed individuals (MPCL-5 = 31.6, SD = 20.0; Mage = 37.4, SD = 13.2; 69.3% female; 79.1% White; 77.2% heterosexual). Participants completed an online survey via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Linear regression and moderation analyses tested the association between PTSS and attachment insecurity and whether support-seeking and coping behaviors moderated these associations. PTSS was positively associated with global attachment anxiety (b =.48, 95% confidence interval [.42,.54]) and global attachment avoidance (b =.06, [.15,.29]). The association between PTSS and attachment avoidance was weaker for people who reported greater instrumental and emotional support-seeking or greater active coping. This study provides evidence for the association between PTSS and attachment insecurity. Findings underscore the need to understand causal mechanisms underlying this association and critically evaluate how existing and future interventions can buffer attachment insecurity in trauma-exposed individuals.
... Darunter stehen Modelle, welche die Beziehungen mit konkreten Personen repräsentieren, wobei die 3 Ebenen in Wechselwirkung miteinander stehen (Collins und Read 1994;König et al. 2007). Die Annahme der kontextabhängigen Spezifität von Bindung wurde durch zahlreiche empirische Befunde bestätigt (La Guardia et al. 2000;Caron et al. 2012;Fraley et al. 2011;Hudson et al. 2015). In einer Studierendenstichprobe fanden sich wesentliche Unterschiede zwischen Bindung zu den Eltern einerseits und der Die Psychotherapie 1 Bindung zum Partner bzw. ...
Background
Empirical findings suggest that attachment in adulthood is characterized by both global and relationship-specific aspects; however, to date the extent to which global and specific attachment strategies differ with respect to their associations with mental health has not been sufficiently examined.Methods
In a convenience sample (N = 622; 86% female, average age 33 years), attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were assessed in each of the relationships with mother, father, partner, friend, as well as in a global form using the self-report instrument Experiences in Close Relationships-Relationship Structures (ECR-RS). It was assumed that the ratings for both attachment strategies differed depending on the relationship context. Furthermore, associations with the short form of the Symptom Checklist (SCL-K9), the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-32), and the Level of Personality Functioning Scale-Brief Form (LPFS-BF) were examined.ResultsAttachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were rated differently depending on the relationship context (anxiety: ηp2 = 0.18, avoidance ηp2 = 0.31). Global attachment anxiety was the strongest predictor of acute symptom distress (β = 0.48, p < 0.001), interpersonal problems (β = 0.49, p < 0.001) and impairment in personality functioning (β = 0.48, p < 0.001). Global attachment avoidance showed no incremental effect beyond relationship-specific avoidance. In particular, attachment avoidance towards the partner was associated with all of the three clinical measures.DiscussionAdult attachment strategies appear to differ according to the relational context in which they are assessed. A combination of global and partnership-related attachment measures could be the most useful approach to adequately capture the different associations between attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance with mental health.
... Although the preference for solitude was higher in both established and midlife adulthood than in emerging adulthood, the higher level in established adults was not only due to lower anxious attachment as in midlife adults but also due to the higher introversion. The results should be reliable with the phase differences in attachment and introversion found in the current study consistent with previous studies showing that introversion tended to be higher in established adulthood and may remain stable or even decline in midlife adulthood (Allen et al., 2021;Specht, 2017) and that people's general anxious attachment tended to be lower with older age and became stable in middle adulthood (Fraley, 2019;Hudson et al., 2015). The different mechanisms may explain why the preference for solitude in established adulthood was at a similar level as in midlife adulthood but was more maladaptive (e.g., higher loneliness and lower positive affect). ...
The consequences of solitude depend on one’s preference and motivations for solitude, some of which correlate with high psychological risks (e.g., loneliness, depression) with others relating to low risk or benefits. When life is suffused with stress, people are used to escaping and seeking solitude time for restoration, which is especially true for established adults who are burdened with the heaviest care responsibilities and work stress. However, little is known about the development of preference and motivations for solitude in established adulthood. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the level of preference and motivations for solitude and their potential antecedents and consequences in established (aged 30–45) adulthood as compared to emerging (aged 18–29) and midlife adulthood (aged 46–64). We recruited 465 young to middle-aged adults from MTurk and an undergraduate class (Fall 2019). Preference and motivations for solitude were measured with the Preference for Solitude Scale and the Motivation for Solitude Scale-Short Form. Well-being and social measures were included as potential consequences and sociodemographic, psychological, and physical measures as potential antecedents. Results showed that both preference for solitude and controlled motivation peaked in established adulthood. Same as adjacent adulthood phases, in established adulthood (a) preference for solitude related to mildly compromised well-being, (b) controlled motivation was robustly associated with worse well-being, and (c) self-determined motivation was consistently associated with better well-being. Antecedences for preference and motivations for solitude showed distinctiveness for each adulthood phase. Future interventions on well-being should focus on controlled motivation for solitude and established adults.
... Researchers who used the contextual model of attachment showed that the relationships between PSNSU and attachment may vary depending on the specific interpersonal domain and the developmental stage of the SNS user. These findings are consistent with the view of attachment as sensitive to changes over age and experience (Chopik et al., 2013;Hudson et al. (2015). ...
A systematic review of the literature was conducted to summarize research that examined the associations between problematic social networking sites use (PSNSU) and attachment-related phenomena among adolescents and adults. Records were included in the systematic review if they presented original data, assessed attachment and PSNSU, were published in peer-reviewed journals between 2004 and 2021 and were written in English. After duplicates removal, 373 studies were found eligible for scrutiny. Among the screened full texts, 32 articles met the eligibility criteria. The selected studies included a total of 16,938 participants. Findings from these studies highlighted that PSNSU is negatively associated with indicators of secure attachment and positively associated with indicators of attachment anxiety, whereas results regarding indicators of attachment avoidance were mixed. Furthermore, an analysis of mediators showed that the relationship between PSNU and attachment- related phenomena is affected by individual, interpersonal, and SNS-related variables. Future directions for re- search as well as implications for clinical practice are discussed.
... In these developmental stages, many personality characteristics develop in the direction of greater maturity and contribute to better functioning in social, educational, and work contexts (Bleidorn & Hopwood, 2019;Roberts & Wood, 2006;Roberts et al., 2008); consequently, positive mean-level changes can be expected for selfevaluations in these domains. Also, attachment anxiety in romantic relationships tends to decline in early adulthood, suggesting that self-evaluations in the romantic domain could become more positive (Chopik & Edelstein, 2014;Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015). The present findings supported this hypothesis with regard to self-evaluations of academic abilities, romantic relationships, and social acceptance. ...
This meta-analysis investigated the normative development of domain-specific self-evaluations (also referred to as self-concept or domain-specific self-esteem) by synthesizing the available longitudinal data on mean-level change. Eight domains of self-evaluations were assessed: academic abilities, athletic abilities, physical appearance, morality, romantic relationships, social acceptance, mathematics, and verbal abilities. Analyses were based on data from 143 independent samples which included 112,204 participants. As the effect size measure, we used the standardized mean change d per year. The mean age associated with effect sizes ranged from 5 to 28 years. Overall, developmental trajectories of self-evaluations were positive in the domains of academic abilities, social acceptance, and romantic relationships. In contrast, self-evaluations showed negative developmental trajectories in the domains of morality, mathematics, and verbal abilities. Little mean-level change was observed for self-evaluations of physical appearance and athletic abilities. Moderator analyses were conducted for the full set of samples and for the subset of samples between ages 10 and 16 years. The moderator analyses indicated that the pattern of findings held across demographic characteristics of the samples, including gender and birth cohort. The meta-analytic dataset consisted largely of Western and White/European samples, pointing to the need of conducting more research with Non-Western and ethnically diverse samples. The meta-analytic findings suggest that the notion that self-evaluations generally show a substantial decline in the transition from early to middle childhood should be revised. Also, the findings did not support the notion that self-evaluations reach a critical low point in many domains in early adolescence.
... In contrast, avoidance represents an internal working model that tends to be more stable across relationships and time (Fraley, Vicary, Brumbaugh, & Roisman, 2011;Pinquart, Feubner, & Ahnert, 2013). Although changes in attachment can occur, often due to significant negative or positive life and relationship events (Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015;Pinquart et al., 2013), drastic and rapid fluctuations in attachment are less likely. Hence, variations in disengagement based on the state of the relationship are expected, even in individuals high on avoidance who may have a higher baseline propensity to disengage. ...
This study sought to assess the role of attachment insecurities on romantic disengagement among couples seeking relationship therapy. Dyadic associations were examined between attachment insecurities and romantic disengagement, accounting for depression, relationship satisfaction, and commitment, using a sample of 171 couples. Partners completed the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale and the Romantic Disengagement Scale. Path analysis revealed that attachment‐related avoidance, but not anxiety, was associated with romantic disengagement. Men's attachment‐related anxiety was related to greater disengagement in their partner. The combination of men's attachment‐related avoidance and women's attachment‐related anxiety was also significantly associated with women's romantic disengagement. Although attachment insecurities were associated with romantic disengagement, contextual and intrapersonal factors also contributed to our understanding of disengagement. Findings are discussed in light of clinical interventions for couple therapy.
... Baldwin & Fehr, 1995;Fraley, 2002). For example, as people become older, they tend to decrease in attachment anxiety and increase in avoidance (Chopik & Edelstein, 2014;Chopik, Edelstein, & Fraley, 2013;Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015). These normative trends are thought to reflect both biological maturation (analogous to physical maturation; Roberts, Wood, & Caspi, 2008) and the influence of common, age-graded life events. ...
People value relationships and want to relate to both friends and romantic partners in a secure and comfortable fashion. But can individuals move towards realizing this goal of their own volition? To address this question, across three studies with a combined total of more than 4000 participants, we developed and validated a new measure of people's desires to change their attachment anxiety and avoidance. In Study 1, we created the new, 16‐item Change Goals—Experiences in Close Relationships measure. In Study 2, we replicated the Change Goals—Experiences in Close Relationships' factor structure and demonstrated that it correlates in theoretically expected ways with criterion variables (e.g. people who were high in undesirable traits such as anxiety or avoidance generally wanted to change those traits; change goals were linked to dissatisfaction with relevant life domains). Finally, in Study 3, we conducted a 16‐wave, weekly longitudinal study. Results indicated that goals to change attachment anxiety and avoidance predicted corresponding growth across time (e.g. people who wanted to become less anxious tended to experience declines in attachment anxiety across time). Thus, our research provides a new measure for studying changes in attachment and suggests people may be able to increase in attachment security per their own volition. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology
... Buna ek olarak, yapılan kesitsel bir çalışmada bağlanma stillerinde görülen yaş farklılıklarında ilişkiye özgü (romantik partner, aile ve arkadaş ilişkileri) değişiklikler gözlemlenmiştir. Bağlanma kaygısının romantik partner ve yakın arkadaşla kurulan bağda yaş arttıkça azaldığı, ancak aileyle kurulan bağda kaygılı bağlanmanın yaş ile birlikte artış gösterdiği görülmüştür (Hudson, Fraley, Chopik ve Heffernan, 2015). Ancak, bağlanma stilleri algılanan duyarlılık ile aynı şeyi ifade etmemekte; hem erken yaşantıda hem de yetişkinlikte bağlanma stillerinin bağlanma figürlerinin duyarlılığındaki çeşitliliğin bir sonucu olarak ortaya çıktığı düşünülmektedir (Ainsworth ve ark., 1978;Slatcher ve Selçuk, 2017;Zayas, Günaydın ve Shoda, 2015). ...
... Attachment security has both stable and dynamic properties (Fraley, 2002;Fraley & Roberts, 2005). Recent research has shown, that even though substantial fluctuations in an individuals' mean level of attachment security can be found across different relationships (Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015;La Guardia et al., 2004), situations (Davila & Sargent, 2003) and times (Zhang & Labouvie-Vief, 2004), there seems to be a stable latent factor underlying attachment security ). Models that account for both stable and dynamic properties of attachment are superior in predicting prospective states of attachment than those models that rely solely on prior states of attachment security (cf. ...
... This kind of knowledge is important given the impact of the SDS on sexual health (Hynie & Lydon, 1995;Milnes, 2004), perceptions of sexual assaults (Lee, Kim, & Lim, 2010), and contemporary social issues such as rape myth acceptance and rape culture (see Hayes, Abbott, & Cook, 2016;Klement, Sagarin, & Lee, 2017). The present research examines the SDS in the real world via assessments of how participants judge both close friends and more distant acquaintances, as social relationships impact how others are perceived (e.g., Funder, Kolar, & Blackman, 1995;Furman, Simon, Shaffer, & Bouchey, 2002;Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015;Keener & Strough, 2017). We begin with a brief review of both the SDS literature and research pertaining to social relationships. ...
The sexual double standard (SDS) has traditionally been studied by examining evaluations of hypothetical targets. Although much knowledge has been gained regarding the SDS by using this methodology, the literature thus far has suffered from a lack of ecological validity. The goal of the present study was to determine whether the SDS emerged in evaluations of participants' real-life friends and acquaintances. Participants (n = 4,455) evaluated a single, randomly assigned male or female friend or acquaintance whose sexual history they were familiar with. Women were evaluated more negatively as their number of sexual partners increased, whereas number of partners was not related to evaluations of men. The SDS was not moderated by the closeness of the relationship between the participant and the target person.
... Nonetheless, cross-sectional studies with adult samples that also used the ECR-RS suggest that attachment avoidance toward parents continues to increase in adulthood. For example, avoidance with mothers (also assessed with the ECR-RS) tends to continue to increase beyond age 18 (see Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015). This raises the possibility that the longitudinal patterns we are observing are representative of an enduring process that is not constrained to late childhood and adolescence, but extends into adulthood. ...
Attachment theorists emphasize both the stability of attachment styles across time and their potential for change. The authors examined mean-level changes in attachment styles using an accelerated longitudinal cohort design. Specifically, 690 children, aged 8-19, completed self-report measures of attachment to their mothers 3 times over 3 years in 3 distinct cohorts (Grades 3, 6, and 9). Attachment-related anxiety started and remained low across time. Attachment-related avoidance, however, started low but gradually increased over time. These results suggest that, although children continue to see their mothers as available if needed, they come to relate to their mothers in more avoidant ways during this important developmental period.
... Attachment styles are defined as cognitive-affective representations of the self and others in relationships, and their formation originally occurs on the basis of early caregiving relationships (Bowlby, 1969(Bowlby, , 1973. However, attachment styles have also been shown to change as people transition to more frequent interactions with others in adulthood (Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015). 2.2 | Working models and attachment styles As noted, a key component of attachment theory is how early relationships with caregivers influence the development of internal working models of relationships, otherwise known as attachment styles. ...
The influence of attachment theory on organizational scholarship is growing, with more articles published on the subject in the past 5 years than the preceding 25 years combined. Prior research and reviews have primarily focused on attachment styles and their relationship with organizational outcomes. However, in the past 5 years, organizational scholars have begun exploring new directions in attachment research such as situational influences on attachment states, attachment as a moderating variable, and attachment as a dynamic process in various forms of work relationships. These advances offer new directions for organizational behavior research, notably through the lens of the attachment behavioral system—an innate psychological system that accounts for why and how people seek support from others. In this paper, we provide an overarching framework for understanding attachment dynamics in organizations and review key findings from attachment theory research on dyadic relationships, group dynamics, and the employee–organization relationship. We further discuss promising areas for future organizational research on attachment, as well as methodological developments in the priming of attachment states.
... The Experiences in Close Relationships -Relationship Structures Scale (Fraley, Heffernan, Vicary and Brumbaugh, 2011) is a 9-item measure assessing attachment anxiety and avoidance. While this measure was developed to examine adult romantic attachment, it has been modified by researchers to measure adult attachment orientation in general (Hudson, Fraley, Chopik and Heffernan, 2015). That is, rather than being asked about specific target relationships (parents, peers, romantic partners), participants are instructed to "rate the extent to which you believe each statement best describes your feelings about close relationships in general." ...
... leading to less frequent or intense negative affect and greater positive emotions (Carstensen et al., 2011;Roberts & Mroczek, 2008;Roberts et al., 2006). Beyond maturation, common, age-graded social experiences, such as committing to and investing in enduring romantic relationships, may instill security and assuage negative emotions (e.g., Hudson, Fraley, Chopik, & Heffernan, 2015;Lehnart, Neyer, & Eccles, 2010). Finally, differences in mental perspective (e.g., ever-increasing awareness of limited time left to live) may cause older adults to prioritize and select into situations that facilitate positive emotions and diminish negative ones-and when such selection is not possible, older adults may use emotion regulation strategies to effectively mitigate unpleasant feelings (e.g., Charles & Carstensen, 2008;Charles, Piazza, Luong, & Almeida, 2009). ...
A large body of previous research suggests that people’s global evaluations of their well-being tend to increase as a function of age. Fewer studies, however, have examined the extent to which people’s in vivo experiences of well-being (e.g., felt emotions) vary as a function of age—and the existing findings are mixed. The present study used an approximately nationally representative sample of more than 2,500 Germans to evaluate developmental patterns in both experiential and global well-being using cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. The cross-sectional and longitudinal findings converged on the idea that affect—whether positive or negative, global or experiential—decreases as a function of age and time. In contrast, life satisfaction appears to remain consistent, or perhaps decline across midlife before rebounding in old age. These findings suggest that affective well-being may develop in a nuanced way across adulthood: Negative affect appears to ebb with age—but so does positive affect.
Previous research suggests that attachment avoidance is robustly linked to memory errors of omission-such as forgetting information or events that have occurred. Moreover, these avoidance-related errors of omission are the strongest for relational stimuli (e.g., avoidant people have trouble remembering relationship-related words, but not neutral ones). Conversely, an emerging body of studies has linked attachment anxiety to memory errors of commission-such as falsely remembering events that never actually happened. The present article describes three studies (Ns = 204, 651, 547) that replicate the correlation between attachment anxiety and false memories. Moreover, the present studies experimentally explored the boundary conditions under which anxiety might predict false memories. Results indicated that attachment anxiety predicts false memories only when participants could see a video of another person conveying information-but not when reading a text transcript of the same information or when listening to the audio only. This is consistent with prior studies which suggest that highly attachment-anxious individuals are hypervigilant to others' emotional expressions and may use them to make incorrect inferences (which potentially become falsely encoded into memory). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Согласно теории привязанности Дж.Боулби рабочие модели отношений обладают высокой онтогенетической стабильностью, однако средовые и ситуативные факторы могут оказывать влияние на выраженность измерений беспокойства и избегания в отношениях. Одним из значимых факторов, которые могут потенциально влиять на отношение привязанности к романтическому партнеру, может быть уровень материальной самостоятельности женщин, повышающий уверенность в себе. Согласно данным кросс-культурных исследований с возрастом уровень беспокойства в отношениях падает, а уровень избегания возрастает, что объясняется, в том числе средовыми факторами. Как предполагается, одним из таких факторов может быть повышение материальной независимости, которое обычно с возрастом увеличивается. Работа посвящена проверки гипотезы о вкладе уровня материальной самостоятельности и возраста в выраженность беспокойства и избегания у женщин в постоянных отношениях и без пары. Анализ полученных данных (n = 2127 женщин, от 21 до 60 лет, средний возраст 40,1 лет), собранных при помощи размещения анкеты в социальных сетях, показал частичное подтверждение гипотезы. Повышение материальной самостоятельности снижает уровень беспокойства и у женщин в постоянных отношениях, и у женщин без пары, и не вносит вклад в изменение уровня избегания в отношениях. У женщин в постоянных отношениях только материальная самостоятельность вносит вклад в снижение уровня беспокойства, вклад возраста незначим, а у женщин без пары снижение уровня беспокойства определяется и возрастом, и уровнем материальной самостоятельности. Взаимодействие факторов материальной самостоятельности и возраста во всех случаях незначимо.
The proposed chapter deals with the fourth sector (4S) infrastructure based on the case study of the city of Havířov (the Czech Republic), its central heating company (HTS-Havířovská teplárenská) as well as with its non-profit endowment fund "Heat on the palm" (TND-Nadační fond Teplo na dlani), their activities and style of operation. The chapter touches on the scientific branches of the 4S, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and strategic management. The main goal and purpose of the chapter is to characterise the 4S ecosystem and its dynamic equilibrium with the city of Havířov which represents that kind of municipality-based activities in the Czech Republic. The case study is methodologically supported by a theoretical introduction into basic concepts and definitions, review of relevant scientific literature, analytical and synthetic approach to the open and reserved information sources, interviews with representatives incorporated into the factual content of the text, SWOT analysis, strategic proposals and graphical outputs form the methodology of the chapter. The descriptive case study results of the 4S ecosystem are structured as follows: basic characteristics and historical background of the city Havířov, localisation, twin cities' population, social sphere, municipal and non-profit organisations and enterprises, sustainable enterprising, labour market, schools, national minorities, safety, crime and drug prevention, sport, cultural events, volunteering and awarding, associations, cooperatives, churches, smart city, digitization, infrastructure, bike sharing, gender policy, COVID-19 measures and SWOT analysis. The 4S and CSR activities of HTS and TND are characterised as well. The main results show a well-established and robust ecosystem of the 4S of the city of Havířov based on its municipal and private sector cooperation struggling to track the sustainable goals in all spheres of citizen life. Being aware of the dynamic development, further strategic goals highlighting economy, workforce, security, management, education, culture and leisure, health care and social sphere, transport and infrastructure are suggested by the municipal strategic plan. In conclusion, the authors suggest further improvements regarding small water cycle, public-private partnership (PPP) and community self-sustainability projects.
The positive core construct of psychological capital (PsyCap) continues to garner a great deal of enduring heed from academicians and practitioners alike. While studies have continually been attesting to PsyCap’s positive influence on job performance, there is an obvious silence in the literature as to the cross-cultural implications for PsyCap formation and management. Besides, little is known about the underlying mechanisms and the team-level boundary conditions of the PsyCap–job performance relationship. Addressing these gaps, this article speculates a blend of ancient Indian and contemporary Western psychological perspectives. In particular, we theorize the role of trigunas (three trait-like components namely sattwa, rajas and tamas) on PsyCap formation, the mediating role of organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) in the PsyCap–job performance relationship and the moderating role of supervisors’ authentic leadership behaviour in the relationship between trigunas, PsyCap, OBSE and job performance of their followers at the individual level. Research propositions based on the proposed conceptual model are presented. Implications of such a conceptual blend for cross-cultural management and future research directions conclude the article.
Attachment scholars have focused on attachment outcomes between children and their parents. However, there is a dearth of studies examining the association between attachment and later romantic relationships for those who have had a parent in a same-sex relationship during childhood. To address this gap, we used a sample from the New Family Structures Study. The sample for this study comprised 248 adults, of which, 175 participants reported their mother having had a same-sex romantic relationship and 73 participants reported their father having had a same-sex romantic relationship. Regression analysis indicated that participants with mothers who have had same-sex relationships report higher attachment outcomes. Further, higher attachment outcomes predicted higher romantic relationship quality. Gender of the participants and their parents also statistically moderated romantic relationship quality and family-of-origin attachment for females with mothers who have had same-sex relationships. Limitations and future directions are discussed.
According to literature, the sense of security in the relation with the care giver in infancy, childhood and adolescence is correlated with a positive self-image, high level of self-esteem and a sense of self-effectiveness (Arbona, Power, 2003; Thompson, 1999). In the period of adolescence the social environment expands considerably because of the appearance of peers who play a signifi cant role in satisfying vital needs of boys and girls. Developmental changes in intellectual processes permit making increasingly accurate comparisons with other people, which is the necessary condition for adequate self-evaluation. In the study reported in this paper the question considered was that on the relations between the attachment of adolescents to different objects of attachment and on the signifi cance of this attachment for self-esteem. The study was performed on 431 adolescents, high school students, of 16 to 18 years of age, with the use of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) questionnaire, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and a survey. The results indicate that the attachment to parents and peers is a predictor of self-esteem, but the strength of prediction depends on the sex of the parent and the adolescent.
One of the long-standing debates in the study of adult attachment is whether individual differences are best captured using categorical or continuous models. Although early research suggested that continuous models might be most appropriate, we revisit this issue here because (a) categorical models continue to be widely used in the empirical literature, (b) contemporary models of individual differences raise new questions about the structure of attachment, and (c) methods for addressing the types versus dimensions question have become more sophisticated over time. Analyses based on 2 samples indicate that individual differences appear more consistent with a dimensional rather than a categorical model. This was true with respect to general attachment representations and attachment in specific relationship contexts (e.g., attachment with parents and peers). These findings indicate that dimensional models of attachment style may be better suited for conceptualizing and measuring individual differences across multiple levels of analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
J. Bowlby (1969/1997) suggested that one aspect of healthy development included the shift of attachment functions from parent to peer. This proposal was tested in a sample of undergraduates and results suggested that there was no advantage for individuals with a peer network compared to those with a family network. There was, however, a difference in attachment–distress associations between groups. Consistent with previous research, attachment anxiety was positively associated with distress for both groups. Although attachment avoidance was positively associated with distress for individuals with a predominantly family network, avoidance was not associated with distress for individuals with a predominantly peer network. Discussion highlights two interpretations for these findings, which focus on the importance that attachment may have on the experience of distress as well as current research findings exploring the attachment–distress relationship over time.
Peers are a pervasive aspect of people’s lives, but their role in personality development has rarely been considered. This is surprising, given that peers are promising candidates to explain personality development over the entire lifespan. Due to the lack of clear-cut definitions of peers, we first elaborate on their defining criteria and functions in different life phases. We then discuss the role of peers in personality development across the lifespan. We advocate that an integration of social group perspectives and social relationship perspectives is essential to understand peer effects on personality development. Group socialization theory is particularly suited to explain developmental differences between groups as a result of group norms. However, it is blind towards differences in development within peer groups. In contrast, the PERSOC framework is particularly suited to explain individual differences in development within groups as a result of specific dyadic peer relationship experiences. We propose that a conjunct consideration of peer group effects and dyadic peer relationship effects can advance the general understanding of personality development. We discuss examples for a cross-fertilization of the two frameworks that suggest avenues for future research.
Friends foster self-esteem and a sense of well-being, socialize one another, and support one another in coping with developmental transitions and life stress. Friends engage in different activities with one another across the life span, but friendship is conceived similarly by children and adults. Friends and friendships, however, are not all alike. The developmental significance of having friends depends on the characteristics of the friends, especially whether the friends are antisocial or socially withdrawn. Outcomes also depend on whether friendships are supportive and intimate or fractious and unstable. Among both children and adults, friendships have clear-cut developmental benefits at times but are mixed blessings at other times.
This study examined attachment, coherence, and self-disclosure as predictors of intimacy in adolescent friendships as well as the extent to which coherence and disclosure mediate the relationship between attachment and intimacy. Gender and grade-level effects on intimacy development were also examined for one hundred ninety-six seventh, eighth and ninth grade students (116 boys and 80 girls). Attachment, coherence, and disclosure strongly predicted intimacy. Self-disclosure and coherence also interacted to influence intimacy where a tendency toward self-disclosure contributes to intimacy to a greater extent at low (when compared to high) levels of coherence. Structural Equation Modeling indicated that only coherence and self-disclosure had a direct effect on intimacy. Avoidant and anxious attachment had an indirect affect on intimacy, and were mediated by coherence and disclosure. Clinical implications of the results are discussed.
Adult attachment researchers have made important strides during the past 25 years in testing and applying attachment theory to multiple personal and interpersonal domains. We highlight some of the major milestones and then propose several directions for future research. Some of the most important and promising directions include testing additional normative processes implied by attachment theory, developing and testing critical connections between attachment theory and other major interpersonal theories, and identifying pathways between attachment processes and long-term health outcomes.
The current research focuses on the detrimental effects of attachment insecurities on sexuality and relationship quality. A community sample of 96 women completed self-report scales tapping attachment orientations; relationship satis-faction; sex-related affect and cognitions; and sexual function-ing. Findings indicate that although both attachment anxiety and avoidance were associated with aversive sexual affect and cognitions, attachment anxiety was more detrimental to sexual functioning. In addition, only attachment anxiety was significantly associated with relational and sexual dissatis-faction, however, sexual satisfaction mediates the association between attachment anxiety and relationship satisfaction. The possibility that attachment orientations are associated with different strategies and interaction goals in the operation of the sexual system within romantic relationships is discussed. KEY WORDS: attachment • relationship satisfaction • romantic relationships • sex • sexual functioning
Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling, this study examined the extent to which personality traits and global attachment orientations within distinct relationship domains (romantic, familial, and friendship) exhibited diffuse versus differentiated associations with attachments toward specific persons within each domain (e.g., current romantic partner, mother, best friend). Results were consistent with a hierarchically organized model of the attachment representational network containing global (personality) and specific (attachment) components. As expected, autonomous and sociotropic personality (controlling for the Big-Five) were diffusely associated with attachment toward specific persons across domains, whereas domain-specific attachment representations were strongly associated with specific attachments only within corresponding domains. Finally, as hypothesized, domain-specific attachment representations generally mediated the links between autonomy and sociotropy and relationship-specific attachments, but did so only within corresponding domains. These findings provide good evidence that autonomy and sociotropy (and not other personality traits assessed in the Big-Five) capture global summaries of the same regularities in relational responding that underlie the attachment system.
This article examines the possibility that romantic love (with intensity, engagement, and sexual interest) can exist in long-term relationships. A review of taxonomies, theory, and research suggests that romantic love, without the obsession component typical of early stage romantic love, can and does exist in long-term marriages, and is associated with marital satisfaction, well-being, and high self-esteem. Supporting the separate roles of romantic love and obsession in long-term relationships, an analysis of a moderately large data set of community couples identified independent latent factors for romantic love and obsession and a subsample of individuals reporting very high levels of romantic love (but not obsession) even after controlling for social desirability. Finally, a meta-analysis of 25 relevant studies found that in long- and short-term relationships, romantic love (without obsession) was strongly associated with relationship satisfaction; but obsession was negatively correlated with it in long-term and positively in short-term relationships.
The objective of this research was to evaluate the hypothesis that twin relationships are attachments, using data from a nationally representative sample. The results indicated that twin siblings were more likely than nontwin siblings to be attached to their siblings. Moreover, analyses indicated that both attachment theoretical and inclusive fitness perspectives are necessary for explaining these findings. Namely, twins were more likely to be attached than nontwin siblings, as expected from an attachment perspective. But identical twins were more likely than fraternal twins to be attached to one another, as might be expected from an inclusive fitness perspective. Cross-sectional analyses indicated that older people are less likely than younger people to use their sibling as an attachment figure compared to younger people and that married adults are less likely to use their sibling as an attachment figure than nonmarried people.
Most research on adult attachment is based on the assumption that working models are relatively general and trait-like. Recent research, however, suggests that people develop attachment representations that are relationship-specific, leading people to hold distinct working models in different relationships. The authors report a measure, the Relationship Structures questionnaire of the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-RS; R. C. Fraley, N. G. Waller, & K. A. Brennan, 2000), that is designed to assess attachment dimensions in multiple contexts. Based on a sample of over 21,000 individuals studied online, it is shown that ECR-RS scores are reliable and have a structure similar to those produced by other measures. In Study 2 (N = 388), it is shown that relationship-specific measures of attachment generally predict intra- and interpersonal outcomes better than broader attachment measures but that broader measures predict personality traits better than relationship-specific measures. Moreover, it is demonstrated that differentiation in working models is not related to psychological outcomes independently of mean levels of security.
The attachment patterns of younger and older adults were studied using two-dimensional self-report measures of adult attachment. Community-dwelling younger (n = 144, M = 22.5 years, SD = 3.6) and older (n = 106, M = 68.6 years, SD = 8.3) adults completed the Measure of Attachment Qualities (MAQ; Carver, 1997) and the Relationship Style Questionnaire (RSQ; Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994). Although the MAQ and RSQ are believed to be measuring similar constructs, they are derived from different theoretical perspectives. Correlations between the two measures were in the expected directions proving modest evidence for their convergent validity. Regarding cross-sectional results, as was expected, older adults scored lower than younger adults on the ambivalent-worry attachment scale of the MAQ and the preoccupied attachment scale of the RSQ. There were no age differences regarding secure, avoidant, and dismissing attachment. It appears that older adults experience anxious types of attachment less frequently than younger adults. Although these results primarily speak to age differences and possible cohort effects, they also provide some support for socioemotional selectivity theory and its hypothesized improved relationships in later life.
Recent longitudinal and cross-sectional aging research has shown that personality traits continue to change in adulthood. In this article, we review the evidence for mean-level change in personality traits, as well as for individual differences in change across the life span. In terms of mean-level change, people show increased selfconfidence, warmth, self-control, and emotional stability with age. These changes predominate in young adulthood (age 20-40). Moreover, mean-level change in personality traits occurs in middle and old age, showing that personality traits can change at any age. In terms of individual differences in personality change, people demonstrate unique patterns of development at all stages of the life course, and these patterns appear to be the result of specific life experiences that pertain to a person's stage of life.
The authors examined associations between 5-factor personality traits and retirement in a diverse community sample. Longitudinal analyses (n = 367) compared personality trajectories of participants who remained employed and participants who retired. Personality at baseline did not predict future retirement, but compared to participants who remained employed, retirees increased in Agreeableness and decreased in Activity, a facet of Extraversion. In cross-sectional analyses among retirees (n = 144), those low in Neuroticism and high in Extraversion reported higher retirement satisfaction, and those high in Extraversion reported higher postretirement activity levels. Findings suggest that the trait perspective contributes to the understanding of the retirement process.
The explosion of adult attachment research in the last decade has been limited by its reliance on college student and distressed samples. Using a large nationally representative sample of American adults, the authors examined the relation of sociodemographics, childhood adversity, parental representations, adult psychopathology, and personality traits to adult attachment in an effort to replicate previous findings and extend the theory. Distribution of adult attachment styles was similar to that in prior studies: 59% secure, 25% avoidant, and 11% anxious. Adult attachment was associated with several sociodemographic variables (e.g., income, age, race) not previously studied. Childhood adversities of an interpersonal nature were strongly related to insecure adult attachment. Various types of adult psychopathologies and personality traits were also strongly related to adult attachment. Implications for adult attachment theory and future research are discussed.
This study used a sample of 304 adults to examine mean differences in family climate and personality variables on the basis of individuals' attachment styles. Also examined was whether mean differences varied by age group. Findings showed significant main effects of attachment style, but no Attachment Style x Age Group interactions. Compared with adults with an insecure attachment style, persons with a secure attachment style described their family of origin and their current family more positively and scored higher on personality variables indicative of self-confidence, psychological well-being, and functioning in the social world. When the family climate and personality variables were included in a discriminant function analysis, 2 significant functions were obtained. The 1st function discriminated adults with a positive self-model from those with a negative self-model. The 2nd function contrasted participants with a positive other-model from those with a negative other-model. Thus, this study provided evidence in support of the self- and other-models as the fundamental dimensions of adults' attachment system.
Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in the United States have shown consistent changes between college age and middle adulthood. There appear to be declines in 3 of the 5 major factors of personality--Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness--and increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. To examine cross-cultural generalizability of these findings, translations of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory were administered to samples in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, and South Korea (N = 7,363). Similar patterns of age differences were seen in each country, for both men and women. Common trends were also seen for the more specific traits that define the major factors. Because these nations differ substantially in culture and recent history, results suggest the hypothesis that these are universal maturational changes in adult personality.
Self-report measures of adult attachment are typically scored in ways (e.g., averaging or summing items) that can lead to erroneous inferences about important theoretical issues, such as the degree of continuity in attachment security and the differential stability of insecure attachment patterns. To determine whether existing attachment scales suffer from scaling problems, the authors conducted an item response theory (IRT) analysis of 4 commonly used self-report inventories: Experiences in Close Relationships scales (K. A. Brennan, C. L. Clark, & P. R. Shaver, 1998), Adult Attachment Scales (N. L. Collins & S. J. Read, 1990), Relationship Styles Questionnaire (D. W. Griffin & K. Bartholomew, 1994) and J. Simpson's (1990) attachment scales. Data from 1,085 individuals were analyzed using F. Samejima's (1969) graded response model. The authors' findings indicate that commonly used attachment scales can be improved in a number of important ways. Accordingly, the authors show how IRT techniques can be used to develop new attachment scales with desirable psychometric properties.
Emerging adulthood is proposed as a new conception of development for the period from the late teens through the twenties, with a focus on ages 18-25. A theoretical background is presented. Then evidence is provided to support the idea that emerging adulthood is a distinct period demographically, subjectively, and in terms of identity explorations. How emerging adulthood differs from adolescence and young adulthood is explained. Finally, a cultural context for the idea of emerging adulthood is outlined, and it is specified that emerging adulthood exists only in cultures that allow young people a prolonged period of independent role exploration during the late teens and twenties.
This study provides a comprehensive picture of age differences in self-esteem from age 9 to 90 years using cross-sectional data collected from 326,641 individuals over the Internet. Self-esteem levels were high in childhood, dropped during adolescence, rose gradually throughout adulthood, and declined sharply in old age. This trajectory generally held across gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and nationality (U.S. citizens vs. non-U.S. citizens). Overall, these findings support previous research, help clarify inconsistencies in the literature, and document new trends that require further investigation.
Two main theoretical approaches have been put forward to explain individual differences in life satisfaction: top-down (i.e., personological) and bottom-up (i.e., situational). The authors examine the relative merit of these 2 approaches and the psychological processes underlying top-down models. Consistent with a top-down approach, meta-analytic findings indicate that Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness are related to both various domain satisfactions and life satisfaction; however, consistent with a bottom-up approach, domain satisfactions are strongly linked to life satisfaction but only weakly linked to each other. Path analyses based on meta-analytic estimates did not support a simple "direct-effects" top-down model but supported both (a) a temperament-based top-down model and (b) an integrative model that incorporates the direct influence of domain satisfactions on life satisfaction.
Given recent evidence for multiple attachment models, we examined the organization and predictive power of general and relationship-specific attachment representations in two samples using two distinct measures of attachment models. With regard to associations among relationship-specific models, peer models (romantic partner and friend) and parental models (mother and father) were more similar to each other than to any other models, and anxiety/self-model representations were more consistent across relationships than avoidance/other-model representations. With regard to links between general and specific models, romantic and friend models made the strongest and independent contributions to general models, and romantic relationship involvement moderated the importance of romantic models to general models. With regard to differential predictive power of multiple models, general, romantic partner, and mother attachment made unique contributions to well-being indicators; relationship outcomes, however, were only predicted by individuals' corresponding relationship-specific models. Implications for the measurement and conceptualization of adult attachment are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine the potential universality of age differences in romantic attachment. Relatively few studies have investigated attachment processes beyond young adulthood and very little is known about age differences in romantic attachment orientations in geographic regions outside North America. We examined attachment anxiety and avoidance among 90,904 Internet respondents in 81 countries. Attachment anxiety was highest among younger adults and lowest in middle-aged and older adults. Attachment avoidance was lowest among younger adults and highest in middle age and older adults. Further, the patterns of age differences were universal across individualistic and collectivistic regions. Findings are discussed in the context of normative social roles and the universality of their influence on life span personality development.
Increasing numbers of empirical studies provide compelling evidence that personality traits change across the entire lifespan. What initiates this continuing personality development and how does this development proceed? In this paper, we compare six theoretical perspectives that offer testable predictions about why personality develops the way it does and identify limitations and potentials of these perspectives by reviewing how they hold up against the empirical evidence. While all of these perspectives have received some empirical support, there is only little direct evidence for propositions put forward by the five-factor theory of personality and the theory of genotype environment effects. In contrast, the neo-socioanalytic theory appears to offer a comprehensive framework that fits the empirical findings and allows the integration of other, more specialized, perspectives that focus on specific aspects of personality development like the role of time, systematic differences between categories of social roles or the active partake of the person him- or herself. We draw conclusions on the likely driving factors for adult personality development and identify avenues for future research.
Two studies tested how romantic ideal standards and their flexibility are associated with relationship quality. In Study 1, individuals rated themselves and their ideal romantic partners on three dimensions: warmth/trustworthiness, vitality/attractiveness, and status/resources. They then reported how flexible their ideals were on each dimension and how closely their current partner matched their ideal standards. Individuals who rated themselves higher on each dimension held higher ideal standards that were less flexible and perceived higher relationship quality the more their partners matched their ideals. This latter effect was moderated by the flexibility of ideals on two dimensions—warmth/trustworthiness and status/resources. In Study 2, members of dating couples reported their ideals, how closely their partners matched their ideals, and their flexibility. People were happier the more they matched their partners’ ideals. Partner discrepancy ratings once again mediated the link between self-perceptions and perceived relationship quality for the warmth/trustworthiness dimension.
This study examined the relationship between adult attachment style and friendship qualities in a sample of 330 undergraduates using the Adult Attachment Measure (Hazan & Shaver, 1987) and the Friendship Qualities Scale (Bukowski, Hoza, & Boivin, 1994). Results indicated that securely attached individuals showed higher levels of transcending problems in their friendships and lower levels of conflict, while avoidant individuals showed higher levels of conflict and lower levels of companionship. Interactions between attachment style, sex of the participant, and the sex of the friend (same/opposite sex) suggested the combined impact of these variables on specific friendship qualities.
[explore] issues concerning the multiple functions of sex within a relationship and its changing nature and importance over the course of a developing relationship [within attachment theory] / present results from 2 recent studies which indicate that, beyond infancy, attachments are formed almost exclusively with sexual partners / draw upon empirical findings from diverse sources and disciplines to derive a conceptualization of the role of sexual interest and sexual behavior in adolescent and adult attachment relationships (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two hundred thirty-seven young adults from an American university completed a questionnaire designed to test several normative implications of attachment theory. As predicted, the majority of participants (60%) used their parents as primary attachment figures but were in the process of transferring attachment-related functions from parents to peers (best friends and romantic partners). The transfer of these functions the parents to peers was found to be a function of the duration of the peer relationship. Furthermore, factors that generally promote the development of attachment formation in infancy (such as caregiving, trust, and intimate contact) were found to be positively associated with the development of attachment in adult relationships. Additional variables were identified that may facilitate peer attachment formation: secure working models of attachment and the perceived security of the peer. It is argued that future investigations into the role of attachment formation and transfer are critical for a comprehensive description of attachment dynamics in adult relationships.
Two studies with college students tested the hypothesis that a secure attachment style enhances intimacy in friendship. Three intimacy characteristics were studied: self-disclosure; responsiveness to a partner's disclosure; and feeling understood, validated, and cared for by a partner during conversations. In Study 1, individuals with a secure attachment style were higher on all three intimacy characteristics In Study 2, a lab-based assessment of intimacy revealed some relations between attachment and intimacy, providing mixed support for the hypothesis. Both studies found gender differences in intimacy characteristics The findings provide a starting point for a model accounting for individual differences in friendship.
Study objective was to delineate stages in filial role development from recognition of responsibility to provision of help. Fifty-three adult child-elderly parent pairs reported on parent health status and child filial behaviors. Child concern was unrelated to parent health status; urging parent to modify health was moderately related to health status; child's action to provide help was related only to parent's functional adequacy (p < .05). Pair members' reports agreed most strongly regarding functional adequacy.
Personality has been found to be more strongly associated with subjective well-being in many instances than are life circumstances.
In part, this might be due to the fact that temperament and other individual differences can influence people’s feelings and
evaluations of their lives, but also because people’s emotions are an inherent part of personality. This chapter discusses
the heritability of “happiness,” that portion of subjective well-being that is due to genetic differences between individuals.
The stability of subjective well-being over time is substantial, and this is likely due in part to the stability of personality.
Specific personality traits are related to various types of well-being. For example, extroversion appears to be more strongly
related to positive emotions, while neuroticism is more related to negative feelings. Although personality is an important
correlate of subjective well-being, situations and life circumstances can in some cases have a considerable influence as well.
Furthermore, personality can to some degree change over time, and with it, levels of subjective well-being can change.
Although attachment dynamics are thought to be important across the life span, relatively few studies have examined attachment processes beyond young adulthood. Extant research on age differences in attachment orientation has yielded conflicting results and interpretations. The purpose of this study was to provide a more complete picture of age-related differences in attachment anxiety and avoidance.
We examined attachment anxiety and avoidance in 86,555 Internet respondents (71.8% female) ranging in age from 18 to 70.
We found that attachment anxiety was highest among younger adults and lowest among middle-aged and older adults. Attachment avoidance showed less dramatic age differences overall but was highest among middle-aged adults and lowest among younger and older adults. In addition, partnered individuals reported lower levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance compared to single individuals, particularly in younger and older adulthood. Women also reported slightly higher anxiety and avoidance compared to men, especially in young adulthood.
Findings are discussed in the context of life span changes in social roles, normative personality development, and emotion regulation throughout adulthood.
The dyadic withdrawal hypothesis argues that friendship networks become smaller when people enter a cohabiting relationship and that friendship networks become more overlapping with the partner during the course of the relationship. This hypothesis has received fragmented support in earlier research and has not been tested in The Netherlands. A nationally representative data set is analyzed which includes information on the five best friends of the respondent. A special feature of the data is that both partners were interviewed which allows us to check whether the friends reported by the respondent were also reported by the partner. In contrast to earlier studies, a broad set of life course stages is compared: single, dating, married (or cohabiting) without children, married with children, and the empty nest stage. Bivariate results and multilevel regression analyses indicate that friendship networks become smaller over the life course, although these changes primarily occur when people start dating and enter wedlock. Later changes are dominated by a simple age effect. For overlap, the models show that the percentage of shared friends and the number of joint contacts increase over the life course, both in a stepwise fashion and in a continuous fashion due to the aging process. In addition, shared friendship and joint contacts become more strongly related when people start living together. Implications for two underlying theoretical mechanisms are discussed, the competition principle and the balance principle.
This research examined the hierarchical structure of attachment representations by directly measuring both global attachment orientations within distinct relationship domains (romantic, familial, and friendship), and attachment within a comprehensive range of specific relationships within each of these domains (e.g., current romantic partner, mother, best friend). In two independent samples, Hierarchical Linear Modeling analyses demonstrated that domain-specific representations were strongly associated with attachment ratings of specific relationships within that same domain (domain-relationship congruent associations) but were not (in general) associated with ratings of relationship-specific attachment in other domains (domain-relationship incongruent associations). These results provide evidence for the domain differentiation of multiple attachment representations – a defining feature of a hierarchically organized attachment representational network. Directions for future research integrating representations of attachment-related domains with the higher-order personality-esque component of the attachment representational hierarchy are briefly discussed.
This study assessed the structure of adults' attachment networks, using a questionnaire measure of preferred attachment figures with a large sample of adults (N = 812) representing various ages and life situations. Two broad research questions were addressed. The first question concerned the variety of attachment figures reported by adults and the relative strength of attachment to each, including preferred (primary) attachment figures. The second question concerned the effects of normative life events on attachment networks and the nature of primary attachment figures in different life situations. Overall, the results supported the preeminent role of attachment relationships with romantic partners. However, relationships with mothers, fathers, siblings, children, and friends also met the strict criteria used to define full-blown attachments; further, each of these targets constituted the primary attachment figure for some participants. The structure of the attachment network was related to variables such as age, relationship status, and parental status, attesting to the important role of normative life events. The results have theoretical and applied significance and are related to principles of attachment, caregiving, and socioemotional selectivity.
On the basis of the assumptions of the dynamic transactional paradigm, the current study investigates the effects of success and failure of social investment on personality development across young adulthood. Using longitudinal data from the Michigan Study of Adolescent and Adult Life Transitions (MSALT), the authors demonstrate that entering into the first long-term romantic relationship was accompanied by decreases in facets of neuroticism, thereby fully replicating findings by Neyer and Lehnart (2007) based on a German longitudinal study. In addition, remaining single over 8 years was related to decreasing self-esteem, especially for men. These results demonstrate long-term effects of investment and lack of investment in social roles and provide further evidence of the interrelatedness of social or relationship experiences and personality development.
The information that people remember about their relationships should be affected by their attachment orientations. This study investigated changes in individuals' memories of their own behavior during conflict-resolution discussions with their romantic partners. One week after each couple engaged in two videotaped conflict discussions, each partner's memory of the discussions was assessed. Memory biases were systematically related to attachment orientations. More avoidant individuals, for example, remembered being less supportive than they reported initially if they were relatively distressed during the discussions, whereas the opposite was true of less avoidant persons. More anxious individuals remembered being less emotionally distant than they reported initially if they were relatively distressed during the discussions, whereas the opposite was true of less anxious persons. We discuss the implications of these memory changes.
Is it sensible to study attachment dynamics between potential romantic partners before they share a full-fledged attachment bond? The present data indicate that such an approach may reveal novel insights about initial attraction processes. Four studies suggest that the state-like experience of attachment anxiety has functional implications within fledgling (i.e., desired or undeveloped) romantic relationships, well before the formation of an attachment bond. Studies 1 and 3 reveal that attachment anxiety directed toward a particular romantic interest is elevated before (in comparison with after) participants report being in an established relationship. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrate that such partner-specific attachment anxiety predicts attachment-relevant outcomes in fledgling relationships, including proximity seeking, safe haven, secure base, passionate love, and other approach behaviors. These associations were reliable above and beyond (and were typically as strong as or stronger than) the effect of sexual desire. Finally, Study 4 presents evidence that partner-specific attachment anxiety may cause several of these attachment-relevant outcomes. Attachment anxiety seems to be a normative experience and may signal the activation of the attachment system during the earliest stages of romantic relationships.
A new 4-group model of attachment styles in adulthood is proposed. Four prototypic attachment patterns are defined using combinations of a person's self-image (positive or negative) and image of others (positive or negative). In Study 1, an interview was developed to yield continuous and categorical ratings of the 4 attachment styles. Intercorrelations of the attachment ratings were consistent with the proposed model. Attachment ratings were validated by self-report measures of self-concept and interpersonal functioning. Each style was associated with a distinct profile of interpersonal problems, according to both self- and friend-reports. In Study 2, attachment styles within the family of origin and with peers were assessed independently. Results of Study 1 were replicated. The proposed model was shown to be applicable to representations of family relations; Ss' attachment styles with peers were correlated with family attachment ratings.
MOST THEORIES IN THE AREAS OF PERSONALITY, CLINICAL, AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY PREDICT ONLY THE DIRECTION OF A CORRELATION, GROUP DIFFERENCE, OR TREATMENT EFFECT. SINCE THE NULL HYPOTHESIS IS NEVER STRICTLY TRUE, SUCH PREDICTIONS HAVE ABOUT A 50-50 CHANCE OF BEING CONFIRMED BY EXPERIMENT WHEN THE THEORY IN QUESTION IS FALSE, SINCE THE STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESULT IS A FUNCTION OF THE SAMPLE SIZE. CONFIRMATION OF 1 DIRECTIONAL PREDICTION GENERALLY BUILDS LITTLE CONFIDENCE IN THE THEORY BEING TESTED. MOST THEORIES SHOULD BE TESTED BY MULTIPLE CORROBORATION AND MOST EMPIRICAL GENERALIZATIONS BY CONSTRUCTIVE REPLICATION. STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE, PERHAPS THE LEAST IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTE OF A GOOD EXPERIMENT, IS NEVER A SUFFICIENT CONDITION FOR CLAIMING THAT (1) A THEORY HAS BEEN USEFULLY CORROBORATED, (2) A MEANINGFUL EMPIRICAL FACT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED, OR (3) AN EXPERIMENTAL REPORT OUGHT TO BE PUBLISHED.