Avoidant Attachment (avoidant + attachment)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Two Dimensions of Attachment to God and Their Relation to Affect, Religiosity, and Personality Constructs

JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 4 2002
Wade Rowatt
In this study we sought to address several limitations of previous research on attachment theory and religion by (1) developing a dimensional attachment to God scale, and (2) demonstrating that dimensions of attachment to God are predictive of measures of affect and personality after controlling for social desirability and other related dimensions of religiosity. Questionnaire measures of these constructs were completed by a sample of university students and community adults (total n= 374). Consistent with prior research on adult romantic attachment, two dimensions of attachment to God were identified: avoidance and anxiety. After statistically controlling for social desirability, intrinsic religiousness, doctrinal orthodoxy, and loving God image, anxious attachment to God remained a significant predictor of neuroticism, negative affect, and (inversely) positive affect; avoidant attachment to God remained a significant inverse predictor of religious symbolic immortality and agreeableness. These findings are evidence that correlations between attachment to God and measures of personality and affect are not merely byproducts of confounding effects of socially desirable responding or other dimensions of religiosity. [source]


Attachment, emotional loneliness, and bullying behaviour: A study of adult and young offenders

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 4 2004
Jane L. Ireland
Abstract This research addresses the question of whether or not offenders who bully others and/or are victimised themselves can be distinguished by their attachment styles and the level of emotional loneliness that they report. Adult and young male offenders (n = 220) were required to complete a self-report behavioural checklist (DIPC: Direct and Indirect Prisoner behaviour Checklist: Ireland, 1999a) that addressed the level of bullying behaviour at their present institution. Offenders were also required to complete a measure of attachment, namely the Three Attachment Style Measure [Hazan and Shaver, 1987] exploring secure, avoidant and anxious/ambivalent styles, and a measure of emotional loneliness, namely the revised UCLA Loneliness scale [Russell, Peplaw and Cutrona, 1980]. Young offenders were more likely than adult offenders to report behaviours indicative of ,bullying others' and of ,being bullied.' With regards to attachment style and bullying behaviour, significant differences were restricted to avoidant attachment; bully/victims reported higher avoidant scores than the other bully-categories, with pure bullies and those not-involved reporting lower avoidant scores. Finally, when considering emotional loneliness and bullying behaviour, bully/victims reported higher scores on emotional loneliness than the other bully-categories, with the not-involved group reporting significantly lower scores. Aggr. Behav. 30:298,312, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Mothers' Attachment Style, Their Mental Health, and Their Children's Emotional Vulnerabilities: A 7-Year Study of Children With Congenital Heart Disease

JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 1 2008
Ety Berant
ABSTRACT The long-term contribution of mothers' attachment insecurities to their own and their children's psychological functioning was examined in a 7-year prospective longitudinal study of children with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). Sixty-three mothers of newborns with CHD participated in a three-wave study, beginning with the CHD diagnosis (T1), then 1 year later (T2), and again 7 years later (T3). At T1, the mothers reported on their attachment style and mental health. At T2, the mental health measure was administered again, along with a marital satisfaction scale. At T3, participants completed these two measures again, and their children reported on their self-concept and completed the Children's Apperception Test. Maternal avoidant attachment at T1 was the best predictor of deterioration in the mothers' mental health and marital satisfaction over the 7-year period, especially in a subgroup whose children had severe CHD. In addition, mothers' attachment insecurities (both anxiety and avoidance) at the beginning of the study were associated with their children's emotional problems and poor self-image 7 years later. [source]


Predicting marital satisfaction: Social absorption and individuation versus attachment anxiety and avoidance

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, Issue 2 2007
MAHNAZ R. CHARANIA
The incremental validity of social absorption and social individuation in predicting relationship satisfaction beyond anxious and avoidant attachment was assessed in a sample of 400 heterosexual couples. Results indicated that the actor's and partner's social absorption scores and the absolute difference between the partners' social individuation scores made significant unique contributions to the actor's satisfaction in a model that included avoidant and anxious attachment. This model accounted for 49% of the variance in the actors' satisfaction scores. Satisfaction was high when both partners were predisposed toward behavioral interdependence but suffered when the partners were discrepant in their need to cognitively distinguish self and other. Possible explanations for these findings and their implications for marital satisfaction are discussed. [source]


Respect in close relationships: Prototype definition, self-report assessment, and initial correlates

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, Issue 2 2002
Jennifer R. Frei
Researchers who study romantic relationships have mentioned respect as a factor contributing to relationship success, but little effort has been made to define respect, measure it, or discover how it relates to other relationship constructs. In Study 1 a prototype methodology was used to identify consensual features of respect. Participants in Study 2 rated the centrality of the features of respect and completed a new prototype-based respect-for-partner scale that was highly reliable and correlated in predictable ways with avoidant attachment and evaluative aspects of partner descriptions. In Study 3, the new respect scale predicted relationship satisfaction better than scales measuring liking, loving, attachment-related anxiety and avoidance, and positive and negative partner qualities. Suggestions are offered for future research on respect. [source]


Direct and indirect pathways between adult attachment style and marital satisfaction

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, Issue 2 2002
Steven A. Meyers
We explored direct, mediated, and moderated associations between adult attachment style and marital satisfaction using a community-based sample of 73 married women. Continuous ratings of secure, avoidant, and ambivalent attachment styles were related to levels of marital satisfaction. However, psychological distress mediated the association between secure attachment and marital satisfaction, and social support mediated the relation between avoidant attachment and marital satisfaction. In addition, psychological distress moderated the relation between both secure and avoidant attachment styles and marital satisfaction. [source]


Rejection sensitivity and negative self-beliefs as mediators of associations between the number of borderline personality disorder features and self-reported adult attachment

PERSONALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2009
Jennifer M. Boldero
The present two studies examine associations between self-reported adult anxious and avoidant attachment and the number of borderline personality disorder (BPD) features reported by student samples. In addition, they examine the mediating roles of rejection sensitivity (RS) (Studies 1 and 2) and negative self-beliefs (Study 2) on associations, independent of neuroticism. In both studies, higher anxious and avoidant attachment were associated with reporting more features, and RS partially mediated these associations. In Study 2, the self-belief negativity was an additional mediator. These factors partially mediated the impact of anxious attachment and fully mediated that of avoidant attachment. The results are consistent with an attachment-based model of BPD that highlights the role of internal working models of self and others as antecedents of the sensitivity to rejection seen in many with BPD. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]