Relationship History and Relationship Attitudes in Gay Males and Lesbians: Attachment Style and Gender Differences

1998 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 848-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy R. Ridge ◽  
Judith A. Feeney

Objective: The objective of the present study was to assess the applicability of attachment theory to the relationships of gay males and lesbians, with particular emphasis on parental relationships, relationship satisfaction, sexual attitudes and ‘coming out’ as being homosexual. Methods: Gay males (n = 77) and lesbians (n = 100) completed questionnaires assessing attachment style, working models of attachment, early relationships with parents and relationship history, status and functioning. A comparison sample of heterosexual participants completed measures of attachment style and relationship history. Results: Relative frequencies of attachment styles were similar for homosexual and heterosexual samples. Contrary to previous research using largely heterosexual respondents, no link between early parenting and attachment style was found. However, homosexual males reported more positive early relationships with mothers than did females. Associations of attachment style with working models, relationship variables and sexual attitudes largely supported those based on heterosexual samples. Gender and attachment style differences were found in reported effects of ‘coming out’ on relationships with parents. Conclusions: Overall, the results suggest that insecure attachment may not be over-represented in gay and lesbian samples, but that insecurity is associated with less relationship satisfaction and with problems related to the disclosure of sexual orientation. The implications of these findings for research and clinical practice are addressed.

Author(s):  
Wina Lova Riza

 This study aims to investigate the association between perceptions of childhood experiences with parents, attachment styles (avoidant, anxious/ambivalent, and security) in romantic relationships, and relationship satisfaction (satisfaction in relationships) with a sample of lecturers and employees of UBP in Karawang who have married or having a romantic relationship. The method used in this study is a regression method with the aim to find out the extent of the influence of one independent variable with the dependent variable. In other words, researchers intend to see the effect of variable attachment styles with relationship satisfaction. The research instrument used was to use two questionnaires with a Likert scale, namely the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) questionnaire and the relationship assessment scale. From the results of the study using multivariate correlation analysis with the SPSS 24 program, a significant value of 0.009 was obtained with a probability (p) of 0,000; because p <0.05, it indicates a significant relationship with a positive direction between attachment styles and relationship satisfaction. In addition, the following are the results of grouping the results of respondents' attachment style. From a total of 88 respondents, 50 of them (57%) have a fearful attachment style, 17 people (19%) have a dismissing attachment style, 11 people (13%) have a preocupied attachment style, and 10 (11%) have type of secure attachment style.   Keywords: Attachment Styles, Relationship Satisfication, Romantic Relationship  Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menyelidiki asosiasi antara persepsi pengalaman masa kanak-kanak dengan orang tua, attachment styles (avoidant, anxious/ambivalent, dan security) dalam hubungan romantis, dan relationship satisfacation (kepuasaan dalam hubungan) dengan sampel dosen dan karyawan UBP Karawang yang telah menikah atau sedang menjalani hubungan romantis. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode regresi dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui sejauh mana pengaruh satu variabel indenpenden dengan variabel dependen. Dengan kata lain, peneliti bermaksud untuk melihat pengaruh variabel attachment styles dengan relationship satisfaction. Instrumen penelitian yang digunakan adalah dengan menggunakan dua kuesioner dengan skala likert, yaitu kuesioner Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) dan relationship assessment scale. Dari hasil penelitian dengan menggunakan analsis korelasi multivariat dengan program SPSS 24 diperoleh nilai signifikan sebesar 0,009 dengan probabilitas (p) 0,000; karena p < 0,05, maka menunjukkan adanya hubungan yang signifikan dengan arah positif antara attachment styles dengan relationship satisfaction. Sebagai tambahan, berikut dipaparkan hasil pengelompokkan hasil attachment style responden. Dari total 88 preponden, 50 orang diantaranya (57%) memiliki tipe fearful attachment style, 17 orang (19%) memiliki tipe dismissing attachment style, 11 orang (13%) memiliki tipe preocupied attachment style, dan 10 orang (11%) memiliki tipe secure attachment style.   Kata Kunci: Attachment Styles, Relationship Satisfication, Romantic Relationship


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
LO Ying Tuan ◽  
Huam Hon Tat ◽  
Ahmad Sharifuddin Shamsuddin ◽  
Amran Md Rasli ◽  
Ahmad Jusoh

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of consumer’s attachment styles as a moderator in the impact of brand personality on its brand attachment. This research investigated the preferred brand personality of anxious and avoidant attachment consumer, their likelihood to be attached to that brand and how they respond to any changes in brand personality. A total of 300 students were surveyed. Their attachment style and their response towards sincere and exciting personality and its brand attachment were assessed. Empirical study shows that anxious attachment style consumer preferred sincere brand personality, tends to be attached with it and did not respond to any changes in brand personality.  Avoidant attachment style people on the other hand have a stronger relationship with the exciting brand personality, are not likely to be attached to it and will respond to changes in brand personality. This study implies that marketers should get to know their targeted market’s attachment style prior coming out with the suitable brand personality.


2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnie Cann ◽  
M. Ashley Norman ◽  
Jennifer L. Welbourne ◽  
Lawrence G. Calhoun

Relationships among attachment styles, conflict styles and humour styles were examined in the context of romantic relationships. Each style was assumed to be based upon underlying assumptions about self and others, so relationships among the measures were predicted. A model assuming that the relationship of attachment styles to relationship satisfaction was partially mediated by the conflict styles and humour styles was tested. Overall, the predicted relationships among the three measures were supported. Conflict styles and humour styles reflecting attitudes about others were related to the avoidance attachment style, while those reflecting attitudes about the self were related to the anxiety attachment dimension. Conflict styles and humour styles were mediators of the association of attachment style with relationship satisfaction. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rossella Procaccia ◽  
Guido Veronese ◽  
Marco Castiglioni

Objective: Primary school children's representations of themselves and their attachment figures were explored by assessing their family drawings. The main aim of the study was to empirically explore differences in the representations of children with secure versus insecure attachment. The study was theoretically informed by attachment theory and methodologically based on widely-used systems for analysing children’s drawings. Method: The Separation Anxiety Test was used to evaluate the attachment styles of 117 children (aged 6-10 years). This led to the identification of three groups, similar in age and gender distribution, with three different attachment styles (secure, anxious-ambivalent and avoidant). Each participant was asked to draw a family and the drawings produced were coded on 8 global scales and evaluated for the presence of 35 specific markers divided into five categories (characteristics of the figures; use of space; completeness of representation; emotional-affective tone; overall characteristics of the representation). Results: The drawings of securely attached children featured more positive markers, associated with a stable and well-integrated sense of self and others, whereas insecure children produced more markers of instability and negative emotion, with some interesting differences between anxious-ambivalent and avoidant attachment styles. Conclusion: Despite its limitations, the study confirmed that family drawings are a valid instrument for evaluating how children represent attachment, thereby facilitating early intervention to prevent later adjustment difficulties.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Veronese ◽  
Rossella Procaccia ◽  
Diego Romaioli ◽  
Gianpiero Barola ◽  
Marco Castiglioni

Objectives: The scope of the study is to identify the leading “organization of meaning” in patients affected by aviophobia and the related attachment style. Specifically we hypothesized that participants with fear of flying would predominantly display a phobic organization of meaning, associated with an anxious-ambivalent attachment style. Methods: 150 adults, divided between an experimental group (FOF) and a control group (CON), completed three research instruments: two self-report questionnaires assessing attachment style (AAQ and ASQ) and the self-characterization, a qualitative constructivist tool. Results: The insecure attachment style prevailed in aviophobics rather than control group. Socio-economic and gender differences were found. The vocabulary used by the group with flying phobia featured a system of meaning referring to “freedom” family semantics. Conclusions: Attachment style appears to be a necessary but insufficient condition for predicting fear of flying. A greater role in the disorder is played by the organization of patients' personality, as argued by socio-constructionist and constructivist authors. Implication for clinical work and psychotherapy are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-30
Author(s):  
Danica J. Kulibert ◽  
Elle A. Moore ◽  
Melinda M. Dertinger ◽  
Ashley E. Thompson

Although romantic kissing is an important part of relationship functioning, little research has focused on motives for romantic kissing and how they may relate to other aspects of romantic relationships. To understand how romantic kissing impacts romantic relationship functioning, the current study assessed the relationship between romantic attachment, romantic kissing motives, and relationship satisfaction. Overall, it was hypothesized that (a) those reporting more sexual/explicit kissing motives and fewer goal attainment/insecurity motives would report higher relationship satisfaction, (b) those reporting a more secure attachment style would report higher relationship satisfaction, and (c) the relationship between romantic kissing motives and relationship satisfaction would vary according to one’s romantic attachment styles. Results from a hierarchical linear regression with 286 adults, all of whom were currently in romantic relationships, revealed that sexual/relational (β = 0.25) and goal attainment/insecurity kissing motives (β = -0.35) predicted relationship satisfaction. However, the impact of kissing motives on relationship satisfaction varied according to one’s romantic attachment. Specifically, the influence of sexual/relational motives was only significant for avoidantly attached individuals, whereas the influence of goal attainment/insecurity motives was significant for avoidantly and anxiously attachment individuals. Overall, this suggests that sexual/explicit romantic kissing motives serve to enhance the relationships of insecurely attached individuals, but not securely attached individuals. Furthermore, goal attainment/insecure motives had a negative effect on the relationship satisfaction of insecurely attached individuals, but not securely attached individuals. This study has important implications for both practitioners working with romantic couples and researchers studying romantic relationships.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-336
Author(s):  
Khaled Bedair ◽  
Eid Abo Hamza ◽  
Samuel T. Gladding

This study assessed, for the first time, the relationship between security attachment and marital satisfaction in an Arab country, Qatar. Accordingly, we used the marital satisfaction assessment, the Experiences in Close Relationships Revised attachment style questionnaire, and the Goldsmith Support Measure. Using a path analysis model, the results showed that secured attachment style positively influenced marital satisfaction but did not positively influence mutual support in a relationship. Unsecure attachment styles negatively influenced the level of mutual support and marital satisfaction. Importantly, the findings revealed a gender effect, with females receiving less mutual support from their male partners, than vice versa. We discuss the importance of these results in the context of Arab culture and gender differences.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-133
Author(s):  
I.A. Fourmanov

The attachment theory assumes that internal working models can affect propensity to test jealousy. Studying of sexual variability of jealousy reactions gives possibility to study attachment styles differences as the jealousy is one of the strongest experiences of the people tested in close interpersonal relations. The hypothesis about existence of sexual differences in relations of attachment styles and ways of expression of jealousy has been put forward. Techniques «The Adult Attachment Scale» and «Communicative reactions to jealousy» were used. 507 persons have taken part in research (242 men, 265 women). Without dependence from sex individuals with secure attachment style distinguishes propensity to integrative communications, with dismissing attachment style — preference of compensatory actions, with the preoccupied attachment style — use of strategies of negative affective expression, distributive communications and avoiding. For individuals with fearful attachment style there is a strict sexual differentiation. In communicative reactions to jealousy considerable sexual differences are found out in individuals with various attachment styles.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 1256-1277
Author(s):  
Juhong Liu ◽  
Todd Jackson

Enduring dynamics including attachment styles and changes in the nature of interactions during the course of marriage such as increased disillusionment and mounting conflict have been implicated in separate accounts of relationship dissatisfaction and dissolution. However, the viability of integrated accounts is not well understood, especially in collectivist, non-Western contexts. Toward elucidating this issue, we examined links between attachment style, facets of disillusionment versus emergent distress model features, and relationship satisfaction in married, mainland Chinese couples. Both partners in 404 heterosexual couples completed self-report measures of relationship satisfaction, attachment style, key features of the disillusionment perspective (passionate love, relationship aggrandizement, disillusionment), and emergent distress account (problems in conflict management). Dyadic and structural aspects of mediation were tested using the actor–partner interdependence model. Within each gender, associations between elevations in avoidant attachment and reduced relationship satisfaction were mediated by participant and partner experiences of disillusionment on one hand and conflict management difficulties on the other hand. Acceptable fits were observed for final attachment–disillusionment and attachment–emergent distress models. Together, the results suggested increases in relationship disillusionment and conflict are plausible pathways by which high levels of avoidant attachment increase risk for losses of relationship satisfaction within married Chinese couples.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Arlene P. Conway

<p>This study investigated the extent to which insecure attachment predicted negative attitudes and expectations of parenting among people yet to have children. In total, 572 participants aged between 18 to 40 years completed an online survey that rated attachment styles, working models of parenting, and the desire to have children. As predicted, more avoidant people held more negative attitudes. In addition, a lower desire to have children mediated the link between attachment and negative working models of parenting. In contrast and as expected, more anxious people held less negative expectations of childrearing, were more interested in having children, and expected to be satisfied by the future role of parent. There were two novel features of the current study. First, it replicated and extended findings to an older, community based population. Second, analyses across two different samples (those in current relationships and single people) showed they were generally similar, although insecurity of attachment had stronger links with negative attitudes for those in current relationships.</p>


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