ICPR Abstracts: Session 7

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Session 7: Symposium

New Directions in Adult Attachment Research:
Daily Emotional Experiences, Multiple Measures, and 
Longitudinal Designs

Working Models of Attachment and Responses to 
Interpersonal Events

Paula R. Pietromonaco
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Lisa Feldman Barrett
Pennsylvania State University
Lucy Robin
Wellesley College

Attachment theorists have proposed that working models 
of attachment guide individuals' thoughts, feelings, and 
behavior in their interpersonal lives.  Although previous 
work has demonstrated that people who hold different 
working models differ in their interpersonal experiences, 
many questions remain about the conditions under which 
such differences arise and about the underlying processes 
involved. We addressed some of these questions in two 
studies.  In Study 1, secure, preoccupied, fearful-avoidant, 
and dismissing-avoidant individuals provided retrospective 
reports of their personal and social experiences, and on-
line reports of their daily social interactions.  The on-line 
data allowed us to examine whether some conditions 
accentuated attachment differences, and to determine the 
generality of attachment differences across relationships 
with romantic partners and peers.  Preoccupied individuals 
retrospectively reported more intense emotion and less 
defensiveness, whereas dismissing-avoidants showed 
opposite patterns; secures and fearful-avoidants fell in 
between the two extremes.  On-line patterns generally 
converged with the retrospective patterns, except 
dismissing-avoidants evidenced more intense negative 
emotion.  In addition, high conflict interactions amplified 
attachment differences; preoccupied people responded 
more favorably following high conflict interactions, 
whereas dismissing- avoidants responded more 
unfavorably.  Attachment differences were similar across 
relationships. Study 2 examined attachment differences in 
a more controlled laboratory setting.  Participants read 
ambiguous relationship scenarios that varied in relevance 
to attachment fears (e.g., rejection) and reported on their 
emotions. Study 2 findings generally converged with those 
from Study 1. Findings suggest that individuals' responses 
to interpersonal events are shaped by their working models 
and accompanying interpersonal goals, particularly in 
contexts that activate the attachment system. 


Adult Attachment: Consistency Across Relationships,
Situations, and Assessment Methods

Jens B. Asendorpf
Humboldt-University

Taking the lead from Ainsworth and Hazan & Shaver, 
Bartholomew developed a 2x2 model of attachment styles 
for adults. Four prototypic attachment styles (secure, 
fearful, preoccupied, dismissing) are related to the 
dimensions positive-negative self- and other-evaluation. 
The prototypic descriptions were decomposed into items. 
Psychometric analyses of these items and self-esteem 
items from Marsh's SDQ in a sample of 234 
undergraduates indicated that the items of the preoccupied 
prototype were not consistent because they tapped either 
positive other or negative self, but not both. New items 
were generated to assess the preoccupied style at the level 
of each item. Analyses in another sample of 215 
undergraduates indicated this time a good fit of the 
resulting bipolar scales "secure-fearful" and "preoccupied- 
avoidant" to Bartholomew's model both for attachment to 
parents and for attachment to peers. Correlations with 
independent ratings of relationship quality supported both 
the convergent and the discriminant validity of the scales 
for different attachment figures. 
     In addition, first results on a behavioral observation 
study of attachment in couples are reported. Fifty couples 
were videotaped in a sequence of naturalistic laboratory 
situations which included a neutral waiting situation, a 
positive cooperation task, cooperation under stress, and 
reunion after individually experiencing a challenge to the 
relationship. The observed behavior is presently analyzed 
with regard to (a) cross-situational relations as expected 
by attachment theory, and (b) coherence between behavior 
and self-rated attachment styles (using the above scales). 
The results of these analyses will be presented, and 
discussed viz.Bartholomew's 2x2 model. 


Longitudinal Study of Attachment Processes
 in Young Couples

Kim Bartholomew, Elaine Scharfe, and Antonia 
Henderson,  Simon Fraser University

We have conducted a longitudinal study of attachment 
processes in young couples.  Seventy-eight established 
couples (mean age of 24.5 years and mean relationship 
length of 4.5 years at time 1) were intensively assessed at 
three points in time over a two-year period.  Assessments 
included two semi-structured attachment interviews, self-
report and partner-report attachment measures, and 
various measures of couple functioning.  We will present 
some of the key findings of this research program.  First, 
we tested the reciprocal effects of attachment security and 
relationship functioning over time. Not surprisingly, given 
the high stability of both attachment and relationship 
satisfaction, we found little evidence of reciprocal 
influences.  Second, a series of regression analyses 
examined whether various methods of assessing 
attachment independently contributed to the prediction of 
relationship satisfaction.  Results indicated that interview 
ratings predict satisfaction, at least in part, independently 
of self-report ratings.  In addition, representations of peer 
attachment relationship appear to mediate the associations 
between representations of childhood attachment 
relationships and current relationship functioning. Third, 
there was no evidence that security predicted maintenance 
of relationships over the two-year period. To the contrary, 
after controlling for both partners' initial levels of 
relationship satisfaction, we found positive associations 
between males' ratings on security and preoccupation and 
the likelihood of breakup.  Conversely, there was some 
evidence that fearfulness of either partner was predictive 
of relationship maintenance. Finally, we replicated 
previous findings indicating sex-linked patterns of 
associations between attachment and relationship 
functioning; however, these findings emerged only for self-
report attachment ratings. We also found that 
representations of childhood attachment relationships 
(based on attachment interviews) were predictive of 
relationship functioning for women, but not men. Our 
results highlight the usefulness of longitudinal work in 
this area and of including multiple indicators of both 
attachment and relationship functioning.  They also bring 
into question the common assumption that attachment 
security will facilitate the maintenance of long-term 
romantic relationships. 


Life Paths of Avoidantly and Securely Attached 
Women: A 31-year Longitudinal Perspective

Eva C. Klohnen
University of California

Research on attachment styles in adulthood has taken big 
strides over the last eight years.  However, most of the 
work to date--with only a few exceptions--has focused 
almost exclusively on studying college undergraduates, 
using cross- sectional designs and with an over-reliance on 
self-report data.  This state of affairs has left research on 
adult attachment styles open to criticism.  The present 
research addresses some of these gaps in attachment 
research by studying attachment patterns in an adult 
sample of avoidantly and securely attached women within 
a life-span developmental context using a 31-year 
longitudinal design and multiple perspectives. Based on 
data collected at ages 21, 27, 43, and 52 and attachment 
classifications obtained at age 52, the research has four 
aims: (1) to examine 31 years of prior relationship history 
of avoidantly and securely attached women, (2) to 
demonstrate longitudinal differences in behavioral 
tendencies of avoidant and secure individuals, (3) to test 
the 25-year consistency of distinctive models of self of 
avoidantly and securely attached women, and (4) to 
determine childhood and early adult antecedents of midlife 
attachment style. 
     Results indicate that avoidantly attached women 
showed different relationship outcomes across adulthood 
and as early as age 21.  Based on age 21 and age 43 
observer personality descriptions, avoidantly attached 
women were consistently described as less interpersonally 
close, more defensive, and more vulnerable. Avoidantly 
and securely attached women had consistently (at ages 27, 
43, and 52) distinctive models of self, with avoidant 
individuals lower on interpersonal closeness and social 
confidence, and higher on emotional distance, self-
reliance, and distrust. Finally, childhood and early adult 
antecedents, such as loss of a parent and child- parent 
conflict, successfully predicted attachment classifications 
at midlife.  These findings provide unique evidence for the 
longitudinal stability of attachment patterns beyond 
adolescence and across 31 years of adult development. 

Discussant
Phillip Shaver
University of California, Davis