The boundaries between attachment and personality: Associations across three levels of the attachment network

This research examined the associations between measures of sociotropic and autonomous personality, romantic attachment anxiety and avoidance, and corresponding attachment ratings across a range of different specific relationships with people whom participants regularly interacted (including romantic partners, friends, family members, and colleagues). Analyses using hierarchical linear modeling showed that sociotropy and autonomy were directly associated with respective ratings of relationship-specific anxiety and avoidance within non-romantic relationships. In contrast, domain-specific romantic attachment predicted relationship-specific attachment with romantic (but not non-romantic) partners, and, as hypothesized, mediated the associations between sociotropy and autonomy and relationship-specific attachment within this domain. Implications for the operationalization of sociotropy and autonomy as broad-bandwidth (personality-level) measures that assess more global summaries of regularities in the same dual dimensions identified in the attachment literature (i.e., attachment anxiety and avoidance) are discussed.     

Loneliness and depression in middle and late childhood: the relationship to attachment and parental styles

In this study, the author analyzed the relationship between (a) parenting and attachment and (b) self-competence, loneliness, and depression in children aged 8-12 years. The author administered (a) the Argentine Scale of Perception of the Relationships with Parents (M. C. Richaud de Minzi, 2004), (b) the Kerns' Security Scale (K. A. Kerns, L. Klepac, & A. K. Cole, 1996; M. C. Richaud de Minzi, C. Sacchi, & J. E. Moreno, 2001, Argentine adaptation), (c) the Self-Perception Profile for Children (S. Harter, 1985; M. C. Richaud de Minzi et al.), (d) the Dimensions of Depression Profile for Children and Adolescents (S. Harter & M. Nowakowski, 1987), and (e) the Louvain Loneliness Scale for Children and Adolescents (A. Marcoen, L. Goossens, & P. Caes, 1987; M. C. Richaud de Minzi et al.) to 1,019 children (8-12 years of age, 483 boys, 536 girls). Results indicated that attachment and parent-child relationship styles were differentiated constructs. Parents' acceptance promoted secure attachment and positive outcomes in children. Moreover, fathers' lack of interest had a marked negative effect. The author found differences in the perceptions and influences of fathers and mothers, which follow the cultural patterns of gender attribution.     

Adult attachment styles and psychological disease: examining the mediating role of personality traits

The aim of the present study was to examine differences in anxiety and depression related to differences in attachment models of the self and of others and whether personality traits mediate this relationship. The authors assessed attachment styles, anxiety, depression, and personality traits among 274 adult volunteers. Participants were classified into 4 attachment groups (secure, preoccupied, fearful, and dismissing-avoidant) according to K. Bartholomew's (1990) model. The present authors found significant differences among attachment groups on anxiety and depressive symptoms with attachment styles involving a negative self-model showing higher scores than attachment styles characterized by a positive self-model. The authors also found that differences between attachment styles in anxiety and depression remained significant when personality factors related to attachment prototypes were entered as covariates. Results indicate that secure attachment in adults was associated with better mental health, while insecure attachment styles characterized by negative thinking about the self were associated with higher depression and anxiety scores. Our findings seem to evidence that attachment and personality are only partly overlapping and that attachment cannot be considered as redundant with personality in the explanation of psychological disease.     

The experience of tedium in three generations of professional women

Tedium, defined as the experience of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion, was studied in three generations of professional women, who were questioned extensively about their lifestyles, life stresses, and life attitudes. Results indicated that in spite of the differences in life features and pressures among the three groups, the similarities in their experiences, attitudes, and overall life satisfaction are rather impressive. The differences among the generations tended to cluster around the more stressful environment of college for the young preprofessional women, who experienced most tedium and were most overextended and conflicted, and around the more traditional attitudes toward women and women's issues expressed by the older postprofessional generation, who also had the least tedium. The midcareer professional women were characterized by more positive life attitudes, more satisfaction from their work, and by liberal feministic attitudes toward working women's issues. Three focal variables were hypothesized and documented to be important tedium correlates for all professional women. Of the three, role conflict rather than number of roles was found to be a positive tedium correlate. Sense of control and especially having social support systems emerged as significant negative tedium correlates.An earlier version of this article was presented as a paper at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, August 26–30, 1977. The authors wish to thank Trudy Solomon, who assisted in the organizational aspects of the study, and Susan Reuss and the students of the University of California, Berkeley's social psychology course, who took part in the group research project and helped in the data collection.     

Agency and communion in three generations of women and their relation to socialization

Personality clusters of agency (independence, self-protection and self-assertion) and communion (interpersonal sensitivity and nurturant concern for the welfare of others) were studied in three generations of Norwegian women with the expectation that 1) daughters would use mothers rather than fathers as models for both clusters and 2) socialization practices of encouraging independence would be related to agency, while responsiveness, closeness and control would be related to communion in daughters. 32 adult pregnant daughters and their mothers were studied. Agency and communion scores were negatively related within individuals in all 3 generations and each was positively related across the three generations. A, buta greater balance between the two personal qualities was seen in the younger generation of women than in the two older ones. Ospredicted, agency and communion scores for mothers and daughters were positively related in all three generations and fathers' and daughters' scores were unrelated. While agentic mothers were found to have encouraged autonomy, agency in daughters was facilitated by more nondirective-ness by the mother. Communion in daughters was fostered by demand for socially responsible behavior and related to close, controlled, non-individuated relationships to nurturant and confident mothers. Agency was related to more distant and conflicted relationships to non-nurturant and cognitively curious mothers. Agentic daughters were also found to be better educated and in more responsible jobs, while communal daughters were less educated and in more routine jobs. Thus agency was nurtured in challenging and tension producing and communion in close and less stimulating interpersonal environments. When strongly developed, both were associated with liabilities.     

Predicting borderline personality disorder features from personality traits, identity orientation, and attachment styles in Italian nonclinical adults: issues of consistency across age ranges

The aims of this study were to assess whether Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) features could be predicted by Big Five traits, impulsivity, identity orientation, and adult attachment patterns in a sample of 1,192 adult nonclinical participants, and to evaluate the consistency of these regression models across four age groups (<30 years, 30-39 years, 40-49 years, and >50 years, respectively). In the full sample, measures of neuroticism (N), impulsivity, and anxious insecure attachment were substantial predictors of BPD features (adjusted R(2) = .38, p < .001). Attachment scales were significant predictors of BPD features across all age groups, but different scales were relevant in different age groups. Our results suggest that in nonclinical populations, BPD may represent a complex constellation of personality traits and disturbed attachment patterns.     

Teachers' conflict management styles: The role of attachment styles and classroom management efficacy

Constructive conflict management strategies are important in maintaining a positive classroom environment yet little is known about interpersonal or school variables associated with teachers' use of such strategies with students. Teachers high in self-reported classroom management efficacy (CMEFF) and security of attachment (low on avoidance, anxiety) were predicted to endorse use of positive classroom management strategies (e.g., integrating, compromising) more than insecure teachers and those low in CMEFF. Teachers (N = 283) from eleven schools (seven elementary), largely female and white, responded to a questionnaire in their boxes (29.4% response rate). School and teacher demographic variables were included in a multivariate regression after preliminary analysis suggested that ignoring the multilevel structure of the data made little difference in results; school variances were small compared with teacher variances. CMEFF and years teaching had positive, significant effects on use of integrating and compromising strategies, while avoidance had negative effects on both and anxiety on integrating strategies. Implications for teacher development are discussed.     

Adult attachment styles and cognitive vulnerability to depression in a sample of undergraduate students: the mediational roles of sociotropy and autonomy

We analysed the mediational role of the personality dimensions of sociotropy and autonomy in the relationship between certain styles of attachment and depressive symptoms. In order for us to do so, a group of university students filled out the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Revised Personal Style Inventory (PSI-II) and the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ). Individuals having attachment styles with a negative model of self (preoccupied and fearful) obtained significantly higher scores in the BDI than those having attachment styles with a positive model of self (secure and dismissing), which coincides with previous research. We followed the standard procedure of Baron and Kenny of linear regression in order to perform the mediational analyses. The preoccupied attachment style-depressive symptoms relationship was mediated by sociotropy. It was also found that autonomy exerted a significant mediational effect on the relationship between the fearful attachment style and depressive symptoms. These results are consistent with the notion that insecure attachment predisposes individuals to the development of depressogenic personality styles. Thus, the findings of the present study contribute to improving the understanding of the factors involved in the development of vulnerability to depression. Furthermore, the results point out the importance of evaluating both attachment style and sociotropy/autonomy personality dimensions for the treatment of depressive patients.     

Postpartum depression and infant-mother attachment security at one year: The impact of co-morbid maternal personality disorders

Previous studies on effects of postpartum depression (PPD) on infant-mother attachment have been divergent. This may be due to not taking into account the effects of stable difficulties not specific for depression, such as maternal personality disorder (PD).Mothers (N = 80) were recruited for a longitudinal study either during pregnancy (comparison group) or eight weeks postpartum (clinical group). Infants of mothers with depressive symptoms only or in combination with a PD diagnosis were compared with infants of mothers with no psychopathology. Depression and PD were assessed using self-report and clinical interviews. Infant-mother attachment was assessed when infants were 13 months using Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). Attachment (in)security was calculated as a continuous score based on the four interactive behavioral scales of the SSP, and the conventional scale for attachment disorganization was used.PPD was associated with attachment insecurity only if the mother also had a PD diagnosis. Infants of PPD mothers without co-morbid PD did not differ from infants of mothers with no psychopathology. These results suggest that co-existing PD may be crucial in understanding how PPD impacts on parenting and infant social-emotional development. Stable underlying factors may magnify or buffer effects of PPD on parenting and child outcomes.     

Decision-making competence in everyday life: The roles of general cognitive styles,decision-making styles and personality

Research indicates that decision-making competence in everyday life is associated with certain decision-making styles. The aims of this article are to extend this research by examining (a) the extent to which general cognitive styles explain variance in decision-making competence over and above decision-making styles, and (b) the extent to which personality explains variance in decision-making competence over and above both types of style variable. Participants (N = 355) completed measures of everyday decision-making competence (Decision Outcomes Inventory), decision styles (Decision Style Questionnaire; Maximization Inventory), cognitive styles (the Cognitive Styles Inventory; Rational-Experience Inventory), and the Big Five personality variables (IPIP Big-Five factor scales). The results indicate that cognitive styles offer no incremental validity over decision-making styles in predicting decision-making competence, but that personality does offer substantial incremental validity over general cognitive styles and decision-making styles. Jointly decision-making styles and personality account for a substantial amount of variance in everyday decision-making competence.     

The emerging self: the convergence of mind,personality and thinking styles

This paper aims to integrate research and theorizing about problem solving, self and personality into a comprehensive theory. With this purpose, the paper attempts to answer three questions: how do humans become aware of themselves and how do the products of self-awareness interrelate to produce an integrated self-system, which includes the domains of cognition and personality? How do persons know and influence each other? How do these processes change with development? The answers given to these questions by self, personality and cognitive developmental psychology are critically examined. It is concluded that an overarching model would have to assume a multilevel and multidimensional architecture. This would involve three main levels: the first includes general-purpose processes and functions, such as processing efficiency and working memory, which define current cognitive potentials; the second includes several domain-specific systems directed to different aspects of the environment; the third includes self-oriented processes that register, represent and regulate processes at the other two levels. Each person’s self-concepts result from the application of the third level on the other two and they differentially reflect their condition. Personality reflects the interaction between these self-concepts and dispositions to act in particular ways. Because humans share this architecture they can negotiate and affect each other’s self- and reflected representations. Thus, the formation of mind, self and personality results from a continuous flow of interactions between the levels and domains of mind within and across persons. The article summarizes a series of studies lending support to this general model.     

Humor styles and personality: A meta‐analysis of the relation between humor styles and the Big Five personality traits

This research summarizes the knowledge generated in social psychology and positive psychology about the relationship between humor styles, personality and wellbeing. Specifically, a meta‐analysis was performed with the results of 15 studies on humor styles measured by the Humor Styles Questionnaire (Martin, Puhlik‐Doris, Larsen, Gray & Weir, 2003) in correlation with the personality traits measured by the Big Five Personality model (measured with different scales). Following the steps presented by Rosenthal (1991) for meta‐analysis in the case of correlational research, we calculated the total mean r as an indicator of effect size. Results show that affiliative humor has a strong and homogeneous relation to neuroticism and extraversion. The homogeneity and heterogeneity found between variables and possible explanations are discussed in the conclusion.     

Attachment in individuals with social anxiety disorder: the relationship among adult attachment styles,social anxiety,and depression

Despite their apparent implications for social functioning, adult attachment styles have never been specifically explored among persons with social anxiety disorder. In the current study, a cluster analysis of the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (N. L. Collins, 1996) revealed that 118 patients with social anxiety were best represented by anxious and secure attachment style clusters. Members of the anxious attachment cluster exhibited more severe social anxiety and avoidance, greater depression, greater impairment, and lower life satisfaction than members of the secure attachment cluster. This pattern was replicated in a separate sample of 56 patients and compared with the pattern found in 36 control participants. Social anxiety mediated the association between attachment insecurity and depression. Findings are discussed in the context of their relevance to the etiology, maintenance, and cognitive-behavioral treatment of social anxiety disorder.     

The relationship of adult attachment dimensions to depression and agoraphobia

We examined the unique relations between the five dimensions of the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Feeney, Noller, & Hanrahan, 1994 ) and depression and agoraphobic behavior (i.e., avoidance of situations where high anxiety is experienced). In addition, we examined mediation models in an attempt to clarify the link between adult attachment and these two dimensions of psychopathology. In testing these models, we administered the ASQ, General Self‐Efficacy Scale, Agoraphobic Catastrophic Cognitions Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, and the Mobility Inventory for Agoraphobia (a measure of the degree to which situations are avoided that are typically anxiety provoking for people with agoraphobia) to 122 participants (44 with agoraphobia, 25 with a current major depressive disorder, and 53 with no current psychopathology). The results showed that the insecure attachment dimensions of need for approval, preoccupation with relationships, and relationships as secondary were uniquely associated with depression and that general self‐efficacy partly mediated the relationship between need for approval and depression. In contrast, only preoccupation with relationships was uniquely associated with agoraphobic behavior, and catastrophic cognitions about bodily sensations partly mediated this association.     

The transmission of attachment across generations: The state of art and new theoretical perspectives

The paper reviews the body of research testing the intergenerational transmission of attachment and the theoretical shift from the linear or mediation model (van IJzendoorn, 1995), according to which parental sensitivity is the main factor responsible for the correspondence between maternal and infant's attachment, to the ecological model of the transmission of attachment (van IJzendoorn & Bakermans‐Kranenburg, 1997). This latter model has prompted researchers, over time, to identify potential mediators, other than caregiver's sensitivity, of the established association between parental representations regarding attachment and infant's attachment, as well as the potential moderators of the transmission process. Each of these two research domains will be carefully explored; lastly new perspectives on the intergenerational transmission of attachment and relevant areas of research needing more investigation are highlighted.