The relationship between attachment styles, love attitudes and sensitivity to rejection among young adults

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between attachment styles, love attitudes and sensitivity to rejection in a sample group of young adults from Lithuania. The main idea behind the research was to understand how attachment security and rejection sensitivity play important roles in the functioning of a romantic relationship. The sample was comprised of 65 men and 65 women, all of whom were currently in a romantic relationship of three months or more. The mean age of the respondents was 22 years (SD = 2,22), and the age range was 20-28 years; all respondents were single. RSQ (Griffin and Bartholomew, 1994), LAS (Hendrick and Hendrick, 1984) and SRS (Mehrabian, 1994) were used in the study. The final results indicate that insecure attachment styles were related to love attitudes: fearful and preoccupied attachment styles were found to be associated with a stronger Mania style, while positive correlation with a dismissing attitude and negative correlation with a preoccupied attitude are more of the Ludus style. Secure attachment is not related to any love attitude. Correlation analyses indicated though that rejection sensitivity is related to attachment styles: there was significant positive association between sensitivity to rejection and preoccupied attachment and significant negative association between secure and dismissive attachment styles. The expected negative correlation between scores on secure attachment and subjective relationship satisfaction was not found. The results of the research indicate that young adults with a stronger Mania love style have higher scores in rejection sensitivity. Love styles were significantly related to subjective relationship satisfaction: a higher level of satisfaction was associated with the Eros, Agape and Storge styles, while the Ludus style was associated with the lowest relationship satisfaction.Šio tyrimo tikslas nustatyti bei analizuoti suaugusiųjų prieraišumo stilių, nuostatų į meilę bei jautrumo atstūmimui sąsajas. Tyrime remiamasi prielaida, kad suaugusiųjų romantinė meilė yra besitęsiantis prieraišumo procesas, kurio kokybė priklauso nuo asmens prieraišumo istorijos. Tyrime dalyvavo 130 tiriamųjų: 65 nesusituokusių jaunuolių poros. Tiriamųjų amžius buvo nuo 20 iki 28 metų. Darbe buvo taikytos RSQ (D. Griffin, K. Bartholomew, 1994), LAS (C. Hendrick, S. Hendrick, 1984), SRS (A. Mehrabian, 1994) skalės. Nesaugūs prieraišumo stiliai statistiškai reikšmingai koreliavo su nuostatomis į meilę: baimingam ir neramiam prieraišumo stiliui buvo būdinga stipresnė Mania nuostata; Ludus nuostata į meilę buvo stipresnė esant atmetimo prieraišumo stiliui ir silpnesnė – neramiam prieraišumui. Saugus prieraišumas nekoreliavo nei su viena nuostata į meilę. Prieraišumo stiliai statistiškai reikšmingai koreliavo su jautrumu atstūmimui: neramus prieraišumo stilius siejosi su stipresniu jautrumu atstūmimui, o saugus ir atmetimo prieraišumas – su silpnesniu jautrumu atstūmimui. Nenustatyta statistiškai reikšmingų sąsajų tarp prieraišumo stilių ir subjektyvaus pasitenkinimo santykiais poroje. Mania nuostata į meilę statistiškai reikšmingai koreliavo su jautrumu atstūmimui, t. y. esant šiai nuostatai buvo būdingas stipresnis jautrumas atstūmimui. Nustatyta statistiškai reikšmingų sąsajų tarp nuostatų į meilę ir subjektyvaus pasitenkinimo santykiais poroje: Eros, Agape ir Storge stiliams buvo būdingas didesnis pasitenkinimas santykiais, o Ludus stiliui – mažesnis pasitenkinimas santykiais