Adult Attachment and Standards for Best Friends and Romantic Partners

In this study, I sought to extend research on standards from romantic relationships to best friends. I also applied attachment theory, investigating the impact of attachment anxiety and avoidance on standards for romantic relationships and best friendships and the responses to failure to meet needs in these relationships. My hypotheses were (1) that people\u27s standards for romantic relationships may be higher than those for best friendships, (2) that individuals high in attachment anxiety would have generally higher standards than individuals low in attachment anxiety and that those high in attachment avoidance would have generally lower standards than individuals low in attachment avoidance, and (3) that individuals high in attachment anxiety, in response to scenarios where a standard was not fulfilled, would be more upset and less likely to forgive, but also less likely to end a relationship that individuals lower in attachment anxiety. Individuals high in avoidance would be less upset, less likely to forgive, but also more likely to end the relationship than low in avoidance. Hypotheses 1 and 2 were supported, although hypothesis 3 was less strongly supported. Instead, the effects of attachment on one\u27s reactions to scenarios largely depended on the specific scenario and the standard that went unfulfilled