Attachment style and personality functioning among normal adults

Vita.This study investigated the influence of attachment style on the personality characteristics of young adults. Attachment style, assessed with a modified version of Hazan and Shaver's (1987) adult attachment style instrument, was used to predict scores on eight personality variables: well-being, trust, sociability, endurance, aggression, succorance, anxiety, and satisfaction with social support. The collective predictor, Attachment, was comprised of the three separate attachment styles, Secure, Ambivalent, and Avoidant, that were individually entered into the regression analysis to determine the specific contribution of each. When entered into the regression equation, attachment as a whole was a significant predictor of six of the eight dependent variables (all but aggression and succorance). Overall, increases in attachment security were accompanied by feelings of physical and emotional health, trust in others, friendliness, ease in social situations, increased stability and emotional ease, greater satisfaction with support received from friends and family, and less persistence in finishing difficult tasks. Considered individually as a predictor, security was most useful in forecasting feelings of well-being, decreases in anxiety, and increased sociability. Security was a significant predictor for scores on 3 of the 8 dependent measures when considered individually within the regression equation. Increases in ambivalence were linked to decreased perceptions of physical and emotional health, less endurance in completing tasks, stronger feelings of anxiety and tension, and dissatisfaction with support provided by friends and family. Considered individually as an independent variable, ambivalence was most effective in predicting decreases in well-being, endurance, and satisfaction with social support, as well as increases in anxiety. As Ambivalent was a significant predictor for scores on 4 of the 8 dependent variables, it was most potent of the 3 attachment styles when entered into the regression analysis..