Attachment behavior and health: relationships at work and home

Abstract

SummaryThis article examines the relationships between interpersonal attachment orientations, health, and social support. Four hypotheses speci®ed relationships between three interpersonal attachment orientations (interdependent, counterdependent, and overdependent), physical and psychological symptoms, and social support. Data were collected from 297 students, the majority of whom were also full-time employees. An interdependent orientation was negatively related to social dysfunction. Counterdependent and overdependent orientations were negatively related to health. A counterdependent orientation was negatively related to social support, while an overdependent orientation was positively related to social support from co-workers and family.

Attachment styles at work: Measurement, collegial relationships, and burnout

“…Historically, researchers have used a categorical approach (e.g., The Adult Attachment Interview; Main, Kaplan, & Cassidy, 1985; The Relationships Questionnaire; Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991;Hazen & Shaver, 1987) or used a A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t Attachment, Civility, and Burnout-18 three-dimensional approach (i.e., interdependent, counterdependent, and overdependent;Joplin et al, 1999). Fraley and Waller (1998) found the two dimensions mapped onto the avoidance and anxiety dimensions of Bartholomew's model (Griffen & Bartholomew, 1994b).…”

“…One solution to this question has been to explicitly define and assess secure attachment as a distinct construct in addition to assessing indicators of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance (e. g., Joplin, Nelson, & Quick, 1999). An alternative solution follows the work of Fraley and Waller (1998) by using both positively worded and negatively worded items to assess anxiety and avoidance on two dimensions, Fraley and Waller found strong support for a two-dimensional model of adult attachment.…”

Authentic Leadership and Employee Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Attachment Insecurity

“…Nurses with insecure attachment styles reported less hope and those with avoidant attachment reported being less healthy. Joplin et al (1999) found similar results in a sample of students who worked full time. Individuals with higher levels of avoidant attachment reported experiencing psychological problems in addition to insomnia and social dysfunction.…”

Attachment at work and performance

“…Within the voluminous literature rooted in attachment theory (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978;Bowlby, 1969Bowlby, /1982Bowlby, , 1973Bowlby, , 1980, a fledgling sub-strand is developing, concerned with adults' attachment orientation or style as this bears on their functioning at work (e.g., Elliot & Reis, 2003;Hazan & Shaver, 1990;Joplin, Nelson, & Quick, 1999;Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007;Schirmer & Lopez, 2001;Simmons, Gooty, Nelson, & Little, 2009). Most researchers working in this area have tended to treat attachment as if it were a personality-like trait that extends across contexts, and attachment orientation or style (terms used interchangeably in this paper) has tended to be measured using one or another of the existing instruments originally developed to assess attachment in the context of romantic or other personal dyadic relationships.…”

“…One exception to this approach to measurement, the Self-Reliance Inventory (Quick, Joplin, Nelson, & Quick, 1992), was originally developed from probative interviews with successful executives, and subsequently refined drawing from content generated by management graduate students (Joplin et al, 1999). In their 1999 paper, these researchers reported finding no statistical relationships between attachment orientation and performance but, as they noted, academic performance ''may not be an effective proxy for performance at work'' (Joplin et al, 1999, p. 790).…”