Attachment in the Workplace Questionnaire – First Psychometric Results

Abstract

The diversity of emotional relationships has resulted in supplementing models of attachment with specific relationship ties that relate to individual domains of interpersonal relationships in human life. We focused on verifying the construct validity of the Attachment in the workplace questionnaire. The sample of our study consisted of 829 participants. The convenient selection was made online. The self-assessment Attachment in the Workplace Questionnaire consisted of 13 questions. Validation of dimensionality through EFA showed three factors: secure attachment to the leader (5 items), anxious attachment to the leader and to colleagues (4 items), and avoidant attachment to colleagues (4 items). The dimensions of the questionnaire showed values of internal consistency above 0.8. The three-factor model showed a good fit to the data. Secure attachment to the leader did not correlate with anxious attachment to colleagues and to the leader. Secure attachment to the leader was moderately significantly related to avoidant attachment to colleagues. Anxious and avoidant attachment dimensions were unrelated. Women scored higher in anxious attachment style and lower in avoidant and secure attachment styles. The results are specific to attachment in a work context where the objects of attachment are the supervisor and colleagues. In further research, we plan to verify the convergent validity of the questionnaire.