Romantic attachment and relationship functioning in same-sex couples.

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate links between dimensions of romantic attachment and relationship functioning in a cross-sectional sample of people in same-sex relationships, with the goals of replicating basic findings from research on heterosexual couples and advancing understanding of unique issues faced by same-sex couples. The sample included 274 female couples, 188 male couples, 34 women whose female partners did not participate, and 39 men whose male partners did not participate. Participants were recruited from geographically diverse regions of the United States and Canada and provided data by responding to pencil-and-paper surveys. Attachment insecurity in both self and partner were linked with poor relationship functioning across a range of variables (satisfaction, commitment, trust, communication, problem intensity). The pattern of results was identical for women and men, but the effects were stronger in male couples for some associations between attachment variables and indices of positive relationship functioning. Monogamy was positively associated with relationship quality only when participants or their partners reported moderate or high levels of attachment anxiety. Contrary to hypothesis, attachment did not moderate links between minority stressors and relationship functioning.

Marital Quality and Attachment: The Mediator Role of Conflict Resolution Styles

“…The results taken from the correlation matrix indicated that marital quality was significantly associated with all attachment styles and all conflict resolution styles for both in husbands and in wives. Thus, this study has shown evidence which supports findings of previous studies, despite the authors not necessarily having used the same measuring instruments to investigate such associations (Creasey, 2002;Marchand, 2004;Mohr et al, 2013;. Timm & Keiley, 2011).…”

“…In addition to conflict management, the type of attachment in adults is also an important variable in the understanding of marital quality (Creasey, 2002;Marchand, 2004;Mohr, Selterman, & Fassinger, 2013;Timm & Keiley, 2011). Attachment is defined as the bond formed early in life between the individual and his primary caregiver (Bowlby, 1979), and has been described in three styles (secure, anxious-avoidant and anxious-ambivalent) based on Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters and Wall's experiments (1978) with the mother-infant dyad.…”

Exploring the Role of Being Out on a Queer Person's Self-Compassion

“…As more people identify as members of the queer community, considerable research has been conducted into the effects of such identification (Knoble & Linville, 2012;LaSala, 2000;Mohr, Selterman, & Fassinger, 2013;Orne, 2012;Rosario, Hunter, Maguen, Gwadz, & Smith, 2001;Yarhouse, 2001). Even as more people begin to be open regarding their sexual orientation, many still choose to not reveal.…”

Lesbian and Heterosexual Adoptive Mothers’ Experiences of Relationship Dissolution

“…Lesbians were particularly likely to emphasize emotional withdrawal and neglect on the part of their partners as a contributor to relationship decline, echoing prior work that has documented the significance of dyadic attachment (i.e., close-knit, emotionally intimate relationships) to female same-gender relationships (Goldberg 2010), and highlighting the devastating impact that growing apart can have on lesbian parents' relationships (Gartrell et al 2006). Only lesbians emphasized sexual incompatibility as a primary contributor to union dissolution, challenging stereotypes of women and female couples as less invested in the sexual nature of their unions (Blumstein and Schwartz 1983;Mohr et al 2013). Differences in perceived contributions to child care were also especially salient to lesbian women.…”