The role of romantic attachment and self‐criticism and dependency for the relationship satisfaction of community adults

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the role of romantic attachment versus the personality dimensions related to self-definition and relatedness for relationship satisfaction. Self-report instruments measuring romantic attachment, self-criticism and dependency, severity of depression, negative life events and relationship satisfaction were administrated to 266 community adults. As expected, results showed that secure romantic attachment was positively and insecure romantic attachment was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction, and this was the case even when controlling for self-criticism and dependency, severity of depression and negative life events. Implications of these findings for couple therapy are discussed.

Exploring the Association between Adult Attachment Styles in Romantic Relationships, Perceptions of Parents from Childhood and Relationship Satisfaction

“…Since the preeminent work of Hazan and Shaver [12], research concerning the influence of adult attachment on relationship satisfaction has demonstrated how secure attachment is positively associated with the quality of romantic relationships while insecure attachment is negatively associated with relationship satisfaction [25]- [27]. Earlier studies have demonstrated that secure relationships are characterised by commitment, high levels of trust, interdependence and satisfaction [15] [16] [28].…”

Vínculos afectivos en la infancia y calidad en las relaciones de pareja de jóvenes adultos: el efecto mediador del apego actual.

“…Dos conclusiones podemos extraer de estos resultados: en primer lugar a nivel intrapersonal, y como numerosos trabajos han mostrado, existe una clara relación entre los niveles de ansiedad y evitación de cada miembro de la pareja y su propia experiencia relacional, de forma que la seguridad y confianza en la relación, así como la comodidad con la intimidad y proximidad que cada uno percibe se asocia de forma positiva con la calidad de la relación que esa misma persona experimenta (Holland, Fraley, y Roisman, 2012;Lowyck et al, 2008;Mikulincer et al, 2002;Mikulincer y Shaver, 2007;Molero, et al, 2011). En este sentido, cabe destacar el rol más relevante que, en nuestro estudio, parece jugar la propia evitación, algo que también han corroborado otros trabajos (Kane, Jaremka, Guichard, Ford, Collins y Feeney, 2007;Molero, et al, 2011).…”

“…Pues bien, este apego ha resultado ser uno de los mejores predictores de la anales de psicología, 2014, vol. 30, nº 1 (enero) calidad de la relación (Lowyck, Luyten, Demyttenaere, y Corveleyn, 2008).…”

The crucial roles of attachment in family therapy

“…Insecure couples' attachments that are matching in style can create patterns not dissimilar to those described above. Insecure avoidant couples are distant, while insecure ambivalent are close, intense but with mixed feelings (Lowyck et al, 2008). A relationship between an avoidant and an ambivalent parent, however, creates distance conflicts; these are discussed below.…”