Three-Factor Structure of Adult Attachment in the Workplace: Comparison of British, French, and Italian Samples

Abstract

The goal was to compare three-factor and two-factor solutions and construct validity of the Adult Attachment in the Workplace (AAW) questionnaire. Participants were 660 volunteers from three countries (France, Italy, and Great Britain). The two-factor model of Neustadt, Chamorro-Premuzic, & Furnham (2006) and the three-factor theoretical model of Collins and Read (1990) were compared. Construct validity was assessed by calculating correlations among the two- and three-factor AAW, the Workplace Attachment Scale, and the Organizational Commitment Scale. The three-factor structure differentiated between the three attachment styles, i.e., secure, preoccupied, and avoidant. There were moderate, significant correlations between AAW, workplace attachment, and affective commitment. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the three-factor structure fit the data better. Furthermore, the AAW, the Workplace Attachment Scale, and the Organizational Commitment Scale can be considered independent. In line with previous empirical evidence, a further distinction is noted between avoidant and preoccupied styles in the workplace.

The convergent-discriminant validity of the Workplace Attachment Scale (WAS)

“…These results partially confirm those of other studies. In a recent article Scrima et al (2014) reported a significant correlation between WAS and secure attachment style (.36), together with weak but significant correlations between WAS and preoccupied (.20) and avoidant (.21) attachment styles. Further studies are needed to verify this difference.…”

“…The Adult Attachment in the Workplace scale (AAW, Neustadt et al, 2006) by Scrima et al (2014), comprises 18 items in a three-factor structure: 6 items related to the Secure Attachment Style (e.g. "I think it's relatively easy to get close to others at work"), 6 items related to the Preoccupied Attachment style (e.g.…”

“…This scale has been subject to an exploratory factor analysis using the principal component extraction method, which identified two related factors: Insecure Attachment at Work (IAW) and Secure/Autonomous Attachment at Work (SAAW) (Neustadt, Chamorro-Premuzic, & Furnham, 2006). Recently, Scrima and Lorito (2011) and Scrima et al (2014), using Structural Equation Modelling, also found a three-factor solution (secure, preoccupied, and avoidant).…”

“…This scale has been tested on hospital administrative staff (Velasco & Rioux, 2010), teachers (Rioux & Pignault, 2013), and employees in several other public and private organizations (Scrima, Rioux, & Lorito, 2014), and the results show that psycho-environmental variables are predictors of job satisfaction, affective commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviours (Le Roy & Rioux, 2013).…”

The impact of adult attachment style on organizational commitment and adult attachment in the workplace

“…The original version of the scale identifies two related factors: Insecure Attachment at Work, and Secure/Autonomous Attachment at Work. Recently, Scrima, Rioux, and Lorito (2014), using confirmatory factor analysis, found a three-factor structure of the AAW scale (secure, avoidant, preoccupied). However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies in the literature that have explicitly investigated the relationship between AAW and adult attachment style.…”