Attachment to the Romantic Partner and Sibling: Attachment Hierarchies of Twins and Non-Twin Siblings

Sascha Schwarz,Maida Mustafić,Sonja Junker

doi:10.5964/ijpr.v9i2.195

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that romantic partners and siblings are important attachment figures. This study compares the attachment to the romantic partner with the attachment to the sibling as a function of the participant’s sibling type among monozygotic (MZ) twins, dizygotic (DZ) twins, and non-twin (NT) siblings. The results show that MZ twins prefer their sibling to their romantic partner whereas DZ twins are equally attached to their sibling and romantic partner. In contrast, NT siblings are more attached to their romantic partner compared to their sibling. These results indicate that genetic relatedness has profound impact on a person’s attachment hierarchy and the relative rank of the romantic partner and the sibling.

Highlights

Attachment plays an important role in a human being’s life, serving as a buffer against life stressors (Hazan & Zeifman, 1994; Shaver & Mikulincer, 2008)
We compared monozygotic (MZ), dizygotic (DZ) and non-twin (NT) siblings in the way they form the relative rank of the sibling and the romantic partner in their attachment hierarchies
Prior to the main analyses, we analyzed the associations among the three different dependent variables across all participants to validate our new rank place attachment hierarchy measure

Summary

Introduction

Attachment plays an important role in a human being’s life, serving as a buffer against life stressors (Hazan & Zeifman, 1994; Shaver & Mikulincer, 2008). It is understood as an emotional bond between two persons that is relatively long-lasting and in which the attachment figure is perceived as unique, individual, and irreplaceable (Ainsworth, 1991). The aim of this study was to test the role of genetic relatedness in the attachment to the sibling and the romantic partner. In a person’s life more than one person can serve as an attachment figure

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion