Relationships Between Attachment Avoidance and Anxiety and Responses to Art Materials

Abstract

In this study, we examined the relationships between the attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance and participant reactions to using a range of art materials typically employed in art therapy. Participants (N = 409) engaged in art making with one of five materials: markers, oil pastels, gouache paint, finger paint, or clay. It was expected that a correlation would be found between the attachment dimensions and an individual's response to one of the different materials, and that these correlations would differ by gender. The findings indicate that the higher the score on the avoidance dimension, the more negative was an individual's response to the art material. This pattern was particularly evident in responses to working with oil pastels, gouache paint, and finger paint. Most of the correlations were found exclusively for women.