Abstract
It is accepted that an insecure attachment style is characteristic of borderline personality organization (BPO). The attachment system is not, however, a simple, unified structure; Bowlby (1969) was the first to notice that the internal working models of attachment remain specific to each subsequent relationship with different attachment figures despite the fact that they are based on the experience of the early childhood mother-child relationship. Based on this assumption, the study was designed to assess the differences in the hierarchical structure of attachment representations in a non-clinical sample of borderline individuals (n = 140) and a control group (n = 140). The Experiences in Close Relationships-Relationship Structures (ECR-RS) was used to assess attachment patterns in a variety of close relationships. Significant differences between the BPO and the control group were observed concerning the level of attachment avoidance and anxiety, and in the structure of the attachment figures’ representations.
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