Attachment Hierarchy Research Articles

Beyond the global attachment model: domain- and relationship-specific attachment models at work and their functions.

Since prior research has shown the importance of specific attachment models, we wanted to explore specific adult attachments (colleagues, leader, and workplace) in the working setting. The study aimed to investigate the position of specific adult attachments in the attachment hierarchy and their associations with various organizational variables. Finally, we assumed that dimensions of the colleagues-domain attachment model would cluster into attachment types at work, according to secure, preoccupied, and avoidant attachment orientations. We carried out cross-sectional time-lagged research design. The sample consisted of 1,352 participants based on convenience and voluntary sampling procedures. Participants aged 18-78 worked in various work teams and positions. The battery consisted of the Adult Attachment in the Workplace Questionnaire, the Workplace Attachment Styles Questionnaire, the Scale of Belonging to the Organization, the Leader as Security Provider Scale, the shortened Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised Questionnaire, the Czech Leadership Questionnaire, the Citizenship Organizational Behavior Questionnaire, the General Work Performance questionnaire, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Data were analyzed in JASP 0.16.3 and IBM SPSS Statistics 22. Among other statistical methods, we performed factor analysis and two-step cluster analysis. The alpha level for statistical testing was set to 0.05. The results show that the work-specific attachment models differ from the romantic domain attachment model. Moreover, the work-specific attachment models also differ among themselves. Depending on the attachment to colleagues, it is possible to distinguish two attachment orientations (secure and insecure) among working adults. These two types differ in all the variables studied (relationships with colleagues, romantic partners, belonging to people and place, and performance). The study advances our knowledge of attachment working models and their application in the organizational context. We confirmed hierarchical attachment mental presentations and show the distinction in attachment working models at work. Colleagues and leaders form two separate domains within the workplace. Attachment to a leader is associated with the leadership style and secure workplace attachment. Attachment to colleagues might be more important in insecure workplace attachment and insecure belonging. Fostering secure attachment at work might bring together more positive outcomes for the company regarding performance and relationships at work.

You Mean the World to Me: The Role of Residential Mobility in Centrality of Romantic Relationships

Integrating the suffocation model of marriage with research on residential mobility, the current studies examined for the first time whether long-term romantic relationships are more central for residentially mobile (vs. stable) individuals (total N across three studies = 5,366; age range = 18–95). In Study 1, individuals who moved away from their place of birth (vs. not) were more likely to first confide in their spouse over other network members on important matters. In Study 2, history of frequent residential moves was associated with greater importance ascribed to romantic partners in the attachment hierarchy. In Study 3, the slope of perceived partner responsiveness predicting eudaimonic well-being got steeper as residential mobility increased. By showing the role of residential mobility in romantic relationships, our findings highlight the importance of studying socioecological factors to gain a deeper understanding of how relationship processes unfold.

Bindung von Kindern in familienrechtlichen Fragestellungen bei Gericht: Erkenntnisse und Missverständnisse

Psychological judicial expert reports for family law cases can include errors in the assessment of children’s attachments, their origins, their consequences, and the subsequent recommendation for the court. The article specifies potential sources of such errors and reviews several topics that are relevant for the evaluation and use of attachment assessments in psychological family law expert reports. These topics include attachment to mother and father, attachment hierarchy, the role of quantity and quality of contact to caregivers for attachment development and the use of results from attachment research on developmental consequences of attachment security and insecurity for psychological family law expert reports.

Attachment hierarchy in Japan: examining the validity of important people interview in Japanese young adults

ABSTRACT To assess young people’s attachment hierarchy, the Important People Interview (IPI) was developed based on Bowlby’s conceptualization of ethological behavioral systems. The present study examined the validity of the IPI in a sample of Japanese young adults (N = 472; M age = 20.34, SD = 1.28; females = 53.81%), because Bowlby’s behavioral systems conceptualization has been assumed to be universal. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed agood fit of the IPI model with a Japanese sample. The ranking of the mother in attachment hierarchy correlated positively with young adults’ self-esteem, and the ranking of the father correlated negatively with their depressive symptoms. The absence of romantic partner; shorter romantic relationships; living separately with mother, father, and romantic partner; and less frequent meetings with the mother, father, and romantic partner correlated with the higher ranking of friends. When other attachment figures are unavailable, people may flexibly use friends to meet their attachment needs.

Are one's attachment avoidance toward a particular person and his/her placement of this particular person in the attachment hierarchy inversely overlapping? Four bifactor-analysis studies.

Do one’s hierarchical preference for attachment support from a particular person over other people (attachment hierarchy) and his/her discomfort with closeness and uneasiness about being dependent on that particular person (attachment avoidance) inversely overlap? These two constructs have been distinctly conceptualized. Attachment hierarchy has been regarded as a normative characteristic of attachment relationships, while attachment avoidance has been considered to reflect an individual difference of relationship quality. Employing bifactor analyses, we demonstrated a unidimensional general factor of these two concepts in four studies exploring Czech young adults’ relationships with mother, father, friends, and romantic partner (Study 1); U.S. young adults’ relationships with a romantic partner (Study 2); Czech adolescents’ relationships with mother, father, and friends (Study 3); and Japanese young adults’ relationships with mother, father, and romantic partner (Study 4). These convergent results provide the replicable and generalizable evidence that one’s attachment avoidance toward a particular person and her/his placement of that particular person in the attachment hierarchy are inversely overlapping.

Hierarchy of attachment figures among adult twins and non-twins

This study concerns attachment in adult twins and siblings from a psychological perspective. Our objectives were to translate from English to Portuguese and adapt the 16-items Attachment Features and Functions Measure (AFF) to Brazilian population and to compare the attachment hierarchy of monozygotic (MZ), dizygotic (DZ) twins and nontwin siblings (NT). The Brazilian version of the AFF was answered by adults, of whom 132 had twin siblings and 98 had non-twin siblings. Only one representative of a twinship or a sibling relationship participated in our study. The four attachment dimensions (proximity seeking, safe haven, secure base and separation distress) were highly intercorrelated within each attachment target (sibling, mother, father), suggesting a single-component structure. We considered the existence of a single attachment factor in the AFF Questionnaire and the internal consistency of the composite score was high. The results indicated that MZ twins reported higher levels of attachment to their siblings than DZ twins and non-twins, as expected by both attachment and inclusive fitness perspectives. In addition, mothers were considered the main attachment figures by all groups, while fathers occupied the bottom of the hierarchy. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between twins and their families in Brazil.

Adult Daughter-Mother Attachment: Psychometric Properties of Turkish Version of Adult Attachment Scale

The present study aims to assess the psychometric qualities of the Turkish version of the Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) assessing adult daughter’s current attachment to their elderly mother. In total, 560 women with the mean age of 39.6 have participated. Parallel to the original study, exploratory factor analysis was conducted with adult daughters (N = 304) who were providing instrumental help to their mothers regularly. Results yielded 2 correlated factors (secure base and safe haven). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the factor structure is applicable to the adult daughters who were not providing regular help to their mothers (N = 256). Measurement invariance was established across two groups constructed in terms of the presence of instrumental help provided to the elderly mothers by their adult daughters. Internal consistency and 6-month stability for the scale are satisfactory. Further evidence for convergent and concurrent validity has been supported by presenting a positive correlation of AAS with the level of significance of the mother in the adult daughter’s attachment hierarchy as compared to other attachment figures, levels of quality of the current relationship and the frequency of contact with the mother. Results are discussed in terms of AAS’s appropriateness for Turkish culture and possible contribution in an understanding attachment to a parent in late adulthood, a critical emerging need for the aging world.

Attachment hierarchies in Bangladeshi women in couple-initiated and arranged marriages.

Attachment theory posits that in adulthood, romantic partners typically fill the role of primary attachment figure, yet few studies have examined whether these findings hold in cultures that practice arranged marriage or that emphasise collectivistic values and filial piety. In the current study, we compared attachment hierarchies in 116 Bangladeshi women engaged to be married or in the first 3 years of couple-initiated (also known as love) marriages and arranged marriages. Women in couple-initiated marriages reported greater use of their partners for the attachment functions of safe haven and secure base than women in arranged marriages. However, women in both groups were more likely to identify one of their parents than their partner as their primary attachment figure. Although replication is necessary, these findings suggest that partners may not be universally prioritised above parents in the attachment hierarchy and that attachment theory's assumptions of individuation from parents in adulthood may not apply cross-culturally. Findings are discussed in terms of cultural differences from samples previously represented in attachment research, such as kinship structures, the meaning of marriage and filial piety.

Implications for Reward Processing in Differential Responses to Loss: Impacts on Attachment Hierarchy Reorganization

When an attachment relationship is severed, so is homeostatic maintenance, leading to dysregulation of multiple physiological systems. Expanding upon Sbarra and Hazan’s original model, we suggest that the degree to which an individual’s physiological systems remain dysregulated depends on the state of one’s attachment hierarchy—namely, whether an individual continues to seek a lost partner for support as their primary attachment figure. To recover from the loss of a romantic partner, an individual’s attachment hierarchy must be reorganized. Our model proposes that an individual will go through a series of physiological changes before their attachment hierarchy is reorganized, which can either help or hinder their recovery. We consider the role of reward processing, including endogenous opioids, in this recovery process. Along the way, we identify mechanisms for continued dysregulation of biological systems among those who take longer to recover from a loss.

Adolescents’ multiple versus single primary attachment figures, reorganization of attachment hierarchy, and adjustments: the important people interview approach

ABSTRACTUsing 212 adolescents from a central-European country (mean age = 14.02, SD = 2.05, ranged from 11 to 18 years; females = 54%) and a multi-informant method to measure adolescents’ behavioral and emotional adjustments, the present study explored three aspects regarding the attachment hierarchy. (1) The three types of behavioral systems of Rosenthal and Kobak’s important people interview (IPI) were initially validated using an exploratory factor analysis with a US sample. Using a confirmatory factor analysis with a Czech sample, we replicated these three behavioral systems: attachment bond, support seeking, and affiliation. (2) We found that adolescents who developed attachment bond to multiple primary attachment figures were likely to score lower on both teacher-rated and parent-rated internalizing problems compared to those who had a single primary attachment figure. These multiple primary attachment figures tended to be family members (not peers). (3) Early adolescents who placed parents low in their attachment hierarchy scored higher on self-reported negative affect and lower on self-reported positive affect compared to early adolescents who placed parents high. The present study highlights multiple (vs. single) primary attachment figures as a protective factor and the premature reorganization of attachment hierarchy as a risk factor for adolescents’ emotional and affective adjustments.

Using Attachment Theory and Social Support Theory to Examine and Measure Pets as Sources of Social Support and Attachment Figures

ABSTRACTCompanion animals are increasingly being recognized by society as beneficial to our health and considered by many owners as authentic and affectional family members. Human relationship theories help us to understand the emotional and supportive aspect of the human– companion animal bond. This study uses attachment theory, social support theory, and the concept of the hierarchical nature of attachment relationships to further understand and measure human–animal attachment. In study 1,161 university-student pet owners completed a modified multidimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS) that included pets as a source of support, and we pre-tested a 60-item pet attachment measure. Results showed that students perceived their pets as distinctive sources of social support, at similar levels to their significant others, family, and friends. Principal components analysis of the 60-item measure reduced it to 31 items, and revealed four pet attachment components: (a) Proximity maintenance and interaction, (b) Emotional attachment behaviors, (c) Emotional support given and received, and (d) Emotional and monetary value. The scale was named the Emotional and Supportive Attachment to Companion Animals Scale (ESACA) (Cronbach’s α = 0.96). In study 2, 83 university students completed an attachment hierarchy scale and the ESACA. Companion animals were included in pet owners’ attachment hierarchies and ranked higher than siblings but lower than romantic partners, parents, and close friends. Those who indicated higher attachment to their companion animals ranked them higher in their attachment hierarchy than those less attached. This study supports and extends previous research that has used aspects of attachment theory and social support theory when exploring the human–animal bond. Many companion animal owners perceive their pets as additional sources of emotional support, fulfilling the four features of an attachment relationship and including them in their hierarchy of important attachment relationships.

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

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.

The Freedom to Choose Secure Attachment Relationships in Adulthood

ABSTRACT This study was based on the attachment–security hypothesis (H. Latty-Mann & K. E. Davis, 1996) that predicts that all individuals, regardless of attachment style, should demonstrate a preference for secure partners who are most likely to offer attachment security. It was therefore expected that with the transfer of attachment functions from parents, who are mostly not freely chosen as attachment figures, to other figures outside of the family of origin, individuals will try to establish secure relationships with these new figures and to assign them a high position in the attachment hierarchy. Participants were 149 Israelis (97 women and 52 men 20–72 years of age) and they completed questionnaires related to their attachment relationships and network. As expected, with age the attachment hierarchy included a higher proportion of chosen figures (r = .38, p < .05), and relationships with chosen figures were characterized by higher security and lower insecurity compared to relationships with nonchosen figures with moderate to high effect sizes. In addition, the higher the figure's level of importance and centrality in the hierarchy, the greater the level of security with that figure (low to moderate effect sizes). Results were discussed in light of attachment–security hypothesis and correction versus replication processes.

Consciously identified attachment hierarchies: Cognitive accessibility of attachment figure names as a function of threat primes in a lexical decision task

Studies have linked the subliminal priming of threat-related words to heightened cognitive accessibility directed towards the names of identified attachment figures. The present study used a lexical decision task to examine the cognitive accessibility of names of individuals who formed part of participants' self-reported attachment hierarchies. We did not find support for heightened accessibility in relation to the names of (a) consciously identified attachment figures in general, (b) full-blown attachment figures, or (c) primary attachment figures. However, our data revealed that participants showed increased accessibility to mothers' names in response to threat primes. This effect was even identified in individuals who did not consider mothers to occupy a primary position in their attachment hierarchy. Results are discussed in the context of attachment system activation in early adulthood.

Packaging Issues for High-Voltage Power Electronic Modules

This paper addresses interconnect and passivation issues associated with the fabrication of high-voltage power electronic modules. A wire-bondless direct solder attachment hierarchy for interconnection was evaluated using two direct-bond copper (DBC) elements: one acting as a substrate connected to a base plate and the second as an interconnection lead-frame between the power semiconductor devices. Finite element modeling revealed their enhanced performance over wire-bonded modules due to at least an order of magnitude decrease in parasitic inductance and the added benefit of enhanced thermal performance. A two-step passivation/encapsulation method to provide higher breakdown voltages at high temperatures is proposed for future high-voltage power electronic modules.

Post-traumatic stress symptoms linked to hidden Holocaust trauma among adult Finnish evacuees separated from their parents as children in World War II, 1939–1945: a case-control study

The aim of this study was to identify long-term effects of diagnostic criteria on the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-C) for a test group of Finnish evacuees from World War II and compare the outcome effect with a control group of children who lived in Finland during the war in 1939-1945. 152 participants were recruited by the local leader of the Finnish War Child Association in Sweden and Finland. The selected group answered questions on the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-C) and the EMBU (Swedish acronym for "Own Memories of Parental Rearing"). Evidence suggests a link between childhood parental separation and termination of the internalized attachment hierarchy of origin in a detachment process among Finnish evacuees. Based on the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Total (PCL-C) diagnosis an extreme traumatization for 36.7% of the test group subjects was identified, including a hidden Holocaust trauma in the population of Finnish evacuees. The study met the criteria for satisfying global evidence value. Sixty-five years after the end of World War II and in line with other studies on war children, the data show high levels of different trauma exposures from the war with 10.6 higher risk (odds ratio) for the exposed group of Finnish evacuees. Despite some limitations, the data highlight the need for further investigation into different parts of the detachment process among seriously traumatized groups to reveal resilience and other dimensions of importance in professional mental health creation.

Secondary school advisors as mentors and secondary attachment figures

AbstractThe teacher–student relationship is vital to student outcomes in secondary school. Unfortunately, the transition from elementary to secondary school is associated with a decrease in the quality or supportiveness of this relationship. In response, some secondary schools implement advisory programs, in which a teacher/advisor meets periodically with a small group of students over an extended period. This study examined whether students (N=209) in two small secondary schools would nominate the advisor as part of their attachment hierarchy. Our results indicated that 40% of the sample considered their advisor to be a secondary attachment figure; further, those that did nominate their advisor reported greater engagement in school and demonstrated greater gains in achievement and adjustment compared to those who did not. A relationship assessment instrument from the attachment literature (RSQ) was found to be more efficacious at predicting student outcomes when compared to instruments used in previous mentoring and relationship research. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Involved fathers of preschool children as seen by themselves and their wives: Accounts of attachment, socialization, and companionship

Studies of infant – father attachment and other aspects of father – child relationships burgeoned during the 1980s and 90s, in step with new expectations for greater father participation in childrearing, but less is known about how involved fathers experience themselves as attachment figures, socialization agents, and playmates/companions of their young children. In an attempt to investigate these topics from a relationship perspective, we administered the Parent Attachment Interview (PAI) to 49 married fathers from dual career families who, based on current literature, were expected to be active participants in caring for and interacting with their preschool children. The 22 open-ended PAI questions were designed to probe fathers' thoughts and feelings about parent – child attachment, but also elicited extensive descriptions of other aspects of fathering, including socialization and companionship. In addition, fathers reflected on similarities and differences between the father – and mother – child relationships, and these accounts were compared with corresponding discussions by their wives. Among new issues raised by the study were the role of affection in attachment relationships, evidence for the attachment hierarchy construct, issues of parental self-control in relation to discipline, conceptual overlaps between attachment and other aspects of parenting, and the diverse meanings of father – mother differences and disagreements in the three domains of parenting addressed in this study.

Parent and Peer Attachment in Late Childhood and Early Adolescence

This study investigated child and early adolescent relationships with parents and peers within the theoretical framework of attachment. A cross-sectional sample of 279 fourth, sixth, and eighth graders completed two self-report measures assessing attachment to parents and friends. Fourth graders described more trusting and communicative relationships with parents than sixth or eighth graders. Older early adolescents turned to peers to fulfill attachment functions of proximity seeking and safe haven more often than children, although all participants reported that parents primarily served secure base functions. Females reported more trust, communication, and overall attachment to peers than males. Grade, sex, and views of attachment relationships to parents and peers predicted the introduction of friends into the attachment hierarchy. Participants who viewed relationships with parents as less secure were more likely to select peers to fulfill attachment functions. The important and complementary roles of parents and peers and their implications are discussed.