levy- blatt- - shaver - attachment styles and parental representations -1998

7/28/2019 Levy- Blatt- - Shaver - Attachment Styles and Parental Representations -1998

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Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Copyright 1998 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.1998 , Vol. 74 , No . 2 , 407- 419 0022-3514/98 /$3 .00

Attachment StylesK e n n e t h N . L e v yC i t y U n i v e r s i ty o f N e w Y o rk

and Parental R epresentationsSidney J . B la t tYale Univers i ty

Phi l l ip R. ShaverU n i v e r s i ty o f C a l i f o r n i a , D a v i sRelationships between attachment styles and the content and structure of m ental representations ofparents were investigated. Undergraduates completed 3- and 4-category measures of attachment styleand wrote descriptions of their parents. Securely attached participants' parental representations werecharacterized by differentiation, elaboration, benevo lence, and no npunitiveness. Representations bydismissing participants w ere characterized by less differentiation and m ore punitiveness and malevo-lence. Fearful participants also described their parents as relatively punitive and malevolent, but theirrepresentations were w ell differentiated and conceptually complex. A nxious-ambivalent participantsdescribed their parents am bivalently as both punitive and benevolent.

A b a s i c p o s t u l a t e o f b o t h a t t a c h m e n t t h e o r y ( e . g . , A i n s w o r t h ,1 9 6 9 ; B o w l b y , 1 9 6 9 / 1 9 8 2 , 1 9 7 3 , 1 9 8 0 ; B r e t h e r t o n , 1 9 8 5 ) a n dob j ec t r e la t io ns theory (e .g . , B la t t , 1974, 1995 ; Fa i rba i rn , 1952 ;K e r n b e r g , 1 9 7 5 ; W i n n i c o t t , 1 9 6 0 ) i s t h a t m e n t a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n so f s e l f a n d o t h e r s e m e r g e f r o m e a r l y r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h c a r e g i v -e r s a n d t h e n a c t a s h e u r i s t i c g u i d e s f o r s u b s e q u e n t c l o s e r e l a t i o n -s h i p s . A t t a c h m e n t t h e o r y a n d o b j e c t r e l a t i o n s t h e o r y b o t h p o s i tt h a t t h e s t r u c t u r e ( e . g . , c o h e r e n c e o r i n t e g r a t i o n ) a n d t h e c o n t e n t( e . g . , t h e b e l i e f th a t r e l a t i o n s h i p p a r t n e r s a r e g e n e r a l l y b e n e v o -l e n t ) o f t h e s e c o g n i t i v e - a f f e c t i v e s c h e m a s i n f l u e n c e e x p e c t a t i o n sa n d f e e l i n g s a s w e l l a s t h e g e n e r a l p a t t e r n s o f b e h a v i o r t h a tc h a r a c t e ri z e p e o p l e ' s i n t e r p e r so n a l r e l a ti o n s h i p s ( D i a m o n d &B l a t t , 1 9 9 4 ; S l a d e & A b e r , 1 9 9 2 ) . T o d a te , h o w e v e r , r e s e a r c h e r sw h o s t u d y a d u l t a t t a c h m e n t h a v e n o t g e n e r a l l y e x p l o r e d t h ei d e a s a n d m e a s u r e s c r e a t e d b y o b j e c t r e l a t i o n s t h e o r i s t s . T h ep u r p o s e o f t h e p r e s e n t r e s e a r c h i s t o e x p l o r e t h e c o n t e n t a n ds t r u c t u r e o f r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s o f p a r e n t s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h d i f f e r e n ta d u l t a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e s .

A t t a c h m e n t T h e o r yB o w l b y , a B r i t i s h p s y c h i a t r i s t , w a s t r a i n e d a s a p h y s i c i a n

a n d p s y c h o a n a l y s t e a r l y i n t h i s c e n t u r y , w h e n o b j e c t r e l a t i o n s

Kenneth N. Levy, Department of Psychology, Clinical PsychologyDoctoral Program, City University of New York; Sidney J. B iatt, Depart-ments o f Psychiatry and Psychology, Yale University; Phillip R. Shaver,Department of Psychology, University of C alifornia, D avis.We thank Diana D iamond, John Kolligian, Jr., and Carrie E. Schafferfor comm ents on earlier versions of the article. We also thank B arbaraCharlton, K im Cooper, and Elaine Orr for their efforts in data collection,Brian Flaherty for help with data entry, and Henry St. Laurant and DebraDorfman-Botens for interrater reliab ility ratings.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ken-neth N. Levy, Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program, City Universityof New Y ork, 138th and Convent Avenues, 8 107 North Academic Center,New Y ork, New Y ork 10031. Electronic mail may b e sent to [email protected].

a p p r o a c h e s t o p s y c h o a n a l y s i s w e r e b e g i n n i n g t o b e f o r m u l a t e d .( S e e K a r e n , 1 9 9 4 , a n d S h a v e r & C l a r k , 1 9 94 , f o r a c c o u n t so f B o w l b y ' s i n t e l l e c t u a l d e v e l o p m e n t . ) F o r v a r i o u s re a s o n s , h ed i v e r g e d s o m e w h a t f r o m h i s p s y c h o a n a l y t i c c o l l e a g u e s i n f o c u s -i n g o n t h e o b s e r v a b l e b e h a v i o r o f i n f a n t s ' i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t ht h e i r c a r e g iv e r s , e s p e c i a l l y th e i r m o t h e r s , a n d b y e n c o u r a g i n gp r o s p e c t i v e s t u d i e s o f t h e e f f e c t s o f e a r l y a t t a c h m e n t r e l a t i o n -s h i p s o n p e r s o n a l i t y d e v e l o p m e n t . M o s t o b j e c t r e l a t io n s t h e o r i s t sf o c u s e d i n s t e a d o n a d u l t s ' m e n t a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s o f s e l f a n do t h e r s i n c l o s e r e l a t i o n s h i p s , a s o f t e n r e v e a l e d d u r i n g p s y c h o -t h e r ap y , a l t h o u g h t h e s e t h e o r i s t s a l s o b e l i e v e d t h a t s u c h r e p r e -s e n t a t i o n s a r e a n o u t g r o w t h o f e a r l y r e l a ti o n s h i p s w i t h p a r e n t s .

B o w l b y t u r n e d t o a c o m b i n a t i o n o f s c i e n t i f i c d i s c i p l i n e s , i n -c l u d i n g p s y c h o a n a l y s i s , e t h o lo g y , c o g n i t i v e p s y c h o l o g y , a n d d e -v e l o p m e n t a l p s y c h o l o g y , f o r a n a r r a y o f c o m p a t i b l e c o n c e p t st h a t c o u l d e x p l a i n a f f e c t i o n a l b o n d i n g b e t w e e n i n f a n t s a n d t h e i rc a r e g i v e r s a n d t h e l o n g - t e r m e f f e c t s o f e a r l y a t t a c h m e n t e x p e r i -e n c e s o n p e r s o n a l i t y d e v e l o p m e n t a n d p s y c h o p a t h o l o g y . H e c o n -c e p t u a l i z e d h u m a n m o t i v a t i o n in t e r m s o f b e h a v i o r a l s y s t e ms ,a c o n c e p t b o r r o w e d f r o m e t h o l o g y , a n d n o t e d t h a t a t t a c h m e n t -r e l a t e d b e h a v i o r i n i n f a n c y ( e . g . , c l i n g i n g , c r y i n g , s m i l i n g , m o n -i t o r i n g c a r e g iv e r s , a n d d e v e l o p i n g a p r e f e r e n c e f o r a f e w r e l i a b l ec a r e g i v e r s , o r a t t a c h me n t fi g u r e s ) i s p a r t o f a f u n c t i o n a l b i o l o g i -c a l s y s t e m t h a t i n c r e a s e s t h e l i k e l i h o o d o f p r o t e c t i o n f r o m p r e -d a t i o n , c o m f o r t d u r i n g t i m e s o f s t r e ss , a n d s o c i a l l e a r n i n g . P r e f -e r e n c e f o r a p a r t i c u l a r c a r e g i v e r ( t h e p r i ma r y a t t a c h me n t f i g u r e )w a s t h o u g h t t o b e b a s e d o n t h e f a m i l i a r i t y , a v a i l a b i l it y , r e s p o n -s i v e n e ss , a n d r e l i a b i l i t y o f t h e c a r e g i v e r (B o w l b y , 1 9 6 9 / 1 9 8 2 ) .

B o w l b y t h e o r i z e d t h a t e a r ly i n t e r a c ti o n s w i t h a t t a c h m e n t f i g -u r e s w e r e e n c o d e d i n m e n t a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s t h a t h e c a l l e d i n ne r ,o r i n t e r n a l , w o r k i n g m o d e l s o f s e l f a n d o t h e r s. T h i s i s t h e p a r to f h i s f o r m u l a t i o n m o s t a f f e c t e d b y t h e o b j e c t r e l a t i o n s t h e o r ie sd u r i n g t h e t i m e o f h i s t r a in i n g a n d e a r l y r e s e a r c h . T h e s e w o r k i n gm o d e l s i n c l u d e e x p e c t a t i o n s , b e l i e f s , e m o t i o n a l a p p r a i s a l s , a n dr u l e s f o r p r o c e s s i n g o r e x c l u d i n g i n f o r m a t i o n . T h e y c a n b ep a r t ly c o n s c i o u s a n d p a r t l y u n c o n sc i o u s a n d n e e d n o t b e c o m -p l e t e l y c o n s i s t e n t o r c o h e re n t . ( F o r a m o r e c o m p l e t e a c c o u n t o f

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40 8 LEVY, BLATT, AND SHAVERw o r k i n g m o d e l s i n a t t a c h m e n t t h e o r y , se e B r e t h e r t o n , 1 9 87 , o rShaver , Co l l ins , & Cla rk , 1996 . )

A i n s w o r t h , i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h B o w l b y , d e v i s e d p r o c e d u r e sf o r s y s t e m a t i c a l l y o b s e r v i n g p a r e n t - i n f a n t i n t e r ac t i o n s b o t h a th o m e a n d i n t h e l a b o r a t o r y ( A i n s w o r t h , B l e h a r , W a t e r s , & W a l l ,1 9 7 8 ) . A i n s w o r t h d e v e l o p e d a w e l l - k n o w n l a b o r a t o r y p r o c e -d u r e , t h e S t r a n g e S i t u a t i o n , t o c l a s s i f y i n f a n t - p a r e n t r e l a t i o n -s h i p s ( b a s e d l a r g e l y o n t h e i n f a n t ' s b e h a v i o r ) i n t o o n e o f t h r e ec a t e g o r i e s : s e c u r e , a v o i d a n t , o r a n x i o u s - a m b i v a l e n t . ( L a t e r , af o u r t h c a t e g o r y , d i s o r g a n i z e d - d i s o r i e n t e d , w a s a d d e d ; s e e C r i t -t e n d e n , 1 9 8 8 ; M a i n & H e s s e , 1 9 9 0 ; M a i n & S o l o m o n , 1 9 9 0 . )T h e s e c a t e g o r i e s r e f l e c t i n f a n t -p a r e n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s o u t s i d e t h el a b o r a t o r y . P a r e n t s o f s e c u r e i n f a n t s, f o r e x a m p l e , a r e g e n e r a l l ym o r e a v a i l a b l e , re s p o n s i v e , a n d s e n s i t i v e to t h e i r c h i l d r e n ' s f e e l -i n g s t h a n p a r e n t s o f i n s e c u r e i n f a n ts . P a r e n t s o f a v o i d a n t c h i l -d r e n a r e o f t e n r e j e c t i n g , a l o o f , a n d u n c o m f o r t a b l e w i t h b o d i l yc o n t a c t ; t h e y te n d t o w i t h d r a w s u p p o r t w h e n t h e i r c h i l d r e n m o s tn e e d i t - - i n t i m e s o f d i s t r e s s . P a r e n t s o f a n x i o u s c h i l d r e n a r es o m e w h a t m o r e s e l f - p r e o c c u p i e d , p e r h a p s m o r e s e n s i ti v e t o t h e i ro w n n e e d s a n d a n x i e t y t h a n t o t h e i r c h i l d r e n ' s n e e d s , a n d o f t e ni n t r u si v e a n d i n c o n s i s t e n t . P a r e n ts o f d i s o r g a n i z e d b a b i e s a r em o r e t r o u b l e d , d e p r e s s e d , a n d a b u s i v e , p e r h a p s b e c a u s e t h e ya r e s t i l l t r o u b l e d b y t h e i r o w n u n r e s o l v e d a t t a c h m e n t - r e l a t e dt r a u m a s a n d l o s s e s ( B e l s k y & C a s s i d y , 1 9 9 4 ) .

T h e b u l k o f r e s e a r c h o n i n d i v i d u a l d i f f e re n c e s i n a t t a c h m e n th a s u s e d A i n s w o r t h ' s S t r a n g e S i t u a t i o n p r o c e d u r e t o c l a s s i f yi n f a n t s ( o r i n f a n t - p a r e n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s ) a t a b o u t 1 2 t o 1 8 m o n t h so f a g e a n d t o p r e d i c t c o g n i t i v e a n d s o c i a l o u t c o m e s m o n t h s o reven years l a te r . Two long i tud ina l s tud ies (E l icker , Eng lund , &S r o u f e , 1 9 9 2 ; G r o s s m a n n & G r o s s m a n n , 1 9 91 ) m o n i t o r e d c h i l -d r e n f o r a s l o n g a s 1 0 y e a r s a f t e r t h e i r a s s e s s m e n t w i t h t h eS t r a n g e S i t u a t i o n p r o c e d u r e a n d f o u n d p r e d i c t a b l e p e r s o n a l i t ya n d s o c i a l b e h a v i o r s o v e r t h a t d e c a d e . A m o r e r e c e n t s t u d y( W a t e r s , M e r r i c k , A l b e r s h e i m , & T r e b o u x , 1 9 9 5 ) m o n i t o r e d 5 0i n d i v i d u a l s f o r 2 0 y e a r s , f i n d in g 6 4 % s t a b i l i t y i n a t t a c h m e n tc l a s s i f i c a t io n s ( a c t u a ll y , g r e a t e r t h a n 7 0 % s t a b i l i t y f o r i n d i v i d u -a l s w i t h n o m a j o r n e g a t i v e l i f e e v e n t s a n d l e s s th a n 5 0 % s t a b i l i t yf o r t h o s e w h o h a d l o s t a p a r e n t , e n d u r e d p a r e n t a l d i v o r c e , e t c .) .T h u s , t h e a v a i l a b l e e v i d e n c e i n d i c a t e s t h a t a t t a c h m e n t c l a s s i f i -c a t i o n s a r e f a i r l y s t a b l e o v e r e x t e n d e d p e r i o d s o f t i m e , a l t h o u g ht h e r e l a t iv e i m p o r t a n c e o f v a r i o u s c o n t r i b u t o r s t o s t a b i l i t y a n dc h a n g e - - f o r e x a m p l e , t e m p e r a m e n t , c o n t i n u i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p sw i t h t h e s a m e f a m i l y m e m b e r s , n e g a t i v e l i f e e v e n t s , c h a n g e -r e s i s t a n t i n t e r n a l w o r k i n g m o d e l s , a n d b e h a v i o r p a t t e r n s t h a tp r o d u c e s e l f - f ul f il l in g p r o p h e c i e s - - r e m a i n s t o b e d e t e r m i n e db y f u r t h e r r e s e a rc h . M o s t l i k e l y , a l l o f t h e s e f a c t o r s p l a y a s i g -n i f i can t ro le . (Se e Roth bard & Shaver , 1994 , fo r a r ev iew ofr e s e a r c h o n c o n t i n u it y . )

B a s e d o n B o w l b y ' s ( 1 9 7 9 ) c o n t e n t i o n t h a t t h e a t t a c h m e n ts y s t e m i s a c t iv e " f r o m t h e c r a d l e to t h e g r a v e , " v a r i o u s i n v e s t i-g a t o r s w o r k i n g i n t h e m i d - 1 9 8 0 s ( e . g . , H a z a n & S h a v e r , 1 9 8 7 ;M a i n , K a p l a n , & C a s s i d y , 1 9 8 5 ) i n d e p e n d e n t l y b e g a n t o a p p l ya t t a c h m e n t c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s t o t h e s t u d y o f a d u l t s . M a i n a n d h e rc o l l e ag u e s d e v e l o p e d th e A d u l t A tt a c h m e n t I n t e r v ie w ( A A I ) , a1 - h r a t t a c h m e n t h i s t o r y i n t e r v ie w , n o t i n g t h a t f e a t u r e s o f i n t e r -v i e w s w i t h p a r e n t s o f i n f a n t s r e l i a b l y p r e d i c t e d t h e S t r a n g e S i t u -a t i o n b e h a v i o r o f t h e i r c h i l d r e n . T h e y f o u n d t h a t c u r r e n t p a r e n t s 'r e p o r t s a b o u t i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h t h e i r o w n p a r e n t s y e a r s e a r l i e rc o u l d p r e d i c t t h e i r c h i l d r e n ' s S t r a n g e S i t u a t i o n c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s

w i t h a b o u t 8 0 % a c c u r a c y , a n a s t o n i s h i n g f i n d i n g t h a t h a s n o wb e e n r e p l i c a t e d s e v e r a l t i m e s ( v a n I J z e n d o o m , 1 9 95 ) . E v i d e n t l y ,y o u n g p a r e n t s ' " c u r r e n t s t a t e o f m i n d w i t h r e s p e c t t o a t ta c h -m e n t " ( a p h r a s e u s e d b y M a i n a n d h e r c o l l e a g u e s t o i n d i c a tet h a t p a r e n t s ' m e m o r i e s a n d c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n s o f t h e ir c h i l d h o o dr e l a t i o n s h i p s n e e d n o t b e c o m p l e t e , c o n s i s t e n t , p e r f e c tl y c o r r e c t,o r u n c h a n g i n g o v e r t i m e ) i s c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e i r tr e a t -m e n t o f t h e i r i n f a n t s , w h i c h s h a p e s t h e i r c h i l d r e n ' s a t t a c h m e n to r i e n t a t i o n s . I n g e n e r a l , a c h i l d ' s a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e re p l i c a t e s t h es t y l e o f h i s o r h e r p r i m a r y a t t a c h m e n t f i g u r e . A n i n f a n t, h o w e v e r ,a t l e a s t a t 1 2 m o n t h s o f a g e , c a n e x h i b i t d i f f e r e n t a t t a c h m e n ts ty les wi th d i f fe ren t pa ren t s , r e f l ec t ing the fac t tha t spouses 'A A I c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s o f t e n d i f f e r f r o m e a c h o th er .

H a z a n a n d S h a v e r ( 19 8 7, 1 9 9 0 ) a n d S h a v e r , H a z a n , a n d B r a d -s h a w ( 1 9 8 8 ) a l s o s t u d i e d a d u l t a t t a c h m e n t , b u t w i t h r a t h e r d i f -f e r e n t m e t h o d s a n d p u r p o s e s . T h e y d e v i s e d a b r i e f s e l f - r e p o r tm e a s u r e o f a d u l t romant i c a t t ac h m e n t m o d e l e d o n A i n s w o r t h ' si n f a n t a t t a c h m e n t t y p o l o g y . T h e i r i n i t ia l m e a s u r e a s k e d a d u l t s t oi n d ic a t e w h i c h o f t h r e e a t t ac h m e n t s t y l e d e s c r i p t i o n s - - s e c u r e ,a v o i d a n t, o r a n x i o u s - a m b i v a l e n t - - t h e y w e r e m o s t l i k e, g e n e r al -i z i n g a c r o s s a l l o f t h e i r i m p o r t a n t r o m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p s . I n ah o s t o f s t u d i e s s i n c e 1 9 87 , t h i s b r i e f m e a s u r e a n d v a r i o u s e x t e n -s i o n s o f i t h a v e s i g n i f i c a n t l y p r e d i c t e d r e l a t i o n s h i p o u t c o m e s( e .g . , s a t i s f a c t i o n , b r e a k u p s , c o m m i t m e n t ) , p a t t e r n s o f c o p i n gw i t h s t r e s s , c o u p l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n , a n d e v e n p h e n o m e n a s u c ha s r e l i g i o u s e x p e r i e n c e s a n d p a t t e r n s o f c a r e e r d e v e l o p m e n t ( s e er e v i e w s b y S h a v e r & C l a r k , 1 9 9 4, a n d S h a v e r & H a z a n , 1 9 9 3 ) .

I n a n i m p o r t a n t r e c e n t d e v e l o p m e n t , B a r t h o l o m e w ( 1 9 9 0 )a n d B a r t h o l o m e w a n d H o r o w i t z ( 1 9 9 1 ) s h o w e d t h a t a d u l t a t -t a c h m e n t , l i k e i n f a n t a t ta c h m e n t a s c o n c e p t u a l i z e d b y C r i t t e n d e n( 1 9 8 8 ) o r M a i n a n d S o l o m o n ( 1 9 9 0 ) , c a n b e s t b e c h a r a c t er i z e db y f o u r r a t h e r t h a n t h r e e m a j o r c a t e g o r i e s . B a r t h o l o m e w ' s k e yi n s i g h t w a s t h a t M a i n ' s p r o t o t y p e o f t h e a d u l t a v o i d a n t a t t a c h -m e n t s t y l e ( a s s e s s e d i n t h e c o n t e x t o f p a r e n t i n g ) i s m o r e d e f e n -s i v e , d e n i a l o r i e n t e d , a n d o v e r t l y u n e m o t i o n a l t h a n H a z a n a n dS h a v e r ' s a v o i d a n t r o m a n t i c a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e, w h i c h s e e m s m o r ev u l n e r a b l e , c o n s c i o u s o f e m o t i o n a l p a i n , a n d f e a r f u l. I n B a r t h o -l o m e w ' s f o u r - c a t e g o r y i n t e rv i e w a n d s e l f - r e p o r t c l a s s i f i c a t io n so f a d u l t a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e s , b o t h k i n d s o f a v o i d a n c e , d i s m i s s i n ga n d f e a r f u l , a r e i n c l u d e d .

W i t h t h i s r e v i s i o n o f H a z a n a n d S h a v e r ' s c l a s s i f i c a t i o ns c h e m e , i t b e c a m e e v i d e n t t o B a r t h o l o m e w t h a t th e f o u r c a t e g o -r i e s c o u l d b e a r r a y e d i n a t w o - d i m e n s i o n a l s p a c e , w i t h o n ed i m e n s i o n b e i n g m o d e l o f s e l f ( p o s i t i v e v s . n e g a t i v e ) a n d t h eo t h e r b e i n g mode l o f o t her s ( p o s i t i v e v s . n e g a t i v e ) . ( S e e , f o re x a m p l e , B a r t h o l o m e w & H o r o w i t z , 1 9 9 1 ; G r i f f i n & B a r t h o l o -m e w , 1 9 9 4 a , 1 9 9 4 b . ) I n o t h e r w o r d s , B a r t h o l o m e w c o n c e p t u a l -i z e d a d u l t a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e s i n t e r m s o f t h e c o m b i n a t i o n s o fr e p r e s e n t a t i o n a l m o d e l s o f s e l f a n d o t h e r s t h a t p u r p o r t e d l y u n -d e r l i e t he m . F o r s e c u r e i n d i v i d u a l s , m o d e l s o f s e l f a n d o t h e r s a r eb o t h g e n e r a l l y p o s i ti v e . F o r p r e o c c u p i e d o r a n x i o u s - a m b i v a l e n ti n d i v i d u a l s , t h e m o d e l o f o t h e r s i s p o s i t i v e ( i . e . , r e l a t i o n s h i p sa r e a t t r a c t i v e ) b u t t h e m o d e l o f s e l f i s n o t . F o r d i s m i s s i n g i n d i -v i d u a l s , t h e r e v e r s e is t r u e : T h e s o m e w h a t d e f e n s i v e l y m a i n -t a l n e d m o d e l o f s e l f i s p o s i ti v e , w h e r e a s t h e m o d e l o f o t h e r s i sn o t ( i . e . , i n t i m a c y i n r e l a t i o n s h i p s i s r e g a r d e d w i t h c a u t i o n o ra v o i d e d ) . F e a r f u l i n d i v i d u a l s h a v e r e l a t i v e l y n e g a t i v e m o d e l s o fs e l f a n d o t h e rs .

A l t h o u g h t h e A A I c a t e g o r y s y s t e m , H a z a n a n d S h a v e r ' s t h re e -


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ATI'ACHMENT AND REPRESENTATION 409category typology, Bartholomew's four-category typology, andseveral variations of these conceptual frameworks are all rootedin Bowlb y's and Ainsworth's theory and research, they are notconceptually identical (e.g., some are more clearly dimensionalthan others, and some focus on parenting wherea s others focuson romantic relationships) and they have generated differentkinds of measures. The AAI is scored primarily in terms ofindicators of "curr ent state of mind," such as awkward pauses,gaps in memory, incoherent discourse, and other signs of defen-siveness. The self-report measures, such as Bartholomew's andHazan and Shaver's, tap self-characterizations of beliefs, feel-ings, and behaviors in romantic or other close relationships.From the beginning, Bartholomew included both interviews andself-report measures in her studies, and her interviews coveredboth relationships with parents (in line with the AAI) and rela-tionships with close friends and romantic partners (i n line withHazan and Shaver's work). Bartholomew's self-report measureis a four-category extension of Hazan and Shaver's three-cate-gory romantic attachment measure.

Recent examination of several studies based on Bartholo-mew's measures and either the AAI or Hazan and Shaver'smeasure (Bartholomew & Shaver, in press) suggests a roughcontin uum ranging from the AAI (an interview measure focusedon parenting issues and coded categorically rather than dimen-sionally) through Bartholomew's parental attachment and peer-romantic interviews and her self-report measure to Shaver andHazan' s self-report measure. Methods that lie close to each otheron this c ontinuum are more highly related empirically, but factoranalyses or structural equation models based on several mea-sures consistently indicate the presence of an underlying latentconstruct, which Bartholomew and Shaver (in press) interpretas reflecting a common core that is established in childhood.These attachment orientations may become differentiated withdevelopment and social experience.

Object Relations TheoryCompared with social psychological concepts such as schema

(as reviewed by Fiske & Taylor, 1991 ) and Bartholomew's mod-els of self and other, the concept of representations in objectrelations theory has a more epigenetic, developmental quality.Blatt and his colleagues (Blatt, 1974; Blatt & Lerner, 1983), forexample, by integrating psychoanalytic theory and the cognitivedevelopmental perspective of Piaget (1956 ) and Werner (1948),have suggested that the cognitive and affective components ofrepresentations of self and others develop epigenetically andbecome increa singly accurate, articulated, and conceptuallycomplex structures over time. According to this approach, higherlevels of representation evolve from and extend lower levels;thus, new representational modes are increasingly more compre-hensive and effective than earlier modes of representation. Fol-lowing these epigenetic principles, Blatt and colleagues stressedthat representat ions of self and others can range from global,diffuse, fragmentary, and inflexible to increasingly differenti-ated, flexible, and hierarchically organized.

To evaluate representations of self and significant others, Blattand his colleagues (Blatt , Bers, & Schaffer, 1993; Blatt, Wein,Chevron, & Quinlan, 1979; Blatt, Chevron, Quinlan , Schaffer, &Wein, 1992; Diamond, Blatt, Stayner, & Kaslow, 1992) devel-

oped procedures to evaluate both the content and the structureof open-ended descriptions of self and significant others (e.g.,parents). Content scores for descriptions of significant othersinclude affectionate, ambitious, malevolent-benevolent, cold-warm, constructive involvement, intellectual, udgmental, nega-tive-positive ideal, nurturant, punitive, successful, and weak-strong. Additionally, the individual's degree of ambivalenceabout the parent is rated on a 5-point scale. Structure is mea-sured by three scales: Conceptual Level, Self-Other Differentia-tion-Relatedness, and Scorable Attributes. Conceptual level isscored in terms of five levels: sensorimotor-preoperational (e.g.,conceiv ing of a person, such as one's mother, primarily in termsof need gratifica tion), concrete perceptual (focusing on physicalcharacteristics), external iconic (emphasizing behavior and ac-tions), internal iconic (noting feelings and other mental states),and conceptual (describing the person as an independent actor,developing and changing in time, with complex traits, needs,and goals). Differentiation-relatedness is measured on a 10-point scale ranging from self-other boundary confusion to acohesive and reciprocally interrelated sense of self and others(Diamond et al., 1992). Scorable attributes is the number ofthe 12 conten t variables included in the description. Althoughthese dimensions have been scored at acceptable levels of relia-bility and data from several studies have indicated good validity,these structural representational variables have not been pre-viously assessed in studies of adult romantic attachment.

The purpose of this study is to examine associations between(a) the thematic content and structure (degree of differentiation-relatedness and conceptual level) of representations of parentsand (b) young adults' attachment styles as assessed with Hazanand Shaver's ( 1987, 1990) and Bartho lomew' s (Bartholomew &Horowitz, 1991 ) self-report measures. On the basis of the re-search reviewed earlier, we expect the parental representationsof securely attached individuals to be more positive in contentand more complex and mature in structure than those of inse-curely attached individuals (Hypothesis 1). Among the inse-curely attached groups, we expect parental descriptions of anx-ious-ambivalent individuals to be more ambivalent and to con-tain more attributes (greater articulation) than those of avoidantindividuals (Hypothesis 2). In comparing the two kinds ofavoidant individuals delineated by Bartholomew, dismissing andfearful, we expect fearful individuals, who seem more aware oftheir own reactions and feelings, to express more differentiatedand complex descriptions of their parents than dismissing indi-viduals but also to express greater ambivalence (Hypothesis 3 ).In other words, we expect to find a unique pattern of parentalrepresentations associated with each romantic attachment style.

MethodParticipants

We selected 101 men and 88 women, median age 19 years, from 863students (530 men and 333 women) enrolled in introductory psychologycourses at the State Universityof New York at Buffalo. Students partici-pated as part of a course requirement.We selected approximatelyequalnumbers of students from the three attachment style categories from thetotal sample on the basis of responses to Hazan and Shaver's three-category attachment measure administered during a brief classroomscreening session. One or 2 months later, we recontacted groups of 20


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4 1 0 L E V Y , B L AT T, A N D S H A V E Rt o 2 5 s t u d e n t s a n d g a v e t h e m o t h e r m e a s u r e s , i n c l u d i n g a t w o - p a g eq u e s t i o n n a i r e t h a t c o n t a i n e d a r e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h e t h r e e - c a t e g o r ya t t a c h m e n t m e a s u r e a n d a L i k e r t -t y p e r a t in g s c a l e f o r e a c h o f t h e t h r e ea t t a c h m e n t s t y le s . ( T h e p r e c i s e w o r d i n g o f t h e s e q u e s t i o n s c a n b e f o u n di n S h a v e r & H a z a n , 1 9 93 .) B e c a u s e w e b e c a m e a w a r e o f t h e B a r t h o l o -m e w a t t a c h m e n t m e a s u r e s ( B a r t h o l o m e w & H o r o w i t z , 1 9 9 1 ) a f t e r b e -g i n n i n g d a t a c o l l e c ti o n , o n l y t h e l a st 5 4 o f t h e 1 8 9 s t u d e n t s c o m p l e t e dB a r t h o l o m e w ' s m e a s u r e s , b u t w e b e l i e v e t h a t it i s w o r t h w h i l e t o p r e s e n tt h e r e s u l ts f o r t h e B a r t h o l o m e w m e a s u r e s i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e r e s u l ts f o rH a z a n a n d S h a v e r ' s m e a s u r e . T h e r e a s o n s f o r t h i s d e c i s i o n w i ll b e c o m ec l e a r i n t he Re su l t s s e c t i on .

A s s e s s m e n t P r o c e d u r e sAttachment style. W e a s k e d p a r t i c i p a n t s t o t h i n k b a c k a c r o s s t h e i r

m o s t i m p o r t a n t r o m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p s a n d t h e n d e c i d e w h i c h o f t h et h r e e H a z a n - S h a v e r a t t a c h m e n t s t y le p r o t o t y p e s b e s t c h a r a c t e r iz e d t h e i rb e h a v i o r a n d e x p e r i e n c e s . W e a l s o a s k e d t h e m t o r a t e t h e i r s im i l a r i ty t oe a c h o f t h e t h r e e p r o t o t y p e s o n a 7 - p o i n t s c a l e, r a n g i n g f r o m verydissimilar to very similar. T h e s e t w o m e a s u r e s h a v e m o d e r a t e t e s t - r e t e s tr e l i a b i l i t y o v e r p e r i o d s r a n g i n g f r o m a f e w w e e k s t o 4 y e a r s ( e . g . ,B r e n na n & S ha ve r , 1995 ; K i r kpa t r i c k & H a z a n , 1994 ) . S e ve n t y t o 75%o f p a r t i c i p a n t s u s u al l y c h e c k t h e s a m e c a t e g o r y o v e r t h e s e p e r io d s , a n dt h e t h r e e s i n g l e - i t e m r a ti n g s c a l e s h a v e t e s t - r e t e s t s t a b i li t ie s o f a p p r o x i -ma t e l y . 60 . T he f a c t t ha t t he s t a b i l i t i e s a r e s i mi l a r r e ga r d l e s s o f t hel e n g t h o f t h e t e s t - r e t e s t p e r i o d s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e u n d e r l y in g c o n s t r u c t ,a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e, i s q u i t e s t a b le . T h e s e s i m p l e a t t a c h m e n t m e a s u r e s h a v eb e e n s u f f i c ie n t l y p r e c i s e ( s e e S c h a r f e & B a r t h o l o m e w , 1 9 9 4 ) t o g e n e r a t ea l a r g e a n d c o h e r e n t b o d y o f e v i d e n c e s u p p o r t i n g t h e i r c o n s t r u c t v a li d it y ,i n c l u d i n g t h e i r a s s o c i at i o n w i t h a t t a c h m e n t - r e la t e d b e h a v i o r ( e . g ., M i -k u l i n c e r & N a c h s h o n , 1 9 91 ; S i m p s o n , R h o l e s , & N e l l ig a n , 1 9 9 2 ) .

I n t h i s s t udy , t he t h r e e a t t a c hm e n t s t y l e r a t i ng s c a l e s w e r e i n t e r c o r r e -l a t e d a s f o l l o w s . S e c u r e a t t a c h m e n t w a s n e g a t i v el y c o r r e l at e d w i t h t h et w o i nse c ur e s t y l e s, r = - . 5 3 , p < . 001 , f o r a vo i da n c e , a nd r = - . 1 9 , p< . 0 0 1, f o r a n x i o u s - a m b i v a l e n c e , w h i c h w e r e n o t s i g n i f i ca n t l y c o r r e l a t e dw i t h e a c h o t he r , r = . 05 , n s . T h e s e c o r r e l a t i o n s a r e c o n s i s t e n t w i t h p r i o rf i nd i ngs ( e . g . , B r e nna n & S ha ve r , 1995 ; B r e nna n , S ha ve r , & T obe y , 1991 ;L e v y & D a v i s , 1 9 8 8 ) a n d c o m p a t i b l e w i t h B a r t h o l o m e w ' s ( 1 9 9 0 ) c l a i mt ha t t he r e a r e e s se n t i a l l y t w o d i me ns i ons unde r l y i ng s e l f - r e por t a t t a c h -m e n t m e a s u r e s . I n t h i s s t u d y , o n e o f t h e s e d i m e n s i o n s r u n s f r o m s e c u r et o a v o i d a n t a t t a c h m e n t ( w h e r e a v o i d a n t i s s i m i l a r t o B a r t h o l o m e w ' sf e a r fu l a v o i d a n c e ) , a n d t h e o t h e r d i m e n s i o n i s a n x i o u s - a m b i v a l e n c e . I nB a r t h o l o m e w ' s t h e o r e t i c a l s c h e m e , t h i s s e c o n d d i m e n s i o n r u n s f r o md i s m i s s i n g a v o i d a n c e t o a n x i o u s - a m b i v a l e n c e ( w h i c h s h e c a l l s p r e o c c u -p i e d a t t a c hme n t ) ( s e e Br e nna n e t a l . , 1991 , f o r e mpi r i c a l c onf i r ma t i ono f t h i s a n a l y s i s ) .

W e a l s o a d m i n i s t e r e d to 5 4 o f t h e 1 8 9 p a r ti c i p a n t s B a r t h o l o m e w ' sf o u r - c a t e g o r y s e l f - r e p o r t a t t a c h m e n t m e a s u r e , w h i c h i s r e p r o d u c e d i nf u l l i n a n a p p e n d i x t o B a r t h o l o m e w a n d H o r o w i t z ' s ( 1 9 9 1 ) a r t i c l e . I ti n c l u d e s b o t h a s e l f - c a t e g o r iz a t i o n c o m p o n e n t ( f o r c i n g a c h o i c e a m o n gs e c u r e , p r e o c c u p i e d , f e a rf u l , a n d d i s m i s s i n g a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e s ) a n d f o u rse l f - r a t i ng s c a l e s , one f o r e a c h a t t a c hme n t s t y l e p r o t o t ype . Bo t h a spe c t so f t h i s m e a s u r e , l i k e H a z a n a n d S h a v e r ' s m e a s u r e , h a v e m o d e r a t e t e s t -r e t e s t re l i a b il i ty a n d g o o d c o n s t r u c t v a l i d it y ( e . g . , B a r t h o l o m e w & H o r o -w i t z , 1991 ; B r e nn a n e t al . , 1991 ; G r i f f in & Ba r t ho l om e w , 1994a , 19 94b ;H or o w i t z , Rose nb e r g , & B a r t ho l ome w , 1993 ). M or e ove r , in f a c t o r a na l y -se s a nd s t r uc t u r a l e qua t i on a na l yse s , t he s e l f - r e po r t me a s u r e , Ba r t ho l o -m e w ' s i n t e r v ie w m e a s u r e , a n d p e e r d e s c r i p t i o n s o f i n d i v id u a l s ' a t t a c h -me n t pa t t e r ns a l l c onve r ge .

C o r r e l a t io n s a m o n g t h e f o u r a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e r at i n g s c a l e s i n t h i s s t u d yw e r e a s f o l l ow s : s e c u r e w i t h f e a r fu l , r = - . 3 2 , p < . 01 , p r e oc c up i e d , r= - . 1 4 , ns , a n d d is m i s s i n g , r = - . 1 8 , n s ; f e a r f u l w i t h p r e oc c up i e d , r =.02, ns , a n d d i s m i s s i n g , r = - . 1 7 , n s ; a n d p r e o c c u p i e d w i t h d i s m i s s i n g , r= - . 2 1 , ns . A l t h o u g h o n l y o n e o f t h e s e c o r r e l a t io n s i s s i g n i fi c a n t b e -

c a u s e o f t h e r d a t i v e l y s m a l l s a m p l e , t h e s i z e s o f t h e s e a re c o m p a t i b l ew i t h B a r t h o l o m e w ' s p l a c e m e n t o f t h e f o u r s t y l e s i n a t w o - d i m e n s i o n a lc o n c e p t u a l s p a c e . I n f a c t , w h e n s u b j e c t e d t o p r i n c i p a l - c o m p o n e n t s a n a l y -s i s f o l l o w e d b y v a r i m a x r o t a t io n , t h e f o u r r a t i n g s p r o d u c e d t w o f a c t o r sw i t h e i ge nv a l ue s g r e a t e r t ha n 1 . 0 , t he f ir s t a c c oun t i ng f o r 35% of t heva r i a nc e a nd t h e s e c on d a c c oun t i ng f o r 31% . O n t he f i r s t f a c t o r , t hes e c u r e r a ti n g l o a d e d - . 8 7 a n d t h e f e a rf u l r a ti n g l o a d e d . 78 . T h e o t h e rt w o r a t i n g s l o a d e d b e l o w .1 5 . O n t h e s e c o n d f a c t o r, t h e d i s m i s s i n g r a t i n gl o a d e d - . 8 5 a n d t h e p r e o c c u p i e d r a t in g l o a d e d . 6 6. T h e o t h e r t w o r a t i n g sl o a d e d b e l o w . 2 7.

T h e c o r r e s p o n d e n c e o f c a t e g o r i c a l a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e s e l f - c la s s i f ic a t i o n so v e r a 1 - t o 2 - m o n t h p e r i o d i n th i s s t u d y w a s 7 6 % ( w e i g h t e d k a p p a =. 6 5, p < . 0 5 ) f o r b o t h t h e H a z a n a n d S h a v e r a n d t h e B a r t h o l o m e wme a s ur e s . T h i s r e l i a b i l i t y i s s i mi l a r t o t he 70 t o 75% r e l i a b i l i t y ob t a i ne di n p r e v i o u s s t u d i e s s p a n n i n g p e r i o d s a s l o n g a s 4 y e a r s.Assessment of mental representations. W e g a v e p a r t i c i p a n t s b o o k -l e t s t h a t in c l u d e d i n s t ru c t i o n s t o " D e s c r i b e y o u r m o t h e r " a n d " D e s c r i b eyour f a t he r , " i n c oun t e r ba l a nc e d o r de r ( B l a t t e t a l . , 1979 ; B l a t t e t a l . ,1 9 9 2 ) . C o n t e n t a n d s t ru c t u r al d i m e n s i o n s o f t h e s e w r i t t en d e s c r i p t i o n sw e r e s c o r e d b y a j u d g e w i t h p r e v i o u s l y e s t a b l i s h e d r e l ia b i l it y a n d w h ow a s b l i n d t o a l l o t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n p r o v i d e d b y t h e p a r t ic i p a n t s. D e s c r i p -t i o n s o f p a r e n t s w e r e r a t e d o n 7 - p o i n t s c a l e s f o r e a c h o f t h e 1 2 t r a i t sd i s c us se d e a r l i e r ( e . g . , a f f e c t i ona t e , be ne vo l e n t ) . B l a t t a nd h i s c o l -l e a g u e s ( Q u i n l a n , B l a t t , C h e v r o n , & W e i n , 1 9 9 2 ) f o u n d t h a t t h e s e r a t in g sf o r m t h r e e f a c t o rs , B e n e v o l e n t , P u n i ti v e , a n d A m b i t i o u s . E a c h d e s c r i p -t i o n w a s a l s o s c o r e d f o r t h e p a r ti c i p a n t ' s d e g r e e o f a m b i v a l e n c e a b o u tt h e p a r e n t , t h e d e s c r i p t i o n ' s l e n g t h ( i n w o r d s ) , s c o r a b l e a t tr i b u t es , c o n -c e p t ua l l e ve l , a nd s e l f - o t he r d i f f e r e n t i a t i on - r e l a t e dne s s .

P a r e n t a l d e s c r i p t i o n s i n p r i o r s t u d i e s h a v e b e e n r e l i a b l y s c o r e d i nt e r ms o f t he se c on t e n t a nd s t r uc t u r e va r i a b l e s ( B l a t t e t a l ., 1979 ;Bor ns t e i n , G a l l e y , & L e one , 1986 ; Bor ns t e i n , L e one , & G a l l e y , 1988 ;D i a m o n d e t a l ., 1 9 9 2 ) , w h i c h a r e s t a b l e o v e r a t le a s t a 2 - m o n t h p e r i o d( Bor ns t e i n , L e one , & G a l l e y , 1990) a nd w h i c h a r e un r e l a t e d t o i n t e l l i -ge nc e , ve r ba l p r oduc t i v i t y , o r soc i oe c onomi c s t a t us ( B l a t t e t a l . , 1979 ;B l a t t , S t a yne r , A ue r ba c h , & B e hr e nd s , 1996 ; Bor n s t e i n e t a l ., 1986 , 1988 ;W i l s o n , 1 9 8 2 ) . P r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h s u p p o r t s t h e c o n s t r u c t a n d p r e d i c ti v eva l i d i t y o f t he se va r i a b l e s ( s e e r e v i e w s by F i sh l e r , S pe r l i ng , & Ca r r ,1990 , a nd S t r i c ke r & H e a l e y , 1990 ) . I n t h i s s t udy , t he i n t e r r a t e r r e l i a b i l -i t y o f t w o c o d e r s w a s o b t a i n e d f o r a s u b s a m p l e o f 2 0 p r o t o c o l s . AP e a r so n c o r r e l a t i on c oe f f i c i e n t o f . 75 o r g r e a t e r w a s ob t a i ne d f o r r a t i ngso f e a c h o f t h e 1 2 t r a i t s a n d t h e t h r e e d e r i v e d f a c t o r s a s w e l l a s f o rr a t i n g s o f a m b i v a l e n c e , d e s c r i p t i o n l e n g t h , c o n c e p t u a l l e v e l , s c o r a b l ea t t r i bu t e s , a nd d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n - r e l a t e dne s s . T h i s i n t e r r a t e r r e l ia b i l i t y i sc ompa r a b l e t o r e l i a b i l i t i e s r e por t e d e a r l i e r ( B l a t t e t a l . , 1979 ; D i a monde t a l . , 1992) .

C o r r e l a t i o n s a m o n g t h e t h r e e p a r e n t a l d e s c r i p t i o n f a c t o r s w e r e a sf o l l o w s . F a t h e r b e n e v o l e n t w a s n e g a t iv e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h f a t h e r p u n i ti v e ,r = - . 6 6 , p < . 0 01 . F a th e r b e n e v o l e n t a n d f a th e r p u n i t iv e w e r e n o ts i gn i f i c a n t l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h f a t he r a mbi t i ous , r = . 02 a nd r = . 07 ,r e s pe c t iv e l y . T h e f i n d i n g s w e r e s i m i l a r f o r m o t h e r b e n e v o l e n t a n d m o t h e rp u n i t iv e , w h i c h w e r e n e g a t iv e l y c o r r e l at e d , r = - . 6 6 , p < . 0 0 1. M o t h e rb e n e v o l e n t a n d m o t h e r p u n i t i v e w e r e n o t s i g n i f i ca n t l y c o r re l a t e d w i t hmo t he r a mb i t i ous , r = . 07 a nd r = - . 0 3 , r e spe c t i ve l y .

T he a l ph a c oe f f i c i e n t s f o r t he t h r e e f a c t o r s w e r e a s f o l l ow s : f a t he rb e n e v o l e n t = . 8 9; fa t h e r p u n i t i v e = . 6 0 ; f at h e r a m b i t i o u s = - . 0 9 ; m o t h e rbe ne vo l e n t = . 86 ; mo t he r pun i t i ve = . 71 ; a nd mot he r a mbi t i ous = . 53.B e c a u s e f a t h e r a m b i t i o u s w a s n o t a c o h e r e n t c o n s t r u c t f o r t h i s s a m p l ea n d m o t h e r a m b i t i o u s h a d t h e l o w e s t r e l ia b i l it y o f t h e r e m a i n i n g f a c t o rs ,t h e s e t w o f a c t o r s w e r e d e l e t e d f r o m t h e r e m a i n i n g a n a l y s e s .

R e s u l t sP a r e n t a l R e p r e s en t a t i o n s a n d H a z a n a n d S h a v e r ' sA t t a c h m e n t S t y l e C a t e g o r i es

C a t e g o r i c a l a n a l y s e s . A t w o - w a y ( A t t a c h m e n t S t y le G e n d e r ) m u l t iv a r ia t e a n a ly s i s o f v a r i a n c e ( M A N O V A ) w a s p e r -


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A'Iq 'ACHMEN T AN D REPRESENTATION 41 1f o r m e d o n t h e e n t i r e s et o f d i m e n s i o n s d e r i v e d f r o m t h e d e s c r ip -t i o n s o f m o t h e r a n d f a t h e r: t h e t w o c o n t e n t f a c t o rs ( b e n e v o l e n ta n d p u n i t i v e ) , d e g r e e o f a m b i v a l e n c e , c o n c e p t u a l l e v e l , d i f f e r e n -t i a t io n - r e l a t e d n e s s, n u m b e r o f s c o r a b l e a t t ri b u t e s a r t i c u l a te d ,a n d l e n g t h o f d e s c r i p t i o n . T h e o v e r a l l F v a l u e f o r t h e e f f e c t o fa t t a c h m e n t s t y l e w a s s i g n i f i c a n t , F ( 2 8 , 2 8 4 ) = 4 . 2 7 , p < . 0 0 1 .M e a n s f r o m u n i v a r i a t e t es t s a r e s h o w n i n T a b le 1 . A s i n d i c a t e di n t h e u p p e r p o r t i o n o f t h e t a b le , w h i c h c o n t a i n s r e s u l t s f o r t h e

v a r i a b l e s d e r i v e d f r o m t h e d e s c r i p t i o n s o f m o t h e r s, t h e e f f e c to f a t t a c h m e n t s t y le w a s s i g n i f ic a n t f o r e v e r y v a r i a b l e e x c e p td e s c r i p t i o n l e n g t h . T h e p a t t e r n o f m e a n s i n d i c a t e d t h a t s e c u r ei n d i v i d u a l s, a s c o m p a r e d w i t h b o t h a v o i d a n t a n d a n x i o u s - a m b i v -a l e n t i n d i v i d u a l s , r e p r e s e n t e d t h e i r m o t h e r s a s s i g n i f i c a n t l y m o r eb e n e v o l e n t a n d l e s s p u n it i v e . T h e y a l s o p o r t r a y e d t h e i r m o t h e r sw i t h l e s s a m b i v a l e n c e . R e g a r d i n g s t r u c t u r a l f e a t u r e s , t h e d e -s c r i p t io n s g i v e n b y s e c u r e i n d i v i d u a l s c o n t a i n e d m o r e s c o r a b l e

T a b l e 1Features of Parental Descriptions as a Function o f Hazanand Shaver's (1987) Attachment Styles

Attachment s tyleAvoida nt Anxious -Am b iva le nt Se c ureParental description (n = 63) (n = 50) (n = 76)

F ratioAttachment Gender Interac t ion

Mother var iablesBe ne vole ntM 4.54, 4.59, 5.25b

SD 0.94 0.98 0.72Puni t iveM 3.32~ 3.64~ 2.62bSD 0.66 0.89 1.00Am biva le nc eM 2.22, 2.66, 1.66bSD 1.08 1.40 0.83Scorable attributesM 4.98, 5.23, 6.10bSD 1.86 2.02 1.89Conc e ptua l l e ve lM 4.98 , 4.56a 5.65bSD 1.12 1.40 0.87Differentia t ionM 5.76 , 5.48~ 6.25bSD 1.04 0.71 0.77Length of descriptionM 2.47 2.25 2.36SD 1.45 1.26 1.38

11.94"** 0.43 1.31

18.61"** 0.74 2.17

11.71"** 0.87 5.52*

4.21" 0.31 2.59

12.44"** 3.79 6.22**

11.41"** 3.21 1.88

0.37 11.43"** 0.11Father var iables

Be ne vole ntM 3.94a 4.23 , 4.88bSD 1.05 0.95 1.16Puni t iveM 3.69a 3.67 , 3.01bSD 0.75 0.54 0.96Am biva le nc eM 2.59, 2.98 , 1.860SD 1.02 1.24 0.98Scorable attributesM 5.11,,b 4.89 , 5.7%,SD 2.01 1.60 2.14Conc e ptua l l e ve lM 5.00, 5.00. 5.65bSD 1.18 1.41 0.88Differentia t ionM 5.86, 5.73, 6.4%,SD 0.90 0.89 0.89Length of descr iptionM 2.45 2.65 2.57SD 1.37 1.49 1.55

13.24"** 1.19 0.79

17.90"** 0.96 0.24

18.04"** 0.63 0.18

3.32* 2.98 0.14

5.46** 3.33 5.46**

11.85"** 1.26 1.03

0.28 8.58** 0.16

Note. Means within a row that have differentpos t hoc c om pa r i sons .* p < . 0 5 . * * p < . 01 . * * * p < . 00 1 .

subscripts diffe r significantly at the .05 level by Tukey b


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412 LEVY, BLAq~, AND SHAVERattributes and were characterized by a higher conceptual leveland greater differentiation. The results for the variables derivedfrom the descriptions of father representations, shown in thelower portion of Table 1, were similar to the results with motherrepresentations except for the scorable attributes variable, onwhich secure individua ls obtained a signifi cantly higher averagethan anxious-ambivalent ndividuals, but not higher than that ofavoidant individuals. In general, these results support the firsthypothesis concerning differences in content between represen-tations of securely and insecurely attached individuals. Becauseall of the signif icant main effects appeared in the contrast ofsecure individuals with insecure individuals but not i n the twokinds of insecure individuals with each other, there was no sup-port for the second hypothesis in the analysis of these maineffects.

There were two significant gender effects, both having to dowith length of description. Women wrote longer descriptions ofboth mother and father than did men. There were three signifi-cant Gender x Attachmen t Style interactions. As shown in Fig-ure 1 and consistent with Hypothesis 2, the ambivalence ex-pressed in the mothe r representations was signif icantly higherfor anxious -ambiva lent men than for the other two groups ofmen. In contrast, ambivalence was significantlyhigher for avoid-ant women than for secure women, with anxious-ambivalentwomen falling in be tw ee n- -a pattern not predicted by the sec-ond hypothesis. The only significan t gender difference within anattachment style category occurred for the anxious-ambivalentgroups: Men scored significantly higher than did w omen on themother ambivalence dimension.

Figure 2 illustrates the Gender x Attachment Style interactionfor the conceptual level of the mother representation. The simpleeffects tests (illustrated in figure) indicated that secure mendescribed their mothers at higher conceptual levels than didavoidant or anxious-ambivalent men. Anxious-ambivalentwomen described their mothers at lower conceptual levels thandid secure or avoidant women. The only significant gender dif-

Figure 2. Mother conceptual evel as a function of Hazan and Shaver's(1987) attachment groups and gender.

ference within an attachment style category occurred for theavoidant participants. Avoidant women described their mothersat higher conceptual levels than did avoidant men. ( As discussedlater, this result was partly attributable to the following facts:Women are disproportionately represented in Bartholomew'sfearful avoidant category, men are disproport ionately repre-sented in her dismissing avoidant category, and fearful avoidantindividuals operated at higher conceptual levels than did dis-missing avoidant individuals.)

The Gender x Attachmen t Style interac tion for the conceptuallevel of the father representation is shown in Figure 3. Thepattern of significan t results was the same as the pattern formother representation shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1. Mother ambivalence as a function of Hazan and Shaver' s Figure 3. Fatherconceptual level as a function of Hazan and Shaver's(1987) attachment groups and gender. (1987) attachment groups and gender.


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ATTACHMENT AND REPRESENTATION 413Dimensional analyses . Because attachment style was as-

sessed both categorically and with rating scales, we were ableto conduct both categorical (i.e., univariate analysis of variance[ANOVA] and MANOVA) analyses and correlation-regressionanalyses. The correlation results are shown in Table 2. In gen-eral, the correlation results parallel the MANOVA and ANOVAresults based on the categorical ratings.

In order to capture the gist of the correlation results, we alsoconducted three stepwise regression analyses predicting each ofthe attachment style ratings from the parental representationvariables.

The security rating was predicted by a combinat ion of genderand four parental representation variables: mother punitive, fa-ther punitive, length of mother description, and conceptual levelof mother description. The R was .42, F(5, 154) = 6.76, p

levy- blatt- - shaver - attachment styles and parental representations -1998

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