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Attachment styles and close relationships: A four‐year prospective study
Author(s) -
KIRKPATRICK LEE A.,
HAZAN CINDY
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6811.1994.tb00058.x
Subject(s) - attachment theory , psychology , conceptualization , longitudinal study , developmental psychology , ambivalence , romance , style (visual arts) , social psychology , statistics , mathematics , archaeology , artificial intelligence , computer science , psychoanalysis , history
A longitudinal study of 177 adults examined the stability of adult attachment styles and of romantic relationships over a 4‐year period. Findings included the following: (a) attachment styles were highly stable over time; (b) Time 1 attachment style was a significant predictor of Time 2 relationship status, but (c) this effect was mediated by concurrent attachment style at Time 2; (d) secure respondents were less likely than insecure respondents to report one or more breakups during the 4‐year interval, but (e) paradoxically, ambivalent respondents were just as likely as secure respondents to be in a relationship with the same partner they had identified 4 years earlier; and (f) attachment stability was moderated to some extent by the experience of breakup or initiation of new relationships during the interim. Respondents' ability to recall their previous attachment style was also examined. Methodological and theoretical implications are discussed, particularly with respect to the conceptualization of attachment styles as traits versus reflections of current relationship status.