Is Emerging Adults’ Attachment Preference for the Romantic Partner Transferred From Their Attachment Preferences for Their Mother, Father, and Friends?
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Emerging Adulthood |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://eax.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/12/04/2167696814561767.abstract |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2167696814561767 |
| Field | Psychology |
| Keywords | attachment preference;attachment hierarchy;identity;autonomy;romantic relationship |
| Attached files | |
| Description | This study examined whether emerging adults’ attachment preference for their romantic partner is complementary to their attachment preferences for their mother, father, and friends using a cross-sectional research design. Participants were 1,021 emerging adults recruited in the Czech Republic (mean age = 21.46, SD = 1.55) who filled out questionnaires. The attachment preference for the romantic partner correlated inversely with the attachment preference for friends but not with the preference for the mother or for the father. Our regression analyses revealed that emerging adults who were currently in a romantic relationship and had a longer romantic relationship were more likely to prefer their partner and less likely to prefer their friends. However, those emerging adults were not necessarily less likely to prefer their parents. For females, the length of romantic relationship was positively linked to their preferences for their mother. Hence, the results of this study accord with the claim that emerging adults’ attachment preferences are shifted to the romantic partner only from friends and not from the parents. |
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