Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T11:09:24.861Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Attachment, Efficacy Beliefs and Relationship Satisfaction in Dating, Emerging Adult Women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2019

Fay S. Julal Cnossen Open the ORCID record for Fay S. Julal Cnossen [Opens in a new window] ,
Katherine A. Harman  and
Ruth Butterworth
Fay S. Julal Cnossen*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom
Katherine A. Harman
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom
Ruth Butterworth
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Fay S. Julal Cnossen, Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This study tested the hypothesis that relationship efficacy beliefs mediate the well-documented association between attachment style and relationship satisfaction in a sample of emerging adult women in dating relationships. Further, it explored whether efficacy beliefs vary as a function of romantic experience. Participants (N = 216, Mage = 19.2 years) completed measures of attachment style, efficacy beliefs (mutuality, differentiation, emotional control, and social), and relationship satisfaction. Mutuality beliefs mediated the association between attachment avoidance and anxiety and satisfaction; however, other patterns of mediation were also found. Social, but not relationship, efficacy beliefs differed as a function of number of previous romantic relationships. Results suggest that insecurely attached individuals experience lower relationship satisfaction, in part because they hold less efficacious beliefs about their ability to engage in caregiving and careseeking behaviours. Future longitudinal research might examine how newly forming attachment representations and relationship-relevant efficacy beliefs shape each other.

Keywords

attachment stylerelationship efficacyrelationship satisfactionromantic experience
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Relationships Research , Volume 10 , 2019 , e19
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnett, J.J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469–480.Google Scholar
Bartholomew, K. (1990). Avoidance of intimacy: An attachment perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 147–178.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman and Company.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1998). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation: Anxiety and anger. New York, NY: Basic Books. (Original work published 1973)Google Scholar
Brennan, K.A., Clark, C.L., & Shaver, P.R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In Simpson, J.A., & Rholes, W.S. (Eds.), Attachment and close relationships, (pp. 46–76). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Carlson, K.D., & Herdman, A.O. (2012). Understanding the impact of convergent validity on research results. Organizational Research Methods, 15, 17–32.Google Scholar
Cohen, M.T. (2018). Relationship efficacy and relationship-related attitudes. Journal of Relationships Research, 9, e4, 1–6.Google Scholar
Collins, N.L., & Allard, L.M. (2002). Cognitive representations of attachment: The content and function of working models. In Fletcher, G.J.O., & Clark, M.S. (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Interpersonal processes, (2nd ed., pp. 60–85). New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Collins, N.L., Ford, M.B., Guichard, A.C., & Allard, L.M. (2006). Working models of attachment and attribution processes in intimate relationships. Personality and Social Bulletin, 32, 210–219.Google Scholar
Collins, N.L., Ford, M.B., Guichard, A.C., Kane, H., & Feeney, B.C. (2010). Responding to need in intimate relationships: Social support and caregiving processes in couples. In Mikulincer, M. & Shaver, P.R. (Eds.), Prosocial motives, emotions, and behavior: The better angels of our nature (pp. 367–389). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Collins, N.L., Guichard, A.C., Ford, M.B., & Feeney, B.C. (2004). Working models of attachment: New developments and emerging themes. In Rholes, W.S. & Simpson, J.A. (Eds.), Adult attachment: Theory, research, and clinical implications (pp. 196–239). New York, NY: Guilford Publications.Google Scholar
Collins, N.L., & Read, S.J. (1990). Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 644–663.Google Scholar
Cui, M., Fincham, F.D., & Pasley, B.K. (2008). Young adult romantic relationships: The role of parents’ marital problems and relationship efficacy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 1226–1235.Google Scholar
Corcoran, K.O.C., & Mallinckrodt, B. (2000). Adult attachment, self-efficacy, perspective taking, and conflict resolution. Journal of Counseling and Development, 78, 473–483.Google Scholar
Davila, J., Bradbury, T.N., & Fincham, F. (1998). Negative affectivity as a mediator of the association between adult attachment and marital satisfaction. Personal Relationships, 5, 467–484.Google Scholar
Feeney, B.C., & Collins, N.L. (2003). Motivations for caregiving in adult intimate relationships: Influences on caregiving behavior and relationship functioning. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 950–968.Google Scholar
Feeney, B.C., & Collins, N.L. (2004). Interpersonal safe haven and secure base caregiving processes in adulthood. In Rholes, W.S. & Simpson, J.A. (Eds.), Adult attachment: Theory, research, and clinical implications (pp. 300–338). New York, NY: Guilford Publications.Google Scholar
Fraley, R. C., Heffernan, M.E., Vicary, A.M., & Brumbaugh, C.C. (2011). The experiences in close relationships — Relationship Structures Questionnaire: A method for assessing attachment orientations across relationships. Psychological Assessment, 23, 615–625.Google Scholar
Hadden, B.W., Smith, C.V., & Webster, G.D. (2014). Relationship duration moderates associations between attachment and relationship quality: Meta-analytic support for the temporal adult romantic attachment model. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 18, 42–58.Google Scholar
Hall, J.H., & Fincham, F.D. (2009). Psychological distress: Precursor or consequence of dating infidelity? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 143–159.Google Scholar
Hayes, A.F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Hendrick, S.S. (1981). Self-disclosure and marital satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 1150–1159.Google Scholar
Hendrick, S.S. (1988). A generic measure of relationship satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and Family, 50, 93–98.Google Scholar
Hendrick, S.S., Dicke, A., & Hendrick, C. (1998). The relationship assessment scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15, 137–142.Google Scholar
Huang, J.L., Curran, P.G., Keeney, J., Poposki, E.M., & DeShon, R.P. (2012). Detecting and deterring insufficient effort responding to surveys. Journal of Business and Psychology, 27, 99–114.Google Scholar
Johnson, M.D., & Anderson, J.R. (2015). Temporal ordering of intimate relationship efficacy and conflict. Journal of Marriage and Family, 77, 968–981.Google Scholar
Kane, H.S., Jaremka, L.M., Guichard, A.C., Ford, M.B., Collins, N.L., & Feeney, B.C. (2007). Feeling supported and feeling satisfied: How one partner's attachment style predicts the other partner's relationship experiences. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 24, 535–555.Google Scholar
Li, T., & Chan, D.K.S. (2012). How anxious and avoidant attachment affect romantic relationship quality differently: A meta-analytic review. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 406–419.Google Scholar
Lopez, F.G., Morua, W., & Rice, K.G. (2007). Factor structure, stability, and predictive validity of college students’ relationship self-efficacy beliefs. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 40, 80–96.Google Scholar
Madsen, S.D., & Collins, W.A. (2011). The salience of adolescent romantic experiences for romantic relationship qualities in young adulthood. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, 789–801.Google Scholar
Mallinckrodt, B., & Wei, M. (2005). Attachment, social competencies, social support, and psychological distress. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 52, 358–367.Google Scholar
Marchand, J.F. (2004). Husbands’ and wives'marital quality: The role of adult attachment orientations, depressive symptoms, and conflict resolution behaviors. Attachment and Human Development, 6, 99–112.Google Scholar
Mikulincer, M., & Arad, D. (1999). Attachment working models and cognitive openness in close relationships: A test of chronic and temporary accessibility effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 710–725.Google Scholar
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P.R. (2009). An attachment and behavioral systems perspective on social support. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 26, 7–19.Google Scholar
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. (2016). Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Monteoliva, A., García-Martínez, J., Miguel, A., Calvo-Salguero, A., & Aguilar-Luzón, M. (2012). Differences between men and women with a dismissing attachment style regarding their attitudes and behavior in romantic relationships. International Journal of Psychology, 47, 335–345.Google Scholar
Neemann, J., Hubbard, J., & Masten, A.S. (1995). The changing importance of romantic relationship involvement to competence from late childhood to late adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 727–750.Google Scholar
Penzel, I. B. (2017). Are You a Good Partner? Using the Situation Judgment Test Method to Identify and Measure Romantic Competence (Doctoral dissertation, North Dakota State University).Google Scholar
Preacher, K.J., & Hayes, A.F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891.Google Scholar
Reizer, A., Ein-Dor, T., & Shaver, P. (2014). The avoidance cocoon: Examining the interplay between attachment and caregiving in predicting relationship satisfaction. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 774–786.Google Scholar
Rholes, W.S., & Simpson, J.A. (2004). Attachment theory: Basic concepts and contemporary questions. In Rholes, W.S. & Simpson, J.A. (Eds.), Adult attachment. Theory, research and clinical implications (pp. 3–14). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Riggio, H.R., Weiser, D., Valenzuela, A., Lui, P., Montes, R., & Heuer, J. (2011). Initial validation of a measure of self-efficacy in romantic relationships. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 601–606.Google Scholar
Riggio, H.R., Weiser, D.A., Valenzuela, A.M., Lui, P.P., Montes, R., & Heuer, J. (2013). Self-efficacy in romantic relationships: Prediction of relationship attitudes and outcomes. Journal of Social Psychology, 153, 629–650.Google Scholar
Smith, H.M., & Betz, N.E. (2000). Development and validation of a scale of perceived social self-efficacy. Journal of Career Assessment, 8, 283–301.Google Scholar
Sümer, N., & Cozzarelli, C. (2004). The impact of adult attachment on partner and self-attributions and relationship quality. Personal Relationships, 11, 355–371.Google Scholar
Tabachnick, B.G. & Fidell, L.S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics, (6th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, A.W. (2007). The differential antecedents of self-efficacy beliefs of novice and experienced teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 944–956.Google Scholar
Wei, M., Russell, D.W., & Zakalik, R.A. (2005). Adult attachment, social self-efficacy, self-disclosure, loneliness, and subsequent depression for freshman college students: A longitudinal study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 602–614.Google Scholar
Weiser, D.A., & Weigel, D.J. (2016). Self-efficacy in romantic relationships: Direct and indirect effects on relationship maintenance and satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 89, 152–156.Google Scholar
Weisskirch, R.S. (2017). Abilities in romantic relationships and well-being among emerging adults. Marriage and Family Review, 53, 36–47.Google Scholar
Wilfong, J.D. (2006). Computer anxiety and anger: The impact of computer use, computer experience, and self-efficacy beliefs. Computers in Human Behavior, 22, 1001–1011.Google Scholar
Zimmer-Gembeck, M.J., Siebenbruner, J., & Collins, W.A. (2001). Diverse aspects of dating: Associations with psychosocial functioning from early to middle adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 24, 313–336.Google Scholar