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Attachment and Relationship Satisfaction: Mediating Role of Perception of the Partner's Investment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2020

Amanda Londero-Santos Open the ORCID record for Amanda Londero-Santos [Opens in a new window] ,
Jean Carlos Natividade  and
Terezinha Féres-Carneiro
Amanda Londero-Santos*
Affiliation:
Psychometrics Department, Institute of Psychology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Jean Carlos Natividade
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Terezinha Féres-Carneiro
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
*
Address for correspondence: Amanda Londero-Santos, Department of Psychology, Rua Marquês de São Vicente, 225, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This study investigated the role of perception of the partner's investment (PPI) as a mediator of the relation between attachment and relationship satisfaction. The participants in the study were 1088 Brazilians who were involved in a committed monogamous romantic relationship. Relations between study variables were tested using structural equations. The results showed that PPI fully mediated the relation between attachment-related anxiety and avoidance and relationship satisfaction. Attachment factors that were mediated by PPI explained 80.7% of the variance of relationship satisfaction. The results revealed that higher levels of attachment-related avoidance and anxiety were associated with a lower PPI and consequently lower relationship satisfaction. Therapeutic interventions for couples may reduce perceptual bias, mainly when attachment levels of the dyad are known.

Keywords

relationship satisfactionadult attachmentperception of the partner's investment
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Relationships Research , Volume 11 , 2020 , e13
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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