The Measurement, Structure and Function of Global and Specific Aspects of Attachment Representation

Abstract

This thesis documents a series of six manuscripts that addressed issues pertaining to the measurement, structure and function of global and specific relational models in social interaction. These three interrelated issues were examined using a variety of different techniques, including short-term longitudinal, meta-analytic, and social interaction diary-based procedures, which yielded converging lines of evidence suggesting that cognitive representations of attachment and interpersonal relations are hierarchically organized and contain at least three balanced levels: representations (or models) of specific persons (e.g., one's current romantic partner), models of particular relationship domains (e.g., romantic relationships, platonic friendships), and global (personality-level) models that encapsulate a variety of experiences abstracted from both attachment and non-attachment relations. In terms of measurement, results indicated that Fraley, Waller, and Brennan's (2000) revised Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire (ECR-R) provided one of, if not the most valid and reliable domain-specific self-report measure of romantic attachment anxiety and avoidance currently available; whereas measures of sociotropic and autonomous personality identified in the literature assessing personality diatheses of depression may be (re-)operationalized as indicators of the most global (personality-) level of this associative network. Consistent with predictions derived from Collins and Read's (1994) theoretical model, domain-specific representations of romantic attachment exerted their strongest effects on the subjective appraisal of social interactions with persons of that particular domain (i.e., romantic partners); whereas sociotropy and autonomy exerted weak, but relatively consistent, effects on the evaluation of social interactions irrespective of relational context (be it social interactions with a romantic partner, family member, close platonic friend, or an acquaintance/other). Furthermore, the effects of these most global models on the perceived quality of social interactions involving a romantic partner were fully mediated by more specific models of that particular relationship domain. These findings clarify our understanding of the associations between dimensions of attachment anxiety and avoidance and the conceptually similar dichotomy between sociotropic and autonomous personality, which it is hoped may in turn facilitate a more detailed understanding of the calibration and boundary conditions of the attachment behavioral system and related interpersonal processes governing attachment, and more general interpersonal, relations.