EXPLORING THE ROLE OF SECONDARY ATTACHMENT RELATIONSHIPS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATTACHMENT SECURITY Diane L. Cohen, M.S. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2005 APPROVED: Patricia L. Kaminski, Major Professor Randall J. Cox, Committee Member Sharon R. Jenkins, Committee Member Shane Koch, Committee Member Kenneth W. Sewell, Director of Clinical Training Linda Marshall, Chair of the Department of Psychology Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Cohen, Diane L., Exploring the role of secondary attachment relationships in the development of attachment security. Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology), August 2005, 233 pp., 54 tables, references, 138 titles. The process by which earned-secures achieve attachment security in adulthood, despite having insecure parent-child relationships in childhood, was the focus of the current study. As internal working models are thought to be formed within relationships, specifically primary attachment bonds (Bowlby, 1969), it was postulated that secondary attachment relationships, specifically those that were positive, had the capacity to revise insecure models of self and other. In the current study, the secondary attachment histories of undergraduates who were earned- secure and continuously-insecure, or insecurely attached since childhood, were compared. A new measure of secondary attachment quality was developed (Questionnaire About Secondary Attachment Figures (Q-SAF)), which was used to measure undergraduates’ perceptions of their past and current secondary attachment figures. Findings indicated that in comparison to continuous-insecures, earned-secures perceived their negative secondary attachment figures in adolescence as less mean. Earned-secures also reported being less dependent upon these figures’ approval of them for their self-worth and more secure within these relationships. In adulthood, earned-secures reported more trust and intimacy with their positive secondary attachment figures. Compared to continuous-insecures, earned- secures described their peers as being more empathic and altruistic during childhood and more warm during adolescence; earned-secures also reported less dependency and greater closeness with their peers throughout development. Grandparents were listed the most frequently by earned-secures as positive secondary attachment figures during childhood and this number was more than double that for continuous-insecures. Further, earned-secures described their grandparents in childhood as being more altruistic and they reported being less concerned with receiving their acceptance. Siblings from childhood were described by earned-secures as being more empathic than those of continuous-insecures, yet earned-secures also reported greater dismissing attachment to their siblings and cousins in childhood. Significant others from adolescence were rated by earned-secures as being less mean than those of continuous-insecures and earned-secures reported being more securely attached to these relationships in both adolescence and adulthood. Implications of the current study and directions for future research are presented. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................................iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS....................................................................................................viii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 Attachment Theory Adult Attachment Bartholomew’s Adult Attachment Classifications Continuity of Attachment Lawful Discontinuity Earned-Security: Theory and Research Measurement Issues Secondary Attachment Theory Secondary Attachment Figures Statement of Problem 2. METHOD ........................................................................................................... 61 Participants Measures Procedure Design and Statistical Analysis 3. RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 82 Group Composition Social Desirability and Measures of Attachment Hypotheses and Results 4. DISCUSSION................................................................................................... 100 Purpose Summary of Findings Implications of Findings ii Methodological Limitations Directions for Future Research ................................................................... Appendices A. QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT SECONDARY ATTACHMENT FIGURES (Q- SAF).................................................................................................................. 201 B. DATA COLLECTION FORM......................................................................... 216 REFERENCE LIST .................................................................................................................. 218 iii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Summary of Earned-Security Research: A Comparison of Other Attachment Groups to Earned-Secures on Affect and Relationship Variables................................................ 141 2. Descriptive Statistics for Whole Sample ...................................................................... 142 3. Internal Consistencies for the Questionnaire About Secondary Attachment Figures (Q- SAF) by Time Period.................................................................................................... 145 4. Correlations for 2-Item Scales on the Questionnaire About Secondary Attachment Figures (Q-SAF) by Time Period ................................................................................. 146 5. Group Comparison and Descriptive Statistics on Age of the Sub-Sample From Part 4147 6. Group Comparisons and Descriptive Statistics for Participants in the Earned-Secure and Continuous-Insecure Groups (Part 4) ........................................................................... 148 7. Frequencies of Positive and Negative Secondary Attachment Figures by Time Period153 8. Means, Standard Deviations, and Univariate Analyses of Variance F Ratios for Most Important Positive Secondary Attachment Figures on Positive Subscale Totals and Most Important Negative Secondary Attachment Figures on Negative Subscale Totals on the Q-SAF By Time Period ................................................................................................ 154 9. Descriptives and Univariate Analyses of Variance F Ratios for Most Important Positive Secondary Attachment Figures on Positive Subscales on the Questionnaire About Secondary Attachment Figures (Q-SAF) by Time Period............................................ 155 10. Descriptives and Univariate Analyses of Variance F Ratios for Most Important Negative Secondary Attachment Figures on Negative Subscales on the Questionnaire About Secondary Attachment Figures (Q-SAF) by Time Period............................................ 156 11. Descriptives and Univariate Analyses of Variance F Ratios for Positive Secondary Attachment Figures by Time Period on the Relationship Questionnaire ..................... 157 12. Descriptives and Univariate Analyses of Variance F Ratios for Negative Secondary Attachment Figures by Time Period on the Relationship Questionnaire ..................... 158 13. Frequencies of Most Important Secondary Attachment Figures from Childhood for Participants in the Earned-Secure and Continuous-Insecure Groups ........................... 159 14. Frequencies of Most Important Secondary Attachment Figures from Adolescence for Participants in the Earned-Secure and Continuous-Insecure Groups ........................... 160 15. Frequencies of Most Important Secondary Attachment Figures from Adulthood for Participants in the Earned-Secure and Continuous-Insecure Groups ........................... 161 iv 16. Frequencies of Most Important Positive Secondary Attachment Figures from Childhood for Participants in the Earned-Secure and Continuous- Insecure Groups..................... 162 17. Frequencies of Most Important Positive Secondary Attachment Figures from Adolescence for Participants in the Earned-Secure and Continuous-Insecure Groups 163 18. Frequencies of Most Important Positive Secondary Attachment Figures from Adulthood for Participants in the Earned-Secure and Continuous-Insecure Groups...................... 164 19. Frequencies of Most Important Negative Secondary Attachment Figures from Childhood for Participants in the Earned-Secure and Continuous-Insecure Groups...................... 165 20. Frequencies of Most Important Negative Secondary Attachment Figures from Adolescence for Participants in the Earned-Secure and Continuous-Insecure Groups 166 21. Frequencies of Most Important Negative Secondary Attachment Figures from Adulthood for Participants in the Earned-Secure and Continuous-Insecure Groups...................... 167 22. Mean Scores, Standard Deviations, and Univariate of Analyses F Ratios for Peers / Usually Same-Age Non-Relatives on the Questionnaire About Secondary Attachment Figures (Q-SAF) By Time Period................................................................................. 168 23. Descriptives and Univariate Analyses of Variance F Ratios for Peers/Usually Same-Age Non-Relatives on Positive Subscales from the Questionnaire About Secondary Attachment Figures (Q-SAF) by Time Period.............................................................. 169 24. Descriptives and Univariate Analyses of Variance