Differentiating Between Attachment Styles and Behaviors and their Association with Marital Quality

• Author: Andrew P. Brown,Angela B. Bradford,Jonathan G. Sandberg
• Date: 01 June 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12186
• Published date: 01 June 2017

Differentiating Between Attachment Styles and

Behaviors and their Association with Marital Quality

JONATHAN G. SANDBERG

ANGELA B. BRADFORD

ANDREW P. BROWN

The purpose of this study was to distinguish between the influence of attachment styles

and behaviors on marital quality for couples. Data were gathered from 680 couples in a

married relationship. Results showed attachment style and behaviors predicted marital

quality for both men and women, with higher levels of attachment related to greater

quality. Attachment behaviors predicted more of the variance in quality than did styles.

Specific implications regarding how therapists may wish to foster behav iors that promote

attachment security in marriages are discussed.

Keywords: Attachment styles; Attachment behavior; Marital quality

Fam Proc 56:518–531, 2017

INTRODUCTION

Beginning with Hazan and Shaver’s (1987) groundbreaking article on attachment in

adult romantic relationships, there has been a flood of research articles regarding the

role of attachment styles in marital relationships (Givertz, Woszidlo, Segrin, & Knutson,

2013). Attachment style has traditionally been described as a person’s internal working

model or an internalized set of beliefs or feelings about the safety/security of relationships,

which is formed across time through interactions with others (Simpson, Rholes, & Phil-

lips, 1996). This set of beliefs informs our relationships and guides our efforts to connect

with or disconnect from others. Attachment security can be described as the experience

that comes from “appraising attachment figures as accessible and responsive,” whereas

insecurity has been described as the distressing experience of consistent disconnection

from an attachment figure (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007; p. 38). Research findings suggest

that attachment insecurity in adulthood is negatively related to relationship quality (Fee-

ney, 2008; Maunder, Hunter, & Lancee, 2011; Pietromonaco, DeBuse, & Powers, 2013),

while attachment security is positively related to satisfaction in adult romantic relation-

ships. Consequently, efforts to foster a secure attachment style have become a focus of

researchers and clinicians working with couples (Benson, Sevier, & Christensen, 2013;

Johnson & Greenman, 2013).

Yet, a number of clinicians and scholars are beginning to call for a focus on behaviors,

in addition to the more global attachment styles, within couple relationships that promote

secure attachment (Greenman & Johnson, 2013). Research that helps identify and foster

School of Family Life, Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Programs, Brigham Young University, Provo,

UT.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jonathan G. Sandberg, School of Family

Life, Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Programs, 266 TRLB, Brigham Young University, Provo,

UT 84602. E-mail: jgs@byu.edu

The lead author is a board member of RELATE, but did not receive any compensation for this paper.

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Family Process, Vol. 56, No. 2, 2017 ©2015 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12186