Self-report measures of adult attachment are typically scored in ways (e.g., averaging or summing items) that can lead to erroneous inferences about important theoretical issues, such as the degree of continuity in attachment security and the differential stability of insecure attachment patterns. To determine whether existing attachment scales suffer from scaling problems, the authors conducted an item response theory (IRT) analysis of 4 commonly used self-report inventories: Experiences in Close Relationships scales Attachment theory is being used by an increasing number of researchers as a framework for investigating adult psychological dynamics. For instance, many researchers use this framework to study the continuity of close-relationship patterns over time

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Recent research has suggested that adult attachment style, an orientation to relationships thought to be determined by child-hood relationships with parents and subsequent experiences with important attachment figures, affects the experience of romantic love. Several hypotheses were generated regarding attachment-style differences in affect-regulation strategies (nonintimate sexual behavior, alcohol use, and eating disorders) and attachment experiences and dynamics in couples (e.g., relationship satisfaction, partner-matching on attachment style). These hypotheses were tested using seven theoretically derived attachment scales, which reveal the specific attributes of a person's attachment style. Results indicate substantial associations between attachment dimensions and relationship satisfaction, nonintimate sexuality, eating disorders, and motives for drinking, and replicate previous research showing nonrandom but weak pairing of attachment styles in dating couples.

Hazan and Shaver have identified three adult attachment styles corresponding to the infant-mother attachment patterns observed by Ainsworth and associates in the first year of life: secure, avoidant, and anxious-ambivalent. These three styles are related to a wide variety of close relationship processes and outcomes. To date, however; little research has focused on relations between attachment styles and major personality constructs. Such re-search can clarify, the nature of attachment styles and ensure that they are not simply redundant with existing constructs. The present research examined associations between attachment measures, relationship quality and outcome measures, and the 'Big Five"personality traits assessed by the NEO Personality Inventory. Attachment styles were related in theoretically predictable ways to the Big Five dimensions and especially to some of their 'facet' subscales but were not simply redundant with them. The NEO scales were generally not as powerful as the attachment style measures in predicting romantic relationship outcomes, probably because of the greater specificity of the attachment measures.

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