Aspects of the marital relationship that characterize secure and insecure attachment in men and women

Abstract

<jats:p>Abstract The internalized attachment in childhood has consequences in the adult life, specifically in the marital life, which demands greater closeness, intimacy and interdependence. In this sense, it was analyzed whether the communication, marital adjustment, frequency, intensity and conflict resolution variables discriminate individuals with secure and insecure attachment in heterosexual relationships. It is a quantitative, descriptive and explanatory study. Data from 485 participants were collected in the south of Brazil through the following measures: Experience in Close Relationship, Marital Conflict Scale, Conflict Resolution Behavior Questionnaire, Communication Questionnaire and Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale. The results of the discriminant analysis indicated that the variables tested characterize secure or insecure attachment. Therefore, the type of attachment is a relevant resource in the assessment of individual and marital functioning. Psychotherapy interventions are discussed considering the relational bias of the attachment theory and the results observed in the scientific literature.</jats:p>

Comunicação conjugal negativa e aberta: modelo interdependente de efeito ator/parceiro no ajustamento conjugal

“…Finalmente, as hipóteses de que existiriam diferenças entre maridos e esposas quanto ao efeito ator/parceiro da comunicação negativa e aberta sobre o ajustamento conjugal dos cônjuges não foram confirmadas. Diferente do que foi encontrado em outros estudos (Costa & Mosmann, 2020;Deitz et al, 2015;Iveniuk et al, 2014;Terveer & Wood, 2014), verificou-se similaridade de impacto das variáveis independentes de maridos e esposas sobre o ajustamento de ambos. Em síntese, o resultado levanta dúvidas acerca da efetiva diferença entre homens e mulheres quando estes se envolvem em um relacionamento conjugal estável e passam a se influenciar mutuamente, de tal forma que se torna difícil determinar como se estabelecem os processos comunicacionais e seus efeitos sobre o ajustamento conjugal que novamente impacta a forma de se comunicar.…”

“…Alguns estudos sugerem que os homens são mais habilidosos e resolutivos quando se trata da resolução de problemas (Delatorre et al, 2017;Delatorre & Wagner, 2018;Yaşın & Sunal, 2016), o que reverbera positivamente no relacionamento. Diferentemente, as mulheres tendem a ser mais empáticas e a expressar com mais facilidade o que sentem (Costa & Mosmann, 2020;Deitz et al, 2015). Outras pesquisas são inconclusivas quanto ao efeito da variável independente gênero sobre o ajustamento conjugal, ou seja, se é o marido (Iveniuk et al, 2014), ou a esposa (Terveer & Wood, 2014), quem interfere mais na dinâmica conjugal.…”

On the Causal Relationship Between Attachment Styles and Marital Satisfaction: Mediating Role of Gottman's Marital Communication Model

“…In Gottman's research on marriages, he detected a set of traits, called "Four Deadly Horsemen", which indicate the lack of effective communication modification mechanisms and predict weak marital satisfaction and divorce (6,7).…”

Adult Attachment, Conflict Resolution Style and Relationship Quality among Spanish Young-adult Couples

“…(Collins et al, 2002). In fact, a growing body of studies has found anxiety and avoidance dimensions (e.g., da Costa & Mosmann, 2020;MacDonald et al, 2019;Paquette et al, 2020;Rholes et al, 2014;Ricco & Sierra, 2017) -or insecure styles such as preoccupied, dismissing, or fearful (Creasey, 2002;Pistole & Arricale, 2003)-to be positively associated with skill deficits in conflict management and negatively related to positive problem-solving strategies. Apparently, avoidance is more strongly associated with withdrawal from conflict and anxiety is more highly related to conflict engagement (Pistole & Arricale, 2003;Rholes et al, 2014;Shi, 2003).…”

“…Furthermore, this evidence is generally obtained from small-size samples of individuals (e.g., Bonache et al, 2019;Du Plessis, 2006;MacDonald et al, 2019;Pistole & Arricale, 2003) or couples (e.g., Bretz, 2009;Creasey, 2002;Guzmán & Contreras, 2012) -in the latter case, samples rarely exceed several hundred-, and participants are often of a wide age range (e.g., da Costa & Mosmann, 2020;Heresi et al, 2014;Paquette et al, 2020;Quickert & MacDonald, 2020;Scheeren et al, 2014), which hinders the extrapolation of results to emerging adults.…”