Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference among married couples with secure, preoccupied, dismissed, and fearful attachment style regarding their marital adjustment, self-esteem, and causal and responsibility attribution scores. Participants (100 volunteer married couples; 100 women and 100 men) were asked to complete Marital Adjustment Test (MAT), The Relationship Attribution Measure (RAM), Relationships Scales Questionnaire (RSQ), and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSS). Pearson correlation coefficients indicated that there was a significant correlation between secure attachment style and marital adjustment. A 4 (attachment styles) X 2 (gender) MANOVA was conducted on MAT, RAM, and RSS scores as dependent variables. MANOVA revealed that the main effect of attachment style (F (3,192) = 3, p <.05) was significant in terms of marital adjustment scores of participants. Further post-hoc analysis yielded that participants with secure and preoccupied attachment style were more likely to have higher marital adjustment scores than those with fearful attachment style. MANOVA analysis did not show significant main effect of gender and interaction effect between attachment style and gender. The findings were discussed in the light of attachment styles and marital adjustment literature.

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