TY - JOUR
T1 - Adult Romantic Attachment and Relational Ethics
T2 - A Dyadic Analysis of Couples in Therapy
AU - Coppola, Jennifer
AU - Gangamma, Rashmi
AU - Kawar, Codina
AU - Patton, Rikki
AU - Ramadoss, Kamala
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Using a dyadic design, we examined associations between adult attachment and relational ethics in a sample of 69 mixed-gender couples seeking therapy at a university clinic. Results showed significant variance between couples’ reports of relational ethics, explained by male partners’ attachment avoidance and anxiety styles. Overall, when attachment anxiety was high, partners themselves experienced greater relational ethics, but the other partner experienced lesser relational ethics. Additionally, some important gender differences emerged. While higher attachment avoidance in men was related to decreased relational ethics for both partners, increased attachment anxiety in men was related to their own reports of higher relational ethics in the relationship. This work represents a step toward empirical integration of adult attachment theory and contextual theory of therapy and points to opportunities for the development of clinical implications.
AB - Using a dyadic design, we examined associations between adult attachment and relational ethics in a sample of 69 mixed-gender couples seeking therapy at a university clinic. Results showed significant variance between couples’ reports of relational ethics, explained by male partners’ attachment avoidance and anxiety styles. Overall, when attachment anxiety was high, partners themselves experienced greater relational ethics, but the other partner experienced lesser relational ethics. Additionally, some important gender differences emerged. While higher attachment avoidance in men was related to decreased relational ethics for both partners, increased attachment anxiety in men was related to their own reports of higher relational ethics in the relationship. This work represents a step toward empirical integration of adult attachment theory and contextual theory of therapy and points to opportunities for the development of clinical implications.
KW - Adult attachment
KW - Contextual theory of therapy
KW - Couples therapy
KW - Dyadic design
KW - Emotionally focused couples therapy
KW - Relational ethics
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U2 - 10.1007/s10591-021-09574-w
DO - 10.1007/s10591-021-09574-w
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85103984291
SN - 0892-2764
VL - 43
SP - 234
EP - 247
JO - Contemporary Family Therapy
JF - Contemporary Family Therapy
IS - 3
ER -