Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Young, A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Acitelli, L. K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

The Role of Attachment Style and Relationship Status of the Perceiver in the Perceptions of Romantic Partner

Amy M. Young

University of Michigan, baldwin{at}umich.edu

Linda K. Acitelli

University of Houston

Intimate relationships can influence interpersonal perception because they are characterized by emotional involvement and close attachment between the members of the dyad; thus, attachment theory and research may shed light on interpersonal perception within intimate relationships. In this study, a probability sample of 179 men and 198 women who were married or involved in a committed dating relationship, was examined to test the hypothesis that attachment style and degree of public commitment to the relationship (i.e. marital status) would predict perceptions of partners. Secure individuals had positive appraisals of their partner regardless of marital status, suggesting that secure individuals do not need concrete indicators of commitment to feel positively towards their partners. For insecure attachment styles, perception of partner was associated with the degree of public commitment as well as sex and attachment style of the perceiver. These findings highlight the need for more studies recognizing how differences in sex and marital status affect the association between attachment styles and perceptions of partners.

Key Words: attachment • marital status • perception of partner • relationship awareness

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Vol. 15, No. 2, 161-173 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/0265407598152002
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Journal of Social and Personal RelationshipsHome page
L. R. Ross and B. Spinner
General and Specific Attachment Representations in Adulthood: Is there a Relationship?
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, December 1, 2001; 18(6): 747 - 766.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The Family JournalHome page
D. Eckstein
Counseling is the Answer... Counseling is the Answer... But what is the Question? 25 Questions for Couples and Families
The Family Journal, October 1, 2001; 9(4): 463 - 467.
[PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Social and Personal RelationshipsHome page
J. B. Miller
Attachment Style and Memory for Attachment-Related Events
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, December 1, 1999; 16(6): 773 - 801.
[Abstract] [PDF]