Insecure Attachment Patterns and Love Stories vs. Relationship Satisfaction

Dariusz Kuncewicz, Katarzyna Jaśkowska

Abstract


The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between insecure attachment patterns, love stories, and relationship satisfaction. The study involved 96 people (48 heterosexual couples) who have been in a relationship for about 1 year up to 50 years. We measured insecure attachment patterns using K.A. Brennan, C.L. Clark and P.R. Shaver’s Experiences in Close Relationships Scale; love stories – using Sternberg’s Triangular Love Scale; relationship satisfaction – with Hendrick’s Relationship Assessment Scale. Correlation analysis showed that in most cases the anxious attachment pattern co-occurred with the story about sacrifice, therapy (from the patient’s perspective) and addiction, while the avoidant attachment pattern – with the mystery and game stories. The avoidant attachment pattern proved to be a negative relationship satisfaction predictor, independent of gender, while the story about addiction turned out to be a positive predictor. Moderation analysis indicated that among women a negative correlation between anxious attachment and relationship satisfaction intensified in the situation when the fairy tale was favored and weakened when the story about a teacher (from the teacher’s perspective), both amusing and mysterious, was preferred. The key results suggest that cultural narratives about love can buffer the negative impact of previously developed attachment scripts on the quality of a relationship.


Keywords


narratives; attachment; love stories; relationship satisfaction

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/j.2018.31.2.313-329
Date of publication: 2018-12-22 08:06:17
Date of submission: 2018-05-30 21:49:20


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