TR
ISTANBUL GEDIK UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE EDUCATION INSTITUTE
EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTACHMENT STYLES AND MARRIAGE CONFLICT
MASTER’S TERM PROJECT
DIlara YETIMOGLU
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Project Advisor : DR. TUTOR MEMBER NURGUL YAVUZER
JANUARY 2O23
TR
ISTANBUL GEDIK UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE EDUCATION INSTITUTE
EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTACHMENT STYLES AND MARRIAGE CONFLICT
MASTER’S TERM PROJECT
DIlara YETIMOGLU
(211288025)
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Project Advisor : DR. TUTOR MEMBER NURGUL YAVUZER
JANUARY 2O23
CONTENTS
Page
SUMMARY………………………………………………………………………………………4
1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………………5-6-7-8
1.1 Subject of Study………………………………………………………………….5-6
1.2 Purpose of the Thesis ………………………………………………… 7
1.3 Literature Survey ………………………………………………………..…7-8
1.4 Hypothesis……………………………………………………8
2. METHOD…………………………………………………………………………….9
2.2 Sample ………………………………………………………… 9
2.3 Data. Collection Vehicles …………………………………………………..……9
2.3.1 Demographic Information Form ………………………………………………… 9
2.3.2 Inventory of Experiences in Close Relationships II…………………………………9-10
2.3.3 Children’s Perceptions of Marriage Conflict Inventory………………..…………10
3. PROCESS ………………………………………………………… 11
4. FINDINGS ………………………………………………………… 12
4.1 Demographic Variables ………………………………………………………….12
4.2 Descriptive Statistics ………………………………………………………… 13
4.3 Test of Normality………………………………………………………….13
4.4 Correlation Analysis ……………………………………………………………14
5. DISCUSSION ………………………………………………………… 15
REFERENCES…………………………………………………… 16-17
ANNEXES………………………………………………………………………………18-19-20-21-22
CURRICULUM VITAE……………………………………………………23
EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTACHMENT STYLES AND MARRIAGE CONFLICT
SUMMARY
To examine attachment dimensions in romantic relationships in adulthood; first of all, it is necessary to talk about the attachment process of a person from infancy to the end of his life. The bond established with the primary caregiver in the first years of life is a determining factor that affects the social life of the individual as well as his emotional and social development in the following years. Many of the people living with their parents have observed their parents’ conflict. This conflict, which can be a source of stress for these people, can cause the individual to react in order to understand and cope with the conflict. Since there are samples generally formed by children in studies on the subject, it is aimed to contribute to the relevant literature of this research by forming a sample of young adults from university students. This research was conducted to examine the relationship between attachment styles and perception of marital conflict. In the study, “Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory 2” was used to measure attachment styles, and “Child Marriage Conflict Perception Scale” was used to measure how people perceive their parents’ conflict. In order to reach the socio-demographic information of the participants, a Demographic Information Form asking about gender, age and relationship status was created by the researcher. The sample of the study was formed randomly from people aged 18-28 over the e-survey using the snowball method. A total of 192 people were reached, and with the collected data, primarily the Anxious Attachment sub-dimension and the avoidant attachment sub-dimension of the Attachment Styles scale, and the Conflict, Perceived Threat and Self-Self-Conflict in the Marriage Conflict Perception scale. The normality distribution of the blame dimensions was examined and it was found to be a normal distribution, then it was evaluated with the SPSS 20 statistical package program by applying the correlation analysis. The total number of women constituting 63.4% of the participants is 130. Male participants, on the other hand, made up 36.6% of them and consisted of a total of 75 people. 51.2% of the participants are studying at the University, 46.8% are University graduates and 2% are doing their Master’s/PhD. 46.3% of the participants were found to be in a relationship, 41.5% of them had no relationship and 12.2% chose the option Other. As a result of the Correlation Analysis performed with the data obtained, it was found that there was a significant and positive relationship between Anxious Attachment and Avoidant Attachment. A significant and negative weak relationship was found between Avoidant Attachment and Conflict Perception. A significant and positive relationship was found between Perception of Conflict and Perceived Threat. A significant and positive weak relationship was found between Perceived Threat and Self Blame.
Keywords: Attachment Styles, Perception of Marital Conflict
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Subject of Study
To examine attachment dimensions in romantic relationships in adulthood; first of all, it is necessary to talk about the attachment process of a person from infancy to the end of his life (Bodur, Soysal, & Şenol, 2005). The bond established with the primary caregiver in the first years of life is a determining factor that affects the social life of the individual as well as his emotional and social development in the following years (Yıldız, 2008). According to many studies; The bond established with the primary caregiver in the first years of life constitutes a determining factor that affects the social life of the individual as well as his emotional and social development in the following years (Yıldız, 2008). The foundation of man’s personality is laid from the beginning of his life, but its full formation ends in adulthood. The personality of the individual is shaped by the caregiver and the family environment. The relationship between the caregiver and the child is a very important factor in the formation of the personality in the following years. Freud, as the first person to comment on this subject, mentions the formation of childhood attachment styles as a role-model in later life. Later, it was John Bowlby who adopted and developed this view. According to Bowlby, attachment styles are formed by shaping the relationship between the caregiver and the child. Basic trust or insecurity is established, depending on how well infants’ needs are met, physically or emotionally. He coined this theory to describe the emotional state of the infant when separated from the caregiver, and how it attaches to them. It has been suggested that factors such as happiness and trust are important in attachment and that attachment behavior affects the whole life of the person from the first moment. According to Bowlby, babies can show some reactions when they are away from the caregiver. The first of these is to oppose the caregiver and includes behaviors such as crying and searching for the caregiver. The second reaction is to be helpless, the baby stops responding to others and becomes upset. The third is disconnection, when the baby reunites with the caregiver, he ignores it and performs avoidance behaviors (Arıcan, 2019). Mary Ainsworth, who made the first research on this subject, examined the infants’ reactions to separation from their caregivers. As a result of this research, three categories were formed as infants safe, avoidant and anxious. Parents who have the baby’s secure attachment style are sensitive to their children’s reactions. In avoidant attachment, parents are more insensitive and do not show much physical contact with their children and do not try to comfort them. The behavior of parents who have an anxious attachment style baby, on the other hand, give more importance to their own needs than the needs of the children. If the parent sees the child’s needs and meets them, the child develops a secure attachment and understands that he or she is loved (Karakuş, 2012). They can choose a partner that is similar to the attachment style they establish with the baby caregiver. As the problems between the parents increase, the possibility of seeing and meeting the needs of their children decreases, and the child-family relationship is formed negatively, so the probability of the child’s secure attachment decreases. According to social learning theory, the child observes his parents and learns about their thoughts and actions about marriage and is said to do these in his adult life. Individuals with secure attachment can become close to people and are not bothered by it, and they do not have to worry about being abandoned. These people are mostly positive about people and don’t worry about being close with their partner. Individuals with avoidant attachment avoid contact with people and are uncomfortable with this. Individuals with anxious attachment think that they are not loved enough and they want to be close with their partner because they are constantly afraid of losing their partner (Arıcan, 2019).
While individuals with secure attachment have factors such as being aware of emotions, being aware of their problems, and having the ability to cope, individuals with avoidant attachment have factors such as ignoring negativities. Anxiety-attached individuals, on the other hand, were found to avoid other people and not be able to cope with negativities.
Many of the people living with their parents have observed their parents’ conflict (Rodop, 2015). This conflict, which can be a source of stress for these people, can cause the individual to react in order to understand and cope with the conflict. It has been stated that the perception of the person and his reaction to the conflict are important in order to investigate how the conflict affects the person. Focusing on how the person perceives the conflict, which is a more important factor than witnessing the conflict, a cognitive evaluation is mentioned. Thus, the cognitive contextual model was introduced. In line with this model, we focused on the factors that determine the expectation of being exposed to conflict and experiencing conflict in the future life of the child who is exposed to family conflict (Altınok, Özer, Set, & Beyoğlu, 2017).
1.2 Purpose of the Thesis
There are limited studies on the relationship between Attachment Styles and Perception of Marital Conflict. When we look at the literature, there are many studies on other variables apart from the two variables. However, there are not enough studies on the perception of marital conflict, which is the sample of university students. Since there are samples generally formed by children in studies on the subject, it is aimed to contribute to the relevant literature of this research by forming a sample of young adults from university students.
1.3 Literature Search
As a result of the research, it was found that men have more avoidant attachment style from women, and women have more fearful attachment style than men. As a result of Keklik (2011) research, it was found that men have more avoidant attachment style than women and women have anxious attachment style. (Powers, Pietromonaco, Gunlicks, & Sayer, 2006) A study with adult couples found that there is a significant difference between men and women in insecure attachment. Erözkan (2011) found that attachment styles differ in terms of gender as a result of the research he conducted with university students (Çelikkaleli, Avcı, 2016). Konyalıoğlu (2002) stated that the research was carried out with university students and as a result, male students developed more secure, avoidant and anxious attachment styles than female students (Ünlü, 2015).
As a result of the research (Gyrch, 1998), it was determined that girls gave more negative reactions than boys. (Gordis et al. 2001) observed in their study that when there is a hostile relationship between parents, boys present more behavioral problems than girls. (Crockenberg, Langrock, 2001) on the other hand, it was found that both genders gave negative reactions to parental conflict events, but girls showed more anger, sadness and fear reactions differently than boys. (Jouriles et al., 1991) examined the relationship between marital conflict and child adjustment as a result of a 5-year longitudinal study, and no differentiation was found according to gender. Likewise (Cummings et al., 1981), when they analyzed the responses to parental conflict by gender, no gender differences were found (Şendil, Kızıldağ, 2003). If we look at the studies of Hazan and Shaver, as a result of this study on adults, 56% of the individuals were found to be safe, 25% were found to be avoidant and 19% were undecided. In addition, individuals with secure attachment stated that other people are also reliable (Arıcan, 2019). It has been found that they evaluate the conflicts between their parents more negatively, perceive more threats and make more accusations against themselves (Ünlü, 2015).
1.4 Hypothesis
H0: There is no relationship between Attachment Styles and Perception of Marital Conflict.
H1: There is a relationship between Attachment Styles and Perception of Marital Conflict.
2. METHOD
2.2 Sample:
The sample of this study was randomly composed of people between the ages of 18-28. The sample was collected via e-survey with the snowball method. The total number of women who make up 63.4% of the participants is 130. Male participants, on the other hand, made up 36.6% of them and consisted of a total of 75 people. 51.2% of the participants are studying at University, 46.8% are University graduates, and 2% are doing Master’s/PhD. is
2.3 Data Collection Tools:
This study was carried out in accordance with the quantitative research characteristics. Participation in the research is on a voluntary basis and for this purpose, an Informed Consent Form (Appendix A) was given to the participants. A Demographic Form was given to reach the age and gender information of the individuals (Appendix B). The Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory II (Appendix C) was used to measure attachment styles, and the Child Marriage Conflict Perception Scale (Appendix D) was used to measure people’s perception of their parents’ conflict.
2.3.1 Demographic Information Form:
The information form prepared by the researcher was composed of questions aiming to learn the gender, age, educational status, relationship status of the people.
2.3.2 Inventory of Experiences in Close Relationships II:
The Experiences in Close Relationship Inventory 2 developed by Fraley et al. (2000) was adapted into Turkish by Sümer (2005). It consists of 36 items in total. While a total of 18 items with even numbers measure the avoidance dimension, the other 18 items with odd numbers measure the anxiety dimension. While the sample item of the avoidance dimension is “I am afraid of losing the love of the person I am with”, the sample item of the avoidance dimension is “I find it difficult to trust and believe in the people with whom I am in a romantic relationship”. It was calculated on a 7-point Likert scale to evaluate how the participants reflected their feelings and thoughts towards their romantic partners while answering each item (1= totally disagree, 7= totally agree). The items measuring the anxiety and avoidance dimensions are collected separately and their averages are taken, and the anxiety and avoidance dimensions are scored for each participant. According to the dimensions of avoidance and anxiety in the scale, decisions are made for 4 attachment styles. The result for areas low in both dimensions was secure attachment, only those with low scores on the anxiety dimension and high on the avoidance dimension were found to be indifferent, while those with higher scores on the anxiety dimension and low on the avoidance dimension were found to be obsessive, and those with high scores on both dimensions were fearful. classified as having attachment size.
There are reverse coded items in the scale. These items are; 4, 8, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 30, 32, 34, 36.
The avoidance and anxiety dimensions have high internal consistency. For Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, the avoidance dimension is .90 and the anxiety dimension is .86.
As a result of the test-retest, it was determined that the anxiety dimension was .82 and the avoidance dimension was .81, and the test-retest reliability was found.
2.3.3 Children’s Perception of Marital Conflict Scale
It was created by Grych, Seid and Fincham (1992) to determine how children perceive their parents’ conflict within the scope of cognitive-contextual theory. It consists of 35 items. It consists of 3 subscales as Conflict Characteristics, Perceived Threat, and Self Blame. Conflict Characteristics dimension sample item “My parents often complain about each other at home”, perceived threat dimension sample item “I worry about what will happen to me when my parents argue”, self-blame sample item “My parents’ arguments are usually my fault” Each item from the participants It is required to tick one of the options “true, sometimes/somewhat true, false”. Correct is 2 points, sometimes/somewhat correct is 1 point, and incorrect is 0 points. High scores indicate negativity. The internal consistency of the scale is .85 for the whole scale. In order to test the validity of the scale for the university sample, a factor analysis was performed by Şendil (2016), and it was found that these 3 factors and the items loaded on the factors were similar to the structure in the original scale. Thus, the 3 factors are the same as in the original scale. As a result, it was found to be a valid and reliable scale for use in university sample.
3. PROCESS
The scales were delivered to the participants via the Internet site called Surveymonkey. The participants were given an Informed Consent Form, which included the purpose of the research, the principles of confidentiality, and the estimated duration. Demographic Information Form created by the researcher was given to learn the age and gender information of the participants. Adult Relationship Experiences Inventory II and Marriage Conflict Perception Scale were given and they were asked to be filled in. Correlation analysis was made with the collected data and evaluated with SPSS 20 statistical package program.
4. FINDINGS
4.1 Table 1. Demographic Variables
|
Size Value Number Percent (%) |
Gender Female 130 63.4%
Male 75 36.6%
Total 205 100%
Educational Status Studying at University 105 51.2%
Graduates 96 46.8%
Master/PhD 4 2%
Total 205 100%
Relationship Status In a Relationship 95 46.3%
No Relationship 85 41.5%
Other 25 12.2%
Total 205 100%
Looking at Table 1, the total number of women who make up 63.4% of the participants is 130. Male participants, on the other hand, made up 36.6% of them and consisted of a total of 75 people. 51.2% of the participants are studying at the University, 46.8% are University graduates and 2% are doing their Master’s/PhD.
46.3% of the participants were found to have a Relationship, 41.5% of them had No Relationship and 12.2% of the participants chose Other.
|
Statistics |
4.2 Table 2. Descriptive Statistics
Age Average 23.1692
Trimmed Average 23.0000
Minimum 19.00
Maximum 28.00
As can be seen in Table 2, there is no significant difference between the Mean value and the Trimmed Mean value of the Age variable.
4.3 Table 3. Test of Normality
|
Statistic Kolmogorov- Sminow df Sig. |
DIMENSION OF ANXIETY .086 172 .000
AVOID SIZE .067 172 .000
CONFLICT DIMENSION .102 172 .000
THREAT SIZE .119 172 .000
WATERING SIZE. .113 172 000
Anxious attachment dimension and avoidant attachment sub-dimension of Attachment Styles scale and normality distribution of Conflict, Perceived Threat and Self-Blame dimensions of Marriage Conflict Perception scale were examined. As we can see in Table 3, if we look at the level of significance, it was found to be significant because p>.05. Accordingly, we can say that the distribution is a normal distribution.
4.4 Table 4. Correlation Analysis between Attachment Patterns and Perception of Marital Conflict
|
Variables n M SD 1 2 3 4 5 |
CONCERNED 192 52.2919 14.559 ___. .459** -.101 -078 .097
Escaped 192 69.7990 17.362 .459** __ -.237** -.125 .037
CONFLICT 192 35.6390 5.785 -.101 -.237** ___ .696** .622**
THREAT 192 18.5961 2.732 -.078 -.125 .696** ___ .329**
blaming 192 18.2842 3.267 .097 .037 .622** .329** ___
*p<.05, **p<.001
As seen in Table 4, as a result of the Correlation Analysis performed, it was found that there was a significant and positive relationship between Anxious Attachment and Avoidant Attachment, (r=.459, p<.05.) A significant and negative weak relationship was found between Avoidant Attachment and Conflict Perception. (r=-.237,p<.05.) A significant and positive relationship was found between Perception of Conflict and Perceived Threat, (r=.696,p<.05). A significant and weak positive correlation was found between Perceived Threat and Self Blame,(r=.329, p<.05).
5. DISCUSSION
As a result of the analysis, no significant relationship was found between Attachment Styles and Perception of Marital Conflict, but moderate or low level significant relationships were found. The limitations of the study may be the difficulty of finding participants due to the excess of scale items and the participants’ response by being bored. Since the questionnaire of the research was distributed via internet communication, it is not known by the researcher whether the respondents marked the items correctly or not. Although the participants voluntarily participated in the research, they may have answered the items without reading them. Considering these limitations, this research can be used as an additional resource for future studies on attachment styles and perception of marital conflict. It is recommended to increase the generalizability by increasing the number of samples.
SOURCE
ALTINOK, A., Omer, O. ZER, Zeynep, SET, & BAYOĞLU, F. (2017). PARENT-FATHER CONFLICT: AN ASSESSMENT ON THE STUDIES IN Türkiye. Academic Perspective International Refereed Journal of Social Sciences, (59), 329-345.
Arıcan, B. EVALUATION OF INTERGENERATIONAL ATTACHMENT STYLES IN TERMS OF PERCEIVED MARRIAGE CONFLICT AND EMOTIONAL SECURITY.
CELIKKALELI, Ö., & Raşit, AVCI (2016). Investigation of Attachment Styles of University Students According to Gender and Gender Roles. Journal of Computer and Education Research, 4(7), 103-125.
Karakus, O. (2012). THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTACHMENT STYLES AND LONELY IN Adolescents. Society and Social Work, 23(2), 33-46.
Rodop, S. (2015). Examining the relationships between sibling relationship quality, adjustment problem, conflict perception and parental acceptance-rejection in children (Master’s thesis).
Soysal, A. Ş., Bodur, S., İşeri, E., & Şenol, S. (2005). An overview of the attachment process in infancy. Clinical Psychiatry, 8(2), 88-99.
Şendil, G., & Kızıldağ, Ö. (2003). Perception of parental marital conflict in children and adolescents. Journal of Child and Youth Mental Health, 10(2), 58-66.
Ünlü, F. (2015). In individuals whose parents are divorced; examination of the relationship between self-esteem, loneliness and attachment styles (Master’s thesis, Institute of Social Sciences).
Yildiz, C. (2008). A study on the relationship between university students’ past separation anxiety and attachment styles. Unpublished Master Thesis. Konya: Selcuk University Institute of Social Sciences.
ATTACHMENTS
Appendix A.
Informed Consent Form
Dear Participant; This research was conducted by Gedik University Clinical Psychology student Dr. Instructor It is carried out under the consultancy of its member NURGÜL YAVUZER. The research will take approximately 10 minutes. The research was created to examine adults’ romantic relationships and perception of marital conflict. You will be asked to fill in the given items according to the answer you feel closest to yourself. There are no right or wrong answers to the questions. Your information and answers will only be used within the scope of this research and will not be shared with anyone outside of the research. Participation in the research is completely voluntary. You can withdraw from the study at any time during the study. If you have any questions about the research, you can contact pskdilarayetimoglu@gmail.com and request information. Thank you for participating in the research.
I have read and understood the Informed Consent Form. I agree to participate in the research ( )
Nickname:
APPENDIX B.
Demographic Information Form
Gender:
( ) Woman man
Age:
Educational status:
Relationship status:
( ) I am in a relationship ( ) I am not in a relationship ( ) I have never been in a relationship
Tick the child caregiver
( ) Mother ( ) Father ( ) Sibling ( ) Parent’s Family ( ) Carer ( ) Other (please specify)
Mom and Dad
( ) Married ( ) Divorced ( ) Other
Appendix C.
Adult Relationship Experiences Inventory II
(YIYE-II) The following items are about the emotions you feel in your romantic relationships. In this research, we are interested in what is happening or what you are going through in your relationship in general, not just now. The expression “the person I am with” mentioned in the articles refers to the person with whom you are in a romantic relationship. If you are not currently in a romantic relationship, answer the following items assuming you are in a relationship. Show to what extent each item reflects your feelings and thoughts in your relationships by putting a cross (X) on the relevant number on the 7-interval scale opposite them.
I prefer not to show my partner how I really feel.
2. I am afraid of being abandoned.
3. I am very comfortable being close to my romantic partners.
4. I am very concerned about my relationships.
5. As soon as the person I’m with starts getting close to me, I withdraw.
6. I worry that my romantic partners will not care about me as much as I care about them.
7. I feel uncomfortable when my romantic partner wants to be too close.
8. I worry a lot about losing the person I am with.
9. I don’t feel comfortable opening up to people I’m with.
10. I usually wish that what my partner feels for me is as strong as what I feel for him.
11. I want to be close to the person I’m with, but I always pull back.
12. I usually want to be completely integrated with the person I’m with and this sometimes scares them away from me.
13. It makes me nervous when the people I’m with get too close to me.
14. I worry about being alone.
15. I am quite comfortable sharing my private feelings and thoughts with the person I am with.
16. My desire to be very close sometimes scares people away.
17. I try to avoid getting too close with the person I’m with.
18. I need constant expression that I am loved by the person I am with. 19. I can easily get close to the person I am with.
20. I sometimes feel that I am forcing the people I am with to show more emotion and commitment.
21. I find it hard to let go of myself when it comes to trusting and holding on to the people I’m with.
22. I am not afraid of being abandoned.
23. I prefer not to be too close to the people I’m with.
24. I get upset or angry if I can’t get the person I’m with to pay attention to me.
25. I tell my partner almost everything.
26. I think that the person I am with is not as close to me as I would like.
27. I usually discuss my problems and concerns with my partner.
28. I feel a little anxious and insecure when I am not in a relationship.
29. I am comfortable relying on people I am with.
30. I feel blocked when the person I am with is not as close as I would like.
31. I don’t mind asking for comfort, advice, or help from my partner.
32. I feel blocked if I can’t reach the person I’m with when I need it.
33. It is helpful to seek help from the person I am with when I need it.
34. I feel really bad when the people I’m with don’t approve of me.
35. I seek out my partner for many things besides relaxation and security.
36. I get upset when my partner spends time away from me.
APPENDIX D.
Marriage Conflict Perception Scale
Answering the following items as True / Sometimes-Sometimes True / Falseis expected.
RESUME
Dilara YETIMOGLU
Education
Y.Ls. 2023 Gedik University Institute of Social Sciences Department of Psychology
Work. 2020 Işık University Department of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology
Job/Employment
November 2022-January 2023 Kartal Municipality KADEM Center Trainee Psychologist
Personal Information
Place and year of birth: Istanbul, 1995 Gender: F
Foreign Languages: English (Advanced)
