Can attachment styles predict psychological and emotional well-being?

Abstract

Background: Attachment is an intangible form of sharing love, concerns, and emotion between two individuals or sometimes in terms of society. Attachment styles with an individual's parents, peers, or loved ones greatly affect an individual's different domains of life. Many studies have been conducted to identify the relationship of attachment styles and personality traits, physical and mental health. However, a few kinds of research have focused on the relationship of attachment styles with well-being. Therefore, the main objective of the research was to assess whether attachment style can predict psychological and emotional well-being. Methodology: The study required a sample of 300 students from different public and private universities in Karachi. Measures used in the study are The Relationships Questionnaire (RQ) and Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF). The Relationships Questionnaire (RQ) was used to assess the attachment style, and the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) was used in the study to assess psychological and emotional wellbeing, items related to a specific variable used in the study were included in the assessment. Data were analyzed through regression analysis which is an inferential statistical test using SPSS version 24. Results: Results were not as per the assumption of the study hypotheses; there was no significant effect of attachment styles on psychological and emotional wellbeing. Conclusion: Hence, results indicated that attachment style alone could not be considered a good predictor of psychological and emotional well-being. It only has a minor effect, but for the prediction of psychological and emotional wellbeing, other mediating variables and personality factors should also be assessed or considered.

Keywords

• attachment styles
• psychological well-being
• emotional well-being