The Father or the Mother: Who Is Associated With Attachment to a Partner? The Moderating Effect of Romantic Relationship Satisfaction on Insecure Attachment Styles

Anna Papińska; Dominika van de Rijdt

doi:10.18290/rpsych2024.0021

Published : 2025-06-18

Vol. 27 No. 4 (2024)

The Father or the Mother: Who Is Associated With Attachment to a Partner? The Moderating Effect of Romantic Relationship Satisfaction on Insecure Attachment Styles

Anna Papińska

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5503-7391

Dominika van de Rijdt

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rpsych2024.0021

Abstract

The article examines the association of attachment styles from childhood to adulthood in a retrospective manner and their relationship with romantic relationships, focusing on gender differences and relationship satisfaction. The study involved 309 adults (170 women, 139 men) aged 18 to 74 in romantic relationships. The results suggest that individuals who retrospectively report certain attachment patterns with parents in childhood tend to report similar patterns in adult romantic relationships. Significant differences were found in attachment to mother and father, especially by gender. In women, anxious attachment in adulthood was associated with anxious attachment to both parents, while avoidant patterns showed weaker associations. In men, avoidant attachment to the mother was not associated with anxious attachment in adulthood. These findings highlight the differences in attachment dynamics to the mother and the father and their association with romantic relationships. Relationship satisfaction may moderate the negative associations of insecure attachment styles with romantic involvement. This underscores the need for considering attachment histories in therapeutic interventions.

Keywords:

relationship-specific attachment, gender differences, relationship satisfaction

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