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Abstract
A self-disclosure explanation for why those with a secure attachment style report greater relationship satisfaction than those with alternate attachment styles was explored. Participants with different attachment styles were compared in terms of the self-disclosures they directed toward their partner and a stranger, using both questionnaire and behavioural measures. Behavioural self-disclosure was assessed by having participants give extemporaneous talks on different topics, while anticipating that either their current partner or an opposite-sex stranger would later hear it. As expected, those with a secure attachment style disclosed more intimately to their partners than to strangers; whereas those with fearful, preoccupied, or dismissing attachment styles did not. Moreover, secures disclosed more personal facts to their partners than to strangers and were also perceived as more comfortable while self-disclosing to partners than to strangers. Finally, support for the hypothesis that self-disclosure mediates the relation between attachment style and relationship satisfaction was found on one component of self-disclosure: namely, facilitative disclosure -- a component which included both reported self-disclosure to one's partner and self-rated ability to elicit disclosure from others. Implications of these findings for attachment style differences in relationship development are discussed.
Numerous researchers have explored the relationship between attachment style categories and aspects of adult romantic relationships in the past decade. For example, Hazan and Shaver (1987) found that individuals who classified themselves as "securely attached" reported being less fearful of closeness and less prone to emotional extremes in their romantic relationships than "insecurely attached" persons (i.e., those reporting either an avoidant or an anxious-ambivalent style in their original, three-category system of adult attachment styles). The "secures" also characterized their love relationships as friendlier than "insecures" and also reported having warmer relationships with their parents in childhood. Securely attached persons also endorsed more strongly than "insecures' the view that people almost always like them and that others are generally well intentioned and good-hearted.
These and other correlates of attachment style in close relationships have since been examined in numerous studies (e.g., Feeney & Noller, 1990; Levy & Davis, 1988; Simpson, 1990). Generally, these studies have indicated that individuals with a secure attachment style report higher levels of satisfaction, intimacy, trust, and commitment in their relationships; whereas individuals with avoidant styles score lower on these dimensions. Anxious-ambivalent...