to map a person’s orientation to both attachment and caregiving. We have therefore included two measures
related to caregiving. Possible additional behavioral systems have been proposed in recent years, one having to
do with power in relationships, so we have included, as an example, a measure of power orientations.
MEASURES OF ATTACHMENT ORIENTATION OR ATTACHMENT STYLE
Romantic Attachment Categories (RAC)
(Hazan & Shaver, 1987 ).
Variable
Hazan and Shaver (1987) were the first to explore the possibility that romantic love is an attachment process
and that the attachment patterns identified by Ainsworth et al. (1978) in studies of infant /C0mother attachment are
evident in adult romantic relationships. Hazan and Shaver translated the key features of the three infant attach-
ment patterns /C0secure, anxious, and avoidant /C0into terms appropriate for adult romantic love (or romantic
attachment).
Description
In the original RAC measure ( Hazan & Shaver, 1987 ), participants were asked to choose which of three cate-
gorical descriptions fit them best, but in many later studies, investigators have asked for scaled ratings of the
self-applicability of each description (using either categorical disagree/agree scales or ordinal scales ranging
from ‘not at all like me’ to ‘very much like me’).
Sample
Initial validation of this measure was based on the responses of 620 men and women, ranging in age from 14
to 82 years ( M536), who completed a newspaper survey questionnaire. In Hazan and Shaver’s (1987) initial
study, 56% of the participants classified themselves as secure, 25% as avoidant, and 19% as anxious (cf. Campos
et al., 1983). Hazan and Shaver (1987) also undertook a replication study involving 108 undergraduate students
(M518 years).
Reliability
This measure has a vignette format. There is no way to compute reliability.
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
As evidence of convergent/concurrent validity, attachment style classifications using the RAC have been
highly associated with other attachment style measures such as the Adult Attachment Style Measure (AAS;
Collins, 1996 ).Collins and Read (1990) found that participants who classified themselves as secure on the RAC
scored more highly on Collins and Read’s close (i.e., secure) subscale than did participants who classified them-
selves as anxious or avoidant, F(2, 110)514.31, p,.01. Participants who classified themselves as anxious on the
RAC also scored more highly on Collins and Read’s anxiety subscale than did secure individuals, F(2,110)56.62,
p,.01. Finally, participants who classified themselves as avoidant on the RAC scored lower on Collins and
Read’s depend subscale than did secure or anxious individuals, F(2,110)58.04, p,.05.
Divergent/Discriminant
As evidence of discriminant validity, Hazan and Shaver (1990), for example, reported that a sample of secure
participants scored lower on measures of loneliness and depression, F(2,658)560.73, p,.001; anxiety,
F(2,658)542.87, p,.001; hostility, F(2,658)516.64, p,.001; psychosomatic illness, F(2,658)519.50, p,.001; and phys-
ical illness, F(2,658)510.40, p,.001, than insecure participants, whether anxious or avoidant.
Construct/Factor Analytic
Because the RAC is a categorical measure, factor analyses are not readily applicable.419 MEASURES OF ATTACHMENT ORIENTATION OR ATTACHMENT STYLE
IV. INTERPERSONAL STYLES