PET ATTACHMENT QUESTIONNAIRE
Please read each of the following statements; think
about their relationship with a particular present or past
pet; rate the extent to which each item described your
feelings and thoughts in this relationship.
Avoidance
1.Being close to my pet is pleasant for me.*
3.I prefer not to be too close to my pet.
5.I prefer to keep some distance from my pet.
7.Often my pet is a nuisance to me.
9.I feel distant from my pet.
11.I’m not very attached to my pet.
13.If necessary, I would be able to give away my pet
without any difficulties.
15.I have no problem parting with my pet for a long
duration.
17.I get uncomfortable when my pet wants to be close
to me.
19.I get nervous when my pet gets too close to me.
21.I want to get close to my pet, but I keep pulling
away.
23.I try to avoid getting too close to my pet.
25.When I’m away from my pet for a long period of
time, I hardly think about it.
Anxiety
2.I’m often worried about what I’ll do if something
bad happens to my pet.4.Sometimes I feel that I force my pet to show more
commitment and desire to be close to me.
6.If I can’t get my pet to show interest in me, I get
upset or angry.
8.Signs of affection from my pet bolster my self-
worth.
10.I often feel that my pet doesn’t allow me to get as
close as I would like.
12.I get angry when my pet doesn’t want to be close to
me as much as I would like it to.
14.I get frustrated when my pet is not around as much
as I would like it to be.
16.I need shows of affection from my pet to feel there
is someone who accepts me as I am.
18.I feel frustrated if my pet doesn’t seem to be
available for me when I need it.
20.Without acts of affection from my pet I feel
worthless.
22.I am worried about being left alone without
my pet.
24.I need expressions of love from my pet to feel
valuable.
26.I need a lot of reassurance from my pet that it
loves me.
Notes : Items are rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale
ranging from: 1 5Not at all to 75Very much .
*Reverse worded item.
Reproduced with permission.
BEHAVIORAL SYSTEMS SCALES
To explain the fact that human beings, like some of their primate relatives, seem to be biologically equipped
for attachment, caregiving, sexual mating, and other kinds of social behavior, Bowlby (1982) borrowed the con-
cept of ‘behavioral systems’ from ethology. Following his lead, subsequent attachment researchers have referred
to, for example, the attachment behavioral system (or attachment system, for short), the caregiving behavioral
system (or caregiving system), and so on. These systems are thought to be species-universal neural programs that
govern the choice, activation, and termination of behavioral sequences in ways that have contributed to survival
and reproductive success during evolutionary history. The attachment system’s main goal is to attain safety and
security in a relationship with a trusted other; the exploration system’s goal is to explore and learn about one’s
environment while developing a variety of life skills; the caregiving system’s goal is to promote the safety and
welfare of conspecifics, especially those to whom one is genetically related, but also to other conspecifics for
whom one has sympathy or empathy. Each system is thought to be ‘activated’ automatically by stimuli or situa-
tions that make a particular goal salient (e.g., loud noises that signal danger and arouse a desire for protection)
and ‘deactivated’ or ‘terminated’ by stimuli that signal goal attainment. Individual differences in the functioning
of these behavioral systems are presumed to occur for both genetic and experiential reasons.
Although each behavioral system is thought to include a primary strategy for meeting its goals, a person’s history
of failed attempts to use the primary strategy successfully can cause him or her to develop secondary strategies (such
as extreme self-reliance in the case of avoidant attachment). These secondary strategies can be characterized in terms
of hyperactivation or deactivation of the relevant behavioral system ( Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007 ). Hyperactivation438 15. MEASURES OF ADULT ATTACHMENT AND RELATED CONSTRUCTS
IV. INTERPERSONAL STYLES