Description
Brennan et al. (1998) drew 323 items from 60 subscales of all known measures of attachment and administered
them to a large sample of undergraduates ( N51086). A factor analysis with oblique rotation yielded two main
factors labeled: attachment anxiety and attachment-related avoidance, which were almost orthogonal (despite the
use of oblique rotation, which allowed the factors to be correlated if the data warranted it). Brennan et al. then
selected 18 items to represent each factor, and those 36 items constitute the ECR. The items are rated on a 7-point
Likert-type response scale.
Sample
The sample included 682 women and 403 men, ranging in age from 16 to 50 years, with a median age of 18
years. Roughly half of them ( N5487) described themselves as seriously involved in a relationship at the time of
testing; the rest were dating casually ( N5220) or not at all ( N5376). For those in a relationship, median relation-
ship length was 15 months.
Reliability
Internal Consistency
Cronbach alpha coefficients were .92 and .94 for anxiety and avoidance, respectively in Brennan et al. (1998)
study, and have been high in many subsequent studies, including studies based on translations of the scales into
other languages (see Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007 ).
Test/C0Retest
No information on test /C0retest reliability is currently available.
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Brennan et al. correlated participants’ scores on the new anxiety and avoidance scales with the three subscales
ofCollins’s (1996) AAS. The Brennan et al. avoidance subscale correlated positively with the anxiety subscale
(.41) of the AAS. The Brennan et al. new anxiety subscale correlated positively with Collins’s (1996) anxiety sub-
scale (.79). ECR anxiety also correlated positively with measures of proximity seeking (.60), jealousy (.80), distrust
(.46), defensiveness (.20), anxious clinging to partners (.75), and ambivalence (.26). ECR avoidance correlated pos-
itively with jealousy (.26), distrust (.62), defensiveness (.68), and ambivalence (.76). See Brennan et al. (1998) for
more details about the convergent validity of the ECR measure.
Divergent/Discriminant
Brennan et al. correlated participants’ scores on the new anxiety and avoidance scales with the three subscales
ofCollins’s (1996) AAS. The Brennan et al. avoidance subscale correlated negatively with the close ( 2.87), and
depend ( 2.73). The Brennan et al. new anxiety subscale correlated negatively with the depend subscale ( 2.39).
ECR avoidance correlated negatively with communication ( 2.24), and negatively with communication ( 2.68).
Construct/Factor Analytic
Brennan et al. (1998) performed a principal-components analysis of the responses of 1085 undergraduates
based on the item intercorrelations for the 323 items drawn from a number of different attachment measures.
A higher-order factor analysis produced two clear dimensions representing the ECR anxiety and avoidance
subscales, respectively.
Criterion/Predictive
Noftle and Shaver (2006) provided evidence that the ECR anxiety and avoidance subscales significantly predict
relationship-quality variables after controlling for measures of the Big Five ( Costa & McCrae, 1995 ) personality
trait constructs.
Location
Brennan, K.A., Clark, C.L., & Shaver, P.R. (1998). Self-repo rt measurement of adult attach ment: An integrative over-
view. In J.A. Simpson & W.S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46 /C076). New York: Guilford.429 MEASURES OF ATTACHMENT ORIENTATION OR ATTACHMENT STYLE
IV. INTERPERSONAL STYLES