stress-provoking situation, β5.34,p,.01 (Rholes, Simpson, & Orin ˜a, 1999 ). In couple relationships, AAQ anxiety
was positively predictive of the perceived amount of conflict, β5.11,p,.05; number of conflicts (reported in a
daily diary), β5.50, p,.10; escalation of conflict, β5.18, p,.01; and hurtfulness of conflict, β5.25, p,.01
(Campbell, Simpson, Boldry, & Kashy, 2005 ).
Location
Simpson, J.A., Rholes, W.S., & Phillips, D. (1996). Conflict in close relationships: An attachment perspective.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71 , 899/C0914.
Results and Comments
The associations between the AAQ subscales and measures of empathy, anger, and conflict are consistent with
the idea proposed by Bowlby that the negative expectations held by insecure people bias their perceptions of the
social environment in ways that confirm and sustain their fears, pessimistic beliefs, and negative expectations
regarding attachment figures. The results also show that such negative expectations influence behavior in ways
that may alienate partners and undermine relationships.
ADULT ATTACHMENT QUESTIONNAIRE
Please indicate how you typically feel toward roman-
tic (dating) partners in general. Keep in mind that there
are no right or wrong answers.
Avoidant items
1.I find it relatively easy to get close to others.*
2.I’m not very comfortable having to depend on other
people.
3.I’m comfortable having others depend on me.*
5.I don’t like people getting too close to me.
6.I’m somewhat uncomfortable being too close to others.
7.I find it difficult to trust others completely.
8.I’m nervous whenever anyone gets too close to me.
9.Others often want me to be more intimate than I feel
comfortable being.
Anxiety items
4.I rarely worry about being abandoned by others.*
10.Others often are reluctant to get as close as I would
like.11.I often worry that my partner(s) don’t really
love me.
12.I rarely worry about my partner(s) leaving me.*
13.I often want to merge completely with others, and
this desire sometimes scares them away.
14.I’m confident others would never hurt me by
suddenly ending our relationship.*
15.I usually want more closeness and intimacy than
others do.
16.The thought of being left by others rarely enters
my mind.*
17.I’m confident that my partner(s) love me just as
much as I love them.*
Notes : Items are rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale
ranging from: 1 5Strongly disagree to 7 5Strongly
agree.
*Reverse worded item.
Reproduced with permission.
Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR)
(Brennan et al., 1998 ).
Variable
By the late 1990s, the measures described thus far, and several others (e.g., Armsden & Greenberg, 1987 ;
Carnelley et al., 1994; Onishi & Gjerde, 1994; West & Sheldon-Keller, 1994 ) had appeared, and it had become clear
that more scales, largely redundant with the old ones, would appear if no one discovered and described their
essence. Brennan et al. (1998) therefore constructed a questionnaire that would summarize all self-report scales
that had been developed to measure adult attachment styles.428 15. MEASURES OF ADULT ATTACHMENT AND RELATED CONSTRUCTS
IV. INTERPERSONAL STYLES