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The Functional Discrimination of Attachment and Affiliation

Theory and Empirical Demonstration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Adrienne E. R. Sheldon  and
Malcolm West
Adrienne E. R. Sheldon*
Affiliation:
Behavioral Sciences Research Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary
Malcolm West
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary; Supervisory Psychologist, Department of Psychology, Calgary General Hospital
*
∗Department of Psychiatry, M7-033, Calgary General Hospital, 641 Centre Ave, NE, Calgary, Alberta T2E OA1, Canada
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Abstract

Volunteer college students completed a categorisation task designed to test the hypothesis that adults organise their expectations of relationships in a manner that reflects a functional distinction between attachment and affiliation. Terms associated with the provision of security and with characteristics theoretically identified as definitive of attachment relationships were significantly more likely to be associated with the relationship identified as ‘lover’. There was substantial overlap between attachment and affiliation relationships in functions relating to intimacy and disclosure. These results highlight the need to differentiate close relationships by functional rather than structural characteristics.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 155 , Issue 1 , July 1989 , pp. 18 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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