This study explored the relationship between night-sky watching and self-reported cognitive variables: need for cognition and social problem-solving. University students (N = 140) completed the Noctcaelador Inventory, the Need for Cognition Scale, and the Social Problem Solving Inventory. The results indicated that an interest in the night-sky was…

We extended earlier demonstrations of the matching phenomenon (individuals choose romantic partners who tend to match them on a variety of traits) to demonstrate several relationship issues including contrast effects, the impact of alternative mates on relationship satisfaction, and social exchange and equity theories. Students first place playing…

Family processes associated with childhood role reversal and related adult outcomes were examined in a community sample 128 adults using a semistructured interview exploring family, friend, and romantic relationships. Women showed stronger role reversal than men, and role reversal was stronger with mothers than with fathers. Role reversal of women…

This research examines the effects of social capital on teacher identity in a sample of undergraduate after-degree education students who took most or all of their courses together as a cohort. A theoretical model containing nine variables including university and social background, social capital, and teacher identity is presented. The data…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between attachment to parents and psychological separation in college students. Three hundred sixty-eight undergraduate students completed the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) and the Psychological Separation Inventory (Hoffman, 1984). Results…

This intergenerational study investigates histories of both attachment relationships and abusive experiences and domains of current functioning that distinguish families of sexually abused children from families of nonabused children. The participants included (a) 199 nonoffending African American mothers of whom approximately half had children…

Preschool to school-age trajectories of 242 children, including 37 with insecure-disorganized and 66 with insecure-organized attachment patterns, were examined. Child attachment and stressful life events (the latter retrospectively) were measured at ages 5-7, and mother-child interactive quality, parenting stress, marital satisfaction, and…

This study examined differences in the caregiving representations of mothers of 3- to 4-year-old behaviorally inhibited and uninhibited children with secure or insecure attachments. Mothers of inhibited children perceived their children as more vulnerable than did mothers of uninhibited children, and they acknowledged difficulties associated with…

When 29 child sex offenders, 30 violent offenders, 30 nonviolent offenders, and 30 community controls were compared, a secure adult attachment style was 4 times less common in the child sex offender group than in any of the other three groups. Ninety-three percent of sex offenders had an insecure adult attachment style. Compared with community…

Extending an earlier study that found high self-esteem to modify the impact of otherwise maladaptive perfectionism on depression, the current study used adult attachment theory to explore the link between perfectionism, self-esteem, and depression in college students. Results indicated that self-esteem buffered the effects of maladaptive…

This article addresses how close relationships can be conceptualized so that they can be accurately understood over the life span. First, two typical clusters of theories of close relationships, the attachment theory and the social network theory, are compared and discussed with regard to their fundamental but controversial assumptions regarding…

The aim of this article is to propose a theorization of the father-child relationship based on our current understanding of attachment, interactions between fathers and their young children, and human-specific adaptations. The comparison of mother-child and father-child interactions suggests that fathers play a particularly important role in the…

This study examined the mediating roles of perceived social support and psychological distress on the relationship between adult attachment and help-seeking intentions. Participants were 355 college students at a large Midwestern university. The structural equation model results indicated that attachment anxiety in individuals was positively…

This study examined basic psychological needs satisfaction (i.e., the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) as a mediator between adult attachment (i.e., anxiety and avoidance) and distress (i.e., shame, depression, and loneliness). A total of 299 undergraduates from a Midwestern university participated. Results from structural equation…

This study investigated the relationship of ethnicity, parental education, gender, and parental attachment to multiple dimensions of self-image among 285 (161 female and 124 male) late adolescent Belizean students. Student ratings of self-image were unrelated to paternal education and student ethnicity. For maternal education, ethnic identity was…