Three studies examined attachment-style differences in the interplay between attachment and affiliation systems within adolescents' same-sex friendships. In Study 1, adolescents completed attachment-style scales and reported on the rewards involved in a same-sex friendship, as well as on attachment features of this relationship. In Studies 2 and 3, adolescents completed attachment-style scales, visualized an interaction with their best same-sex friend under either attachment or affiliation contexts, and reported on the motives they pursued in such an interaction. Findings indicated that secure adolescents attached high importance to both attachment and affiliation goals in friendship, anxious-ambivalent adolescents overemphasized attachment goals, and avoidant adolescents gave low importance to the two types of goals. In addition, whereas secure adolescents were responsive to affiliation and attachment contexts, insecure adolescents showed less responsiveness to these contexts and their habitual working models guided their responses. Results were discussed in terms of Bowlby's `attachment-affiliation balance'.
Ainsworth, M. D. S. , Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: Assessed in the strange situation and at home. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
2.
Belle, D. (1989). Children's social networks and social supports. New York: Wiley.
3.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books.
4.
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation, anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books.
5.
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Routledge.
6.
Brennan, K. A. , Clark, C. L., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Self report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46-76). New York: Guilford Press.
7.
Bretherton, I. , & Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1974). Responses of one-year-olds to a stranger in a strange situation. In M. Lewis & L. A. Rosenblum (Eds.), The origins of fear (pp. 131-164). New York: Wiley.
8.
Bukowski, W. M. , Hoza, B., & Boivin, M. (1993). Popularity, friendship, and emotional adjustment during early adolescence. In B. Laursen (Ed.), Close friendships in adolescence (pp. 23-38). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
9.
Carbery, J. , & Buhrmester, D. (1998). Friendship and need fulfillment during three phases of young adulthood. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15, 393-409.
10.
Cassidy, J. (1999). The nature of the child's ties. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Hand-book of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 3-20). New York: Guilford Press.
11.
Collins, N. L. (1996). Working models of attachment: Implications for explanation, emotion, and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 810-832.
12.
Collins, N. L. , & Read, S. J. (1994). Cognitive representations of attachment: The structure and function of working models. In K. Bartholomew & D. Perlman (Eds.), Attachment processes in adulthood (pp. 53-92). London: Jessica Kingsley.
13.
Duck, S. W. (1991). Friends for life. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf
14.
Fraley, R. C. , & Davis, K. E. (1997). Attachment formation and transfer in young adults' close friendships and romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 4, 131-144.
15.
Furman, W. , & Buhrmester, D. (1992). Age and sex differences in perceptions of networks of personal relationships. Developmental Psychology, 21, 103-115.
16.
Harlow, H. F. (1969). Age-mate or affectional system. In D. S. Lehrman, R. A. Hinde, & E. Shaw (Eds.), Advances in the study of behavior (Vol. 2). New York: Academic Press.
17.
Harter, S. (1990). Self and identity development. In S. Feldman & G. R. Elliot (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 352-387). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
18.
Hartup, W. W. (1993). Adolescents and their friends. In B. Laursen (Ed.), Close friendships in adolescence (pp. 3-22). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
19.
Hazan, C. , & Shaver, P. R. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511-524.
20.
Kobak, R. R. , Cole, H. E., Ferenz, G. R., & Fleming, W. S. (1993). Attachment and emotion regulation during mother-teen problem solving: A control theory analysis. Child Development, 64, 231-245.
21.
Kobak, R. R. , & Sceery, A. (1988). Attachment in late adolescence: Working models, affect regulation, and representations of self and others. Child Development, 95, 135-146.
22.
Laursen, B. (1993). Close friendships in adolescence. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
23.
Lydon, J. E. , Jamieson, D. W., & Holmes, J. G. (1997). The meaning of social interactions in the transition from acquaintanceship to friendship.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 536-548.
24.
Main, M. , Kaplan, N., & Cassidy, J. (1985). Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50, 66-104.
25.
Mikulincer, M. (1995). Attachment style and the mental representation of the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 1203-1215
26.
Mikulincer, M. , & Florian, V. (1998). The relationship between adult attachment styles and emotional and cognitive reactions to stressful events. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 143-165). New York: Guilford Press.
27.
Mikulincer, M. , Florian, V., & Tolmacz, R. (1990). Attachment styles and fear of personal death: A case study of affect regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 273-280.
28.
Miller, R. , Caul, W., & Mirsky, I. (1967). Communication of affect between feral and socially isolated monkeys. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 7, 231-239.
29.
Nestmann, F. , & Hurrelmann, K. (1994). Social networks and social support in childhood and adolescence. New York: Walter de Gruyter.
30.
Parker, J. G. , & Asher, S. R. (1987). Peer relations and later personal adjustment: Are low-accepted children at risk?Psychological Bulletin, 102, 357-389.
31.
Rubin, Z. (1980). Children's friendships. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
32.
Shaver, P. R. , & Hazan, C. (1993). Adult romantic attachment: Theory and evidence. In D. Perlman & W. Jones (Eds.), Advances in personal relationships (pp. 29-70). London: Jessica Kingsley.
33.
Taylor, S. E. , & Schneider, S. K. (1989). Coping and the simulation of events. Social Cognition, 7, 174-194.
34.
van IJzendoorn, M. H. , & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (1996). Attachment representations in mothers, fathers, adolescents, and clinical groups: A meta-analytic search for normative data. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 8-21.
35.
Vandell, D. L. (1980). Sociability with peer and mother during the first year. Developmental Psychology, 16, 355-361.
36.
Weiss, R. S. (1974). The provisions of social relationships. In Z. Rubin (Ed.), Support systems and mutual help (pp. 17-26). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
37.
Weiss, R. S. (1998). A taxonomy of relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15, 671-683.
38.
Wright, P. H. (1982). Men's friendship, women's friendship and the alleged inferiority of the latter. Sex Roles, 8, 1-20.
39.
Wright, P. H. (1984). Self-referent motivation and the intrinsic quality of friendship. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 1, 115-130.
40.
Wright, P. H. (1985). The Acquaintance Description Form. In S. W. Duck & D. Perlman (Eds.), Understanding personal relationships (pp. 39-62). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
41.
Wright, P. H. (1989). Gender differences: Adult same and cross-sex friendships. In R. G. Adams & R. B. Blieszner (Eds.), Older adults' friendship: Structure and process (pp. 129-146). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
42.
Youniss, J. , & Smollar, J. (1985). Adolescents' relations with mothers, fathers, and friends. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
