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European Journal of Social Sciences Studies ISSN: 2501-8590 ISSN-L: 2501-8590 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/soc Volume 2 │ Issue 8 │ 2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1043545 THE ROLE OF THE CHILD REARING BEHAVIORS IN PREDICTION OF THE ADULT ATTACHMENT ANXIETY AND ATTACHMENT AVOIDANCE Seda Ata1i, Berrin Akman2 Assist. Prof. Dr., Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Turkey 1 Prof. Dr., Hacettepe University, Turkey 2 Abstract: In this study we were aimed to examination between attachment dimensions (attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) and some demographics (age, working status, duration of marriage and the person helping the mother with childcare) in prediction of child rearing behaviours(inductive reasoning, punishment, obediencedemanding and warmth). The sample consist of 230 mothers whose child in early childhood educational settings. Personal Information Form , Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory II ECRI II : Child Rearing Questionnaire were utilized to conduct to data. Data were analyzed using Pearson's product-moment correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Research findings revealed that attachment anxiety is the predictor of mothers’ obedience demanding and punishment behaviors besides, attachment avoidance is only predictor of mothers’ punishment behaviors. According to the results, it could be seen that attachment dimensions are an important predictor in terms of child rearing behaviors. The findings obtained from the study were discussed in the light of the related literature and some suggestions were made for future research. Keywords: attachment, attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, child rearing behaviors, mothers of pre-schoolers Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 272 Seda Ata, Berrin Akman THE ROLE OF THE CHILD REARING BEHAVIORS IN PREDICTION OF THE ADULT ATTACHMENT ANXIETY AND ATTACHMENT AVOIDANCE 1. Introduction It is one of the most important assumptions of the attachment theory that babies, who come into the world as being suitable for developing the behavior of attachment to individuals who provide physiological and psychological care (generally their mothers), will be in need of stronger and more mature people than themselves as of birth (Bowlby, 1980). For the attachment behavior to be able to develop in children, securely, the mother sensitivity, which is defined as mother’s responsiveness to baby’s needs and feeding is defined (Grossmann et al., 2002; von der Lippe, Eilertsen, Hartmann, & Killèn, 2010). Furthermore, it is thought that other behaviors exhibited by mother in different cases are also important for the development of secure attachment. These behaviors include a) a mother is able to stay positive towards her child and avoid feelings of anger even when the child is irresponsive or stressed, b) she can play games with her child, c she can balance and meet her child’s needs and her own ones, being aware of her child, d she helps the development of her child’s autonomy by supporting child’s exploratory behaviors, e she is able to provide her child with sufficient stimuli and be together with her child, f she can be responsive to her child’s needs, g she is able to maintain interaction with her child, being accessible in terms of meeting child’s both physical and mental needs (Ainsworth et al., 1978). In the first years of life, the child creates mental models regarding himself/herself and others depending on the responses given by the mother to him/her, and these mental models serve as a guide and model in close interpersonal relationships in years to come (Bowlby, 1980). Moreover, these cognitive models help the childe organize and interpret the social messages coming from later relationships and (Goldberg, Grusec, & Jenkins, 1999). It is emphasized in the attachment theory that the baby-mother relationship is featured and the attachment system lasts a life time (from the cradle to the grave) (Bowlby, 1980). Researches in the field of developmental and social psychological on the basis of the assumption that attachment behaviors can keep going with different attachment figures along the lifetime, the researchers developed two different measurement techniques (interview and self-report) related to attachment measurement in 1980s. The first one of them is the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) which is a technique based on the analysis of children’s relationship with attachment figures in the context of stress, separation, and care themes in during childhood in the field of developmental psychology (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985; Main & Goldwyn, 1984, 1998). The first measuring instrument developed on the basis of self-report in the field of social psychology is Hazan and Shaver’s 1 which was adapted from triple attachment classification for adults developed for infants in “insworth’s experiment of European Journal of Social Sciences Studies - Volume 2 │ Issue 8 │ 2017 273 Seda Ata, Berrin Akman THE ROLE OF THE CHILD REARING BEHAVIORS IN PREDICTION OF THE ADULT ATTACHMENT ANXIETY AND ATTACHMENT AVOIDANCE strange situation and is based on the romantic attachment relationship. Later, Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) argued the four-category model based on two dimensions in their Relationship Questionnaire. Other measuring instruments developed on the basis of self-report include the Adult Attachment Scale (Collins & Read, 1990), the Adult Attachment Questionnaire (Simpson, Rholes, & Philips, 1996) and Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998). The fact that dimensional measures have higher predictive power than categorical measures in recent research studies (Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000; Sümer, 2006) was the reason why dimension-based attachment measure was preferred in this research. These dimensions reveal other two dimensions of insecure attachment (anxiety and avoidance). In adulthood, like in childhood, either of the hyperactivation and deactivation strategies are used depending on attachment dimensions in the situations of threat. Attachment avoidance can be defined as the deactivation of individual’s attachment system, suppression of emotions and relatively less expressed feelings. In attachment avoidance, individuals tend to become self-sufficient. It has also been stated that such individuals prefer being distant both physically and emotionally in their relationships. Attachment avoidance may cause individuals to keep their partners at emotional and physical distance and be less supportive (Fraley & Shaver, 1998; Kunce & Shaver, 1994; Reizer & Mikulincer, 2007; Simpson, Rholes, & Nelligan, 1992). Attachment anxiety can be defined as the hyperactivation of attachment system and the need for constant intimacy in relationships and the fear of rejection and being left. In attachment anxiety, individuals want to minimize the psychological distance with their attachment figures (Shaver & Mikulincer, 2002). In addition to these, when examining the reactions they give to others’ needs, it is stated that anxious individuals give inappropriate reactions to their romantic partners and give these reactions rather with egoistic motives (Feeney & Collins, 2001; Mikulincer & Reizer, 2007; Kunce & Shaver, 1994). Furthermore, attachment anxiety may cause individuals to regard themselves as inadequate for dealing with stressful events and their stress to increase (Birnbaum, Orr, Mikulincer, & Florian, 1997; Mikulincer & Florian, 1998). For viewing / downloading the full article, please access the following link: https://oapub.org/soc/index.php/EJSSS/article/view/236 European Journal of Social Sciences Studies - Volume 2 │ Issue 8 │ 2017 274