Abstract

This study explored (a) the similarities and the differences of adult attachments in romantic relationships and friendships, and (b) the impact of parental attachment and psychological separation from parents on romantic attachment and friend attachment. Survey data were collected from college students in late adolescence. For both men and women, the patterns of friend attachment in dependence, anxiety, and closeness dimensions were similar to those of romantic attachment. However, the scores of dependence and closeness dimensions of romantic attachment were higher than those of friend attachment. Compared with other styles, men who were avoidant styles showed lower scores in the closeness dimension of friend attachment. However, their closeness score of romantic attachment was not lower than other groups. Parental attachment and separation from parents predicted adult attachment. For men, maternal attachment was correlated only with the anxiety dimension of adult attachment. The romantic attachment and the friend attachment were correlated with paternal attachment when maternal attachment was controlled. In addition, the emotional and conflictual independence from father and the conflictual independence from mother strongly predicted the adult attachment of men when parental attachment was controlled. For women, maternal attachment was correlated with the adult attachment, whereas the paternal attachment was not the predictor. Among the independence subscales, only the emotional separation influenced on the anxiety dimension of friend attachment of women.