THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERPERSONAL ATTACHMENT STYLES AND WORK DIFFICULTIES

Hazan and Shaver (1990) have argued that attachment theory can be used to predict relationships between adult attachment types (love) and as pects of work behavior. They found that anxious/ambivalent attachments were associated with poorer work performance. Avoidantly attached ind ividuals tended to be overinvolved with work which resulted in effecti ve work performance but disrupted home life. The present study aimed t o develop scales of insecure attachment problems for use with a clinic al population and to further replicate Hazan and Shaver's findings. In this context the study also looked at the effects of psychological in terventions on attachment difficulties. Using data from 219 depressed clients receiving psychological treatment for stress at work, differen ces in orientation to work were associated with the two insecure attac hment groups as predicted. The anxious/ambivalent scale correlated sig nificantly with reported anxiety about work performance and relationsh ips at work. In contrast, the avoidant scale correlated with concern o ver hours of work and difficulties in relationships at home and with s ocial life. The study also found that relationship problems associated with insecure attachments were significantly helped by psychological treatments.