The Influence of Adult Attachment on Interpersonal Abilities: The Intermediate Effect of Emotion Regulation Style and Social Anxiety
AUTHOR : 강수진,최영희
INFORMATION : page. 53~68 / 2011 Vol.18 No.3
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to understand the influence of adult attachment on interpersonal abilities
by analyzing the effect of emotion regulation style and social anxiety. The subjects were 629 university
students. The instruments were the ECR-R(Fraley et al., 2000) adapted by Kim(2004) for adult
attachment, the CERQ(Garnefski et al., 2001) adapted by Kim(2004) for emotion regulation style, the
SAS-A((LaGreca, 1998) adapted by Moon and Oh(2002) for social anxiey, and the ICQ(Buhrmester et al.,
1988) adapted by Kim and Kim(1999) for interpersonal ability. Data were analyzed by frequency,
Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression. The main results were as follows: First, attachment avoidance
and anxiety were negatively related with interpersonal abilities. Attachment avoidance showed a higher
degree of predictability of interpersonal abilities than attachment anxiety. Second, interpersonal abilities were
influenced by adult attachment through the intermediate effect of the emotion regulation style. Emotional
regulation style influenced interpersonal abilities and was partly intermediated by attachment avoidance;
whilst it was wholly intermediated by attachment anxiety. Third, interpersonal abilities were influenced by
adult attachment through the intermediate operation of the social anxiety. Social anxiety influenced
interpersonal abilities and was partly intermediated by attachment avoidance whilst being wholly
intermediated by attachment anxiety. The results of this study suggest the validity of cognitive intervention
upon emotional regulation style and furthermore social anxiety may be helpful for those clients with
interpersonal relations derived from attachment problems.