The Role of Attachment Styles and Shame-Proneness on Relational Models
The purpose of the present study was to explore relationships among attachment styles, shame-proneness and tendencies in the use of Relational Models (Communal Sharing, Authority Ranking, Equality Matching and Market Pricing) with the aim of drawing attention to the implications of shame in interpersonal contexts. These issues were approached in terms of individual psychological developmental and relational self. A convenience sample of 386 young adults, aged between 18 and 30, participated in the study, most of them students at Istanbul Bilgi University. A survey packet including an informed consent form included (1) Relationship Scale Questionnaire (RSQ) to measure attachment style, (2) Personal Feeling Questionnaire-2 (PFQ-2) to measure shame-proneness and (3) a revised version of Modes of Relationship Questionnaire (MORQ) to measure the use of relational models. The hypothesis claiming that secure individuals would prefer CS relationships regardless of their level of shame-proneness was supported and it was observed that they preferred CS even more as the level of shame-proneness increased. The hypothesised relations between attachment styles and shame-proneness were also in the expected direction: secure participants had lower shame scores than the insecurely attached; among those with an insecure attachment style, “preoccupied” and “fearful” participants had higher levels of shame-proneness. Lastly, people experiencing both shame and guilt at a lower level were found to be more securely attached, supporting the relevant hypothesis. In addition, it was found that the use of AR, EM and MP increased significantly as the level of shame-proneness increased and higher levels of both shame- and guilt-proneness were related to greater use of AR and MP relational models. With the present study, it was shown that thinking about sociality in terms of Relational Models may provide remarkable information about attachment styles and the frequency of experiencing shame. The findings are discussed and suggestions for future studies are given.