Predicting Relationship Satisfaction in Romantic and Non-Romantic Dyads: The Impact of Attachment Style and Partner Behaviors

Abstract

The social support literature has a primary focus on the impact of objective partner behaviors on both relationship quality and the well-being of each partner. In contrast, the adult attachment literature stresses the relational impact of key intrapsychic processes. Very little research attention, however, has been accorded to the interrelationships that may exist between attachment style and social support. The present study, therefore, examines the relative contributions of attachment style and partner behaviors on reported relationship satisfaction, as well as the manner in which these contributions may differ across different relationship types - romantic dyads, friendships, and familial relationships. Participants were recruited from the popular crowd-sourcing website, Amazon Mechanical Turk, and structural equation modeling was employed to analyze hypothesized causal and mediational pathways. Attachment style and partner behaviors were each significantly associated with relationship satisfaction, with partner behaviors appearing to partially mediate the relationship between attachment style and relationship satisfaction. In general, avoidant attachment was more strongly associated with adverse partner behaviors - and with reduced relationship satisfaction - than was anxious attachment. However, the pattern of such effects varied somewhat across relationship type, with avoidant attachment being strongly predictive of negative partner behaviors only within the context of romantic relationships. Moreover, only relationship satisfaction with a romantic partner (as opposed to friend or family member) was predictive of life satisfaction. These findings are generally consistent with previous research indicating that attachment style and partner supportive behaviors each impact relationship satisfaction, yet they suggest a differential importance of attachment style and partner behaviors across different types of relationships.