IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v15y2014i5p1041-1059.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Attachment Styles Affect the Presence and Search for Meaning in Life?

Author

Listed:
  • E. Bodner
  • Y. Bergman
  • S. Cohen-Fridel

Abstract

The current work examines the connection between attachment theory and meaning in life (MIL) across adulthood, by inspecting attachment style differences on two dimensions of MIL: presence of meaning (PML) and search for meaning (SML). MIL and attachment measures were collected from 992 participants of three age-groups, young adults (21–30), established adults (31–49), and older adults (50–65). Multivariate analyses demonstrated that older adults scored higher on PML, while younger adults reported more SML. In general, securely attached individuals demonstrated more PML and less SML than participants with insecure attachment styles, and individuals with a fearful attachment style displayed more SML than other attachment styles. Age interacted with attachment, as dismissive young adults displayed less SML, and gender differences were revealed in PML among established adults with regard to the preoccupied and fearful attachment styles. Finally, a three-way interaction of attachment × age × gender was found for PML, as in the established adults, both preoccupied men and fearful women reported a decline in PML, while older women with secure attachment reported higher levels of PML. While in accordance with the developing literature in the field of positive psychology, the current findings shed light on the manner by which the connections between attachment styles, age and gender are associated with the presence and the search for MIL. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • E. Bodner & Y. Bergman & S. Cohen-Fridel, 2014. "Do Attachment Styles Affect the Presence and Search for Meaning in Life?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1041-1059, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:15:y:2014:i:5:p:1041-1059
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-013-9462-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10902-013-9462-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-013-9462-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Riediger, Michaela & Schmiedek, Florian & Wagner, Gert G. & Lindenberger, Ulman, 2009. "Seeking Pleasure and Seeking Pain: Differences in Prohedonic and Contra-Hedonic Motivation From Adolescence to Old Age," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 20(12), pages 1529-1535.
    2. Clemens Tesch-Römer & Andreas Motel-Klingebiel & Martin Tomasik, 2008. "Gender Differences in Subjective Well-Being: Comparing Societies with Respect to Gender Equality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 85(2), pages 329-349, January.
    3. William Michael Brown & Nathan S. Consedine & Carol Magai, 2005. "Altruism Relates to Health in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 60(3), pages 143-152.
    4. Dov Shmotkin, 1990. "Subjective well-being as a function of age and gender: A multivariate look for differentiated trends," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 201-230, November.
    5. Brendan Baird & Richard Lucas & M. Donnellan, 2010. "Life Satisfaction Across the Lifespan: Findings from Two Nationally Representative Panel Studies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 183-203, November.
    6. Michael Steger & Todd Kashdan, 2007. "Stability and specificity of meaning in life and life satisfaction over one year," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 161-179, June.
    7. Neal Krause, 2004. "Stressors Arising in Highly Valued Roles, Meaning in Life, and the Physical Health Status of Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 59(5), pages 287-297.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dilek Yıldız & Hilal Arslan & Alanur Çavlin, 2021. "Understanding women’s well-being in Turkey," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 19(1), pages 255-291.
    2. Miaoyun Li & Dong Yang & Cody Ding & Feng Kong, 2015. "Validation of the Social Well-being Scale in a Chinese Sample and Invariance Across Gender," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(2), pages 607-618, April.
    3. Anthony Bardo & Takashi Yamashita, 2014. "Validity of Domain Satisfaction Across Cohorts in the US," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 367-385, June.
    4. Neal Krause & R. David Hayward, 2014. "Assessing Stability and Change in a Second-Order Confirmatory Factor Model of Meaning in Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 237-253, April.
    5. Leiv Gabrielsen & Pål Ulleberg & Reidulf Watten, 2012. "The Adolescent Life Goal Profile Scale: Development of a New Scale for Measurements of Life Goals Among Young People," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(6), pages 1053-1072, December.
    6. Mingzhu Wang & Hong Zou & Wenjuan Zhang & Ke Hou, 2019. "Emotional Intelligence and Subjective Well-Being in Chinese University Students: The Role of Humor Styles," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1163-1178, April.
    7. Neal Krause & Kenneth I. Pargament, 2017. "Losing My Religion: Exploring the Relationship Between a Decline in Faith and a Positive Affect," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(4), pages 885-901, December.
    8. David G. Blanchflower, 2020. "Is Happiness U-shaped Everywhere? Age and Subjective Well-being in 132 Countries," NBER Working Papers 26641, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Clemens Tesch-Römer & Andreas Motel-Klingebiel & Martin Tomasik, 2008. "Gender Differences in Subjective Well-Being: Comparing Societies with Respect to Gender Equality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 85(2), pages 329-349, January.
    10. Rosa Mª Baños & Lorena Desdentado & Mª Dolores Vara & Tamara Escrivá-Martínez & Rocío Herrero & Marta Miragall & José M. Tomás, 2023. "How the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Consequences Affect the Presence of and Search for Meaning of Life: A Longitudinal Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 17-33, January.
    11. Terence C. Cheng & Nattavudh Powdthavee & Andrew J. Oswald, 2017. "Longitudinal Evidence for a Midlife Nadir in Human Well‐being: Results from Four Data Sets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(599), pages 126-142, February.
    12. Seon, Youngwoon & Smith-Adcock, Sondra, 2023. "Adolescents’ meaning in life as a resilience factor between bullying victimization and life satisfaction," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    13. Stefano Tartaglia, 2013. "Different Predictors of Quality of Life in Urban Environment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 1045-1053, September.
    14. Steven Tsun-Wai Chu & Helene Hoi-Lam Fung, 2021. "Is the Search for Meaning Related to the Presence of Meaning? Moderators of the Longitudinal Relationship," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 127-145, January.
    15. Alexandra Cristina Sãžrbu & Mircea Asandului, 2021. "Determinants Of Subjective Well-Being Among Romanian Older Adults," Review of Economic and Business Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 28, pages 111-124, December.
    16. Child, Stephanie T. & Lawton, Leora E., 2020. "Personal networks and associations with psychological distress among young and older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    17. Inmyung Song & Hye-Jae Lee, 2022. "Predictors of subjective well-being in Korean men and women: Analysis of nationwide panel survey data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(2), pages 1-16, February.
    18. Xinjie Chen & Zhihui Cai & Jinbo He & Xitao Fan, 2020. "Gender Differences in Life Satisfaction Among Children and Adolescents: A Meta-analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2279-2307, August.
    19. Rui Zhang & Lin-Xin Wang & Jesus Alfonso D. Datu & Yue Liang & Kai Dou & Yan-Gang Nie & Jian-Bin Li, 2023. "High Qualities of Relationships with Parents and Teachers Contribute to the Development of Adolescent Life Satisfaction Through Resilience: A Three-Wave Prospective Longitudinal Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1339-1365, April.
    20. Yuval Palgi, 2013. "Ongoing Cumulative Chronic Stressors as Predictors of Well-Being in the Second Half of Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1127-1144, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:15:y:2014:i:5:p:1041-1059. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.