Attachment Dimensions and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

• In Event: Investigating the Darkside: Aggression and Conflict in Relationships

Abstract

Data were collected from a convenience sample of 173 individuals in established romantic relationships to test proposed associations between attachment-anxiety and attachment-avoidance and questionnaire measures of Gottman’s four horsemen of the apocalypse. As anticipated, attachment orientation predicted self-reported tendencies to be critical, contemptuous, defensive, and to stonewall, with attachment anxiety emerging as the stronger predictor for each of the outcome measures except stonewalling.

Authors

• Craig Fowler, California State University, Fresno

• Megan Dillow, West Virginia University