Date of Award

8-2021

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Psychological Science

Program

Psychological Science (MS)

First Advisor/Chairperson

Dr. Jon Barch

Abstract

ABSTRACT

IN SEARCH OF A SIMPLIFIED, OBJECTIVE ATTACHMENT STYLE ASSESSMENT: THE ATTACHMENT IMPLICIT MEASURE

By

Lisa M. Savage

Attachment is a lasting bond between two people (Bowlby, 1958). Bonding starts at birth and lasts through the lifetime (Bowlby, 1958). Emotional and social development is impacted by attachment (Bowlby, 1976). Measuring attachment is beneficial to clinical psychologists and psychological research. There are both implicit and explicit measures of attachment. Explicit measures are subject to social desirability and other bias and require a person's honesty and understanding of self. Current implicit measures are lengthy and expensive to administer and score. The development of a more efficient implicit measure of attachment will benefit the field of psychology. The aim of this study was to validate a new attachment style measure. The Attachment Implicit Measure (AIM) was created in hopes of developing a better test for implicit attachment assessment. Participants were given a battery of online questionnaires and in person tests in order to assess the validity of the new attachment measure. Results did not yield significant findings for the validation of the AIM. Although, it was determined that a reaction time task may be a viable option for a new implicit measure of attachment style.

Access Type

Open Access

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