Emma Connors | 2024 I.S. Symposium

Name:Emma Connors
Title: Relationships, Attachment, and Stress: How Do College Students Manage Romantic Relationships Under the Influence of Attachment Style and the Stress of College Life
Majors: Psychology; Early Childhood Education
Advisors: Michael Casey; Meredith Hope (second reader)

In an extension of research on attachment styles formed in early childhood, the present study aimed to gain a better understanding of how attachment style affects romantic relationships of college students and whether relationships allow for lower levels of perceived stress. Students at the College of Wooster (n = 202) were recruited to respond to three questionnaires. An adult attachment scale (ECR) was used to measure the distribution of attachment styles in college students and correlated with questions measuring satisfaction within romantic relationships. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was used to measure the degree to which situations in one’s life are appraised as stressful. Participants were also asked to self-report their attachment style in a relationship as being Secure, Anxious, Avoidant, or Insecure-Fearful. The results indicated that college student participants were more likely to report their attachment style as Secure if they were involved in a local relationship. It was also found that high Avoidant attachment was positively correlated with perceived stress scores. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference among the Perceived Stress scores and the three types of relationship situations (Local, Long-Distance, No Current Relationship), meaning that all college students had high levels of perceived stress regardless of their relationship status. Bonds with attachment figures in early childhood can impact the attachment styles we form throughout our lives, which affect adult relationships and can explain why people behave the way they do within their relationships and how people relate to others. Considering the prevalence of stress in the daily lives of college students, it is important to further study the potential ways to buffer the negative effects of stress on well-being, as the quality of one’s attachment history could be a significant influence on how people perceive and respond to stress.

Posted in Symposium 2024 on May 2, 2024.