Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) - 12-16-2010
by James Lani - Statistics Solutions - http://www.statisticssolutions.com
Adult Attachment Scale (AAS)
by James Lani
http://www.statisticssolutions.com/adult-attachment-scale-aas/
Click here for to get help with your Thesis or Dissertation.
Click here for FREE Thesis and Dissertation resources (templates, samples, calculators).
The Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) was officially developed in 1990 but built on the earlier work of
Hazen & Shaver (1987) and Levy & Davis (1988). The scale was developed by decomposing the original
three prototypical descriptions (Hazen & Shaver, 1987) into a series of 18 items.
The scale consists of 18 items scored on a 5 point likert-type scale. It measures adult attachment styles
named "Secure", "Anxious" and "Avoidant", defined as:
• Secure = high scores on Close and Depend subscales, low score on Anxiety subscale
• Anxious = high score on Anxiety subscale, moderate scores on Close and Depend subscales
• Avoidant = low scores on Close, Depend, and Anxiety subscales
The 18 items that compromise the measure are as follows:
I find it difficult to allow myself to depend on others (Av)
People are never there when you need them (Av)
I am comfortable depending on others (S)
I know that others will be there when I need them (S)
I find it difficult to trust others completely (Av)
I am not sure that I can always depend on others to be there when I need them (Ax)
I do not often worry about being abandoned (S)
I often worry that my partner does not really love me (Ax)
I find others are reluctant to get as close as I would like (Ax)
I often worry my partner will not want to stay with me (Ax)
I want to merge completely with another person (Ax)
My desire to merge sometimes scares people away (Ax)
I find it relatively easy to get close to others (S)
I do not often worry about someone getting close to me (S)
I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to others (Av)
I am nervous when anyone gets too close (Av)
I am comfortable having others depend on me (S)
Often, love partners want me to be more intimate than I feel comfortable being (Av)
Note: (S)= Secure, (Av)= Avoidant, (Ax)= Anxious/Ambivalent
1/2
Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) - 12-16-2010
by James Lani - Statistics Solutions - http://www.statisticssolutions.com
Authors
Nancy L. Collins, Stephen J. Read
Reliability and Validity
Collins & Read (1990) reported Cronbach's alpha coefficients of .69 for Close, .75 for Depend, and .72
for Anxiety. Test-retest correlations for a 2-month period were .68 for Close, .71 for Depend, and .52 for
Anxiety.
To obtain permission to use this scale
Contact the authors directly to request permission: Nancy L. Collins, Stephen J. Read.
Administration, Analysis and Reporting
Statistics Solutions consists of a team of professional methodologists and statisticians that can assist the
student or professional researcher in administering the survey instrument, collecting the data, conducting
the analyses and explaining the results.
For additional information on these services, click here.
Dissertations Using the Adult Attachment Scale
Below is a list of dissertations using the AAS. The full version of these dissertations can be found using
ProQuest.
Sirota, T. H. (1997). A comparison of adult attachment style dimensions between women who have gay or
bisexual fathers and women who have heterosexual fathers. New York University).
References
Collins, N. L., & Read, S. J. (1990). Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating
couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(4), 644-663.
The Attachment Theory Website
_______________________________________________
2/2
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
