Predictors of young adults representations of and behavior in their current romantic relationship: Prospective tests of the prototype hypothesis

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1 This article was downloaded by:[cdl Journals Account] On: 25 August 2007 Access Details: [subscription number ] Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: Registered office: Mortimer House, Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Attachment & Human Development Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: Predictors of young adults' representations of and behavior in their current romantic relationship: Prospective tests of the prototype hypothesis Glenn I. Roisman a ; Andrew W. Collins b ; Alan L. Sroufe b ; Byron Egeland b a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA b University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus, USA Online Publication Date: 01 June 2005 To cite this Article: Roisman, Glenn I., Collins, Andrew W., Sroufe, Alan L. and Egeland, Byron (2005) 'Predictors of young adults' representations of and behavior in their current romantic relationship: Prospective tests of the prototype hypothesis', Attachment & Human Development, 7:2, To link to this article: DOI: / URL: PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: This article maybe used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Taylor and Francis 2007

2 Attachment & Human Development, June 2005; 7(2): Predictors of young adults representations of and behavior in their current romantic relationship: Prospective tests of the prototype hypothesis GLENN I. ROISMAN 1, W. ANDREW COLLINS 2, L. ALAN SROUFE 2,& BYRON EGELAND 2 1 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, and 2 University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus, USA Abstract Although attachment theory suggests that childhood experiences with caregivers serve as a prototype for adult love relationships, few explicit tests of this hypothesis exist in the literature. Drawing on data from a longitudinal cohort followed from birth to young adulthood, this paper examined correlates and antecedents of young adults representations of and behavior in their current romantic relationship. Young adults who experienced a secure relationship with their primary caregiver in infancy as assessed in the Strange Situation were more likely to (a) produce coherent discourse regarding their current romantic partnership in the context of the Current Relationship Interview (CRI) and (b) have a higher quality romantic relationship as observed in standard conflict and collaboration tasks. Infant security accounted for variation in CRI security above and beyond the observed quality of participants current romantic relationship. In contrast, the association between infant and romantic security was partially mediated by individuals self-reports about their romantic experiences, suggesting that one plausible mechanism by which early experiences with caregivers shape young adults representations of their attachments with romantic partners is through adults expectations for and perceptions of love relationships. Keywords: Current Relationship Interview, prototype hypothesis, romantic relationships, longitudinal, infant attachment security Introduction Borrowing from the psychoanalytic tradition, Bowlby (1973) claimed that early attachment experiences lay a foundation for the course and quality of future love relationships (see Owens, Crowell, Pan, Treboux, O Connor, & Waters, 1995). In many ways the boldest assertion of attachment theory, this prototype hypothesis has become a lightning rod of controversy in developmental research, with some arguing that attachments are strongly, if not exclusively, the product of current experiences (see, e.g., Lewis, Feiring, & Rosenthal, 2000) and others emphasizing the dynamic interplay of developmental history and current circumstances in the development of adult security (see, e.g., Waters, Hamilton, & Weinfield, 2000). Correspondence: Glenn I. Roisman, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. roisman@uiuc.edu ISSN print/issn online ª 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd DOI: /

3 106 G. I. Roisman et al. Central propositions of attachment theory include (a) there are childhood roots of adaptation to adult relationships and (b) nevertheless, there is an ongoing role for current experiences in shaping and even transforming developmental trajectories (see Roisman, Padrón, Sroufe, & Egeland, 2002). Bowlby did not believe that early individual differences in the quality of attachments to caregivers (e.g., in infancy) determine the course of adult relationships. Instead, as elaborated in the writings of Sroufe and others (e.g., Collins & Sroufe, 1999; Sroufe, Carlson, Levy, & Egeland, 1999), Bowlby saw early attachment experiences as probabilistically associated with later adaptation as mediated by the development of working models that (a) are more or less veridical reflections of the reality of prior caregiving experiences and (b) serve as guides (and at times constraints) for engaging in future relationships. Although attachment theory suggests that such working models can be modified in light of the changing nature of the quality of parent child relationships (as well as through corrective experiences in other attachment partnerships), what cannot be changed is the supportive or malevolent reality of an adults childhood experiences, that is their developmental history. Bowlby s prototype hypothesis is thus rooted in two empirically verifiable propositions: (a) both childhood (parent child) and adult (romantic) attachment experiences each play a unique role in scaffolding security in adult love relationships and (b) early experiences influence love relationships to the extent that they set up expectations for and beliefs about adult attachment partnerships. The first part of this prototype hypothesis emphasizes the real life roots of adult romantic security in current and prior attachment relationships. The second draws attention to the fact that the unique significance of early experiences lies in the fact that they provide a set of principles for making sense of the dynamics of adult relationships prior to their establishment. Of note, an important consequence of this fully realized prototype hypothesis is that it can only be explicitly tested using long-term prospective, longitudinal data. In addition, such a test requires research tools designed specifically to assess young adults representations of and behavior in their current romantic relationship. In order to explicitly test the prototype hypothesis outlined above, in this paper we examined correlates and developmental antecedents of individual differences inferred from a semi-structured protocol designed to assess young adults representations of their current romantic relationship known as the Current Relationship Interview (CRI; Crowell & Owens, 1996) as well as the observed quality of young adults relationships as assessed in standard conflict resolution and collaboration paradigms. In brief, the CRI is a semistructured, approximately hour-long protocol that requires participants to describe their relationship with their current partner, revisit salient separation episodes, explore instances of perceived rejection, recall experiences with caregiving and careseeking in their romantic relationship, and describe how the achievement of their own and their partner s goals have been aided or undermined though their involvement with one another. Unlike other narrative measures of adult attachment, the CRI is not viewed as a measure of security in adult romantic relationships generally but rather as a means by which to assess whether individuals are able to freely and flexibly evaluate their current romantic relationship (Treboux, Crowell, & Waters, 2004). As the CRI measures coherence of discourse, it is only by inference pertinent to the assessment of security. Complete testing of the prototype hypothesis thus requires diverse assessments, including behavioral measures focused on the use of a romantic partner as a secure base. Paralleling the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), a well-validated measure used to assess individuals current state of mind regarding earlier attachment experiences with parents (see Hesse, 1999; Roisman, Tsai, & Chiang, 2004), coding of the CRI is focused on the coherence with which an individual talks about his or her experiences with a romantic

4 The Prototype Hypothesis 107 partner, not merely the emotional valence of the events he or she describes. More specifically, coding ultimately yields primary attachment classifications of secure, dismissing, or preoccupied. Adults with secure states of mind provide a balanced and objective account of their experiences with their romantic partner, whether such experiences are described as positive or negative in nature. In contrast, dismissing and preoccupied adults defensively idealize and/or derogate their significant other or appear currently enmeshed in their relationship, respectively. Although the CRI is not the only interview measure that has been developed to assess an adult s state of mind regarding their romantic relationship (see, e.g., Barthlomew & Horowitz, 1991; Carlson, Onishi, & Gjerde, 1997; Cowan & Cowan, 1991), its structural and coding similarities to the AAI make it a measure of significant interest. Importantly, however, the CRI has thus far not been used extensively, and most of the psychometric information available on the instrument is the product of a single laboratory. Extant data on the CRI are nonetheless consistent with some of the core tenets of attachment theory (see Crowell, Fraley, & Shaver, 1999). More specifically, the limited published data on the CRI suggest that it is associated with (a) observations of support-giving and careseeking in romantic relationships and (b) the coherence with which individuals talk about their childhood experiences in the AAI (but see Furman, Simon, Shaffer, & Bouchey, 2002). Although such data speak to the validity of the CRI as an assessment of adults states of mind regarding their current romantic relationship, they do not represent explicit tests of the prototype hypothesis (cf. Owens et al., 1995). Cross-sectional analyses linking, for example, adults generalized attachment representations of childhood experiences as assessed by the AAI to measures such as the CRI could either over or underestimate the role of childhood attachment experiences in the development of secure states of mind with respect to romantic partners. Variables measured concurrently might be expected to show strong convergence simply due to the cross-sectional nature of their assessment. Then again, it is also well established that significant change can occur from infancy to young adulthood in terms of individuals attachment states of mind with primary caregivers (see Roisman et al., 2002; Thompson, 2000), thereby diluting evidence of the legacy of earlier experiences with caregivers. Perhaps due to the challenges associated with making claims about the significance of early experiences using retrospective designs, the small cross-sectional literature on links between adults states of mind regarding childhood experiences with caregivers and romantic security is at present somewhat inconsistent, with some researchers reporting modest associations between AAI and CRI security (Owens et al., 1995) and others concluding that there may only be inconsistent overlap between such measures, at least in late adolescence (Furman et al., 2002). Moreover, only a single study has explicitly tested the prototype hypothesis as outlined earlier, demonstrating that maternal sensitivity as well as earlier attachment security in childhood and adolescence are associated with secure states of mind as assessed in the CRI in young adulthood (Grossmann, Grossmann, Winter, & Zimmermann, 2002). This latter study, however, was based on a modest sub-sample drawn from the Grossmann longitudinal dataset and many details of this analysis are omitted from the chapter in which it appears. This article extends analyses presented in an earlier paper (Roisman, Madsen, Hennighausen, Sroufe, & Collins, 2001) by examining the concurrent correlates and antecedents of CRI security using data drawn from a longitudinal study of a high-risk sample followed from birth to young adulthood. Between the ages of 20 and 21, the sub-set of romantically involved participants from this study (a) were administered the CRI, (b)

5 108 G. I. Roisman et al. completed a set of commonly used self-report measures of individuals perceptions of their romantic relationships, and (c) were observed with their romantic partners in a set of videotaped interactions. Primary analyses for this study focus on the relation of CRI classifications to the observed and self-reported quality of participants romantic relationships in adulthood, as well as the security of their attachments with primary caregivers in infancy as measured in the Strange Situation. In addition, in late adolescence participants states of mind regarding their earlier attachment experiences with primary caregivers were assessed using the AAI. Self-report scales used in this study tap common indicators of competence in romantic relationships drawn from the social psychological literature, including relationship stability, satisfaction, and commitment. Although special attention was given to including constructs that are conceptually linked to attachment formulations (e.g., idealization, insecurity), none of the self-report measures available for this study were developed as assessments of attachment security per se. The scales highlighted in this paper have been used extensively in the adult literature on romantic relationships (see, e.g., Berscheid, Snyder, & Omoto, 1989; Hendrick, 1988; Lund, 1985; Rubin, 1970). Nonetheless, to our knowledge, no developmental data on these measures have been presented in the literature. One possibility, of course, is that expectations for and perceptions of romantic relationships are in part a product of attachment experiences in childhood relationships, a question we explore here with long-term, prospective data. As suggested earlier, attachment theory specifically suggests that the quality of past relationship experiences can continue to influence current development, even in the face of significant changes in terms of the quality of relationships individuals experience from childhood to adulthood (Sroufe, Egeland, & Kreutzer, 1990). In the current study, we therefore examined whether young adults earlier attachment histories were associated with how they talked about their current romantic partner in the context of the CRI above and beyond the observed quality of their romantic relationship. Although we expected that individuals attachment histories would constrain their capacity to form a secure working model of their current romantic partnership, we also anticipated that such effects of early experience would be at least partially mediated by adults perceptions of (e.g., self-reports about) their current love relationship. Testing another variant of the prototype hypothesis, we also examined whether infant attachment security foreshadowed the observed quality of participants romantic relationships in young adulthood. Defining attachment relationships As participants involved in the current study were drawn from an ongoing longitudinal investigation, we necessarily had to (somewhat arbitrarily) impose a minimum relationship duration criterion for inclusion in this sample. We chose 4 months because this criterion excluded relatively short-lived relationships from our analyses; a clear problem if one argues that attachment relationships are the product of actual experiences with partners of some duration. Although the majority of our participants had been involved in relationships of a duration which most researchers would recognize to be of sufficient length to manifest secure base and safe haven dynamics (M = 2 years 4 months), we co-varied relationship length in analyses as appropriate, and used interaction terms to examine whether relationship duration moderated associations documented in the current study. If effects were attenuated for shorter duration relationships, one might conclude that such romantic relationships are not fully mature attachment partnerships.

6 The Prototype Hypothesis 109 Method Participants Participants were drawn from an ongoing 26-year longitudinal study of normative and atypical development of first-born children. Their mothers, many of whom were young and living in conditions of poverty, were recruited between 1975 and 1977 at Minneapolis public health clinics where they were receiving prenatal care (see Egeland & Brunquell, 1979, for an early report). Specifically, however, it is a sub-sample of their children who have been followed into young adulthood that form the core set of participants for the current study. Between ages 20 and 21, participants who were in ongoing relationships of 4 months or longer were invited to complete a romantic relationship assessment with their partners. Seventy-three heterosexual couples (36 male participants with their girlfriends and 37 female participants with their boyfriends) completed the entire assessment (no participant identified him or herself as gay or lesbian). An additional 14 participants (total n = 87) completed the CRI and a self-report relationship perceptions battery but their current partners declined to do so. The sub-set of this romantically involved cohort that participated in any of the following, a 19-year AAI and two assessments of the quality of their attachments to caregivers in infancy (12 and 18 months), were the focus of the current study (n varies to maximize sample size for analyses). Detailed demographic data for the full current follow-up longitudinal sample (n = 170) are available in several recent publications (see, e.g., Roisman et al., 2002). For the romantically involved sub-sample that is the focus of this report, 65.5% of the participants are Caucasian, 14.9% have mixed racial backgrounds (European American, African American, Latino, and/or Native American), 10.3% are African American, 1% are Native American or Latino, and 4.6% are unclassifiable due to missing data on their fathers race. These demographics are consistent with data relevant to the full longitudinal sample (see Roisman et al., 2001). The mean duration of participants romantic relationships was 2 years 4 months at the time of the romantic relationship assessment (SD = 1 year 10 months; range = 4 months to 8.5 years). Moreover, only 24% of the couples had been romantically involved for less than a year, with over 50% dating 2 years or more. Of note, the romantically involved sub-sample that is the focus of this study did not differ from the full longitudinal cohort on attachment security in infancy or adolescence, ethnicity, or SES. In addition, no differences on these variables were observed between young adults who participated in the romantic relationship assessment with and without their partner. Young adulthood: Romantic relationships assessment Procedure Between the ages of 20 and 21, participants were invited to complete a romantic relationship assessment with their partners either in their homes or at a laboratory at the University of Minnesota. Tasks included completing the CRI (Crowell & Owens, 1996), filling out a battery of standard social psychological measures of participants perceptions of their current romantic relationship, and participating in a sequence of two observational tasks with their partners. In these videotaped observations, which lasted about 30 minutes, dyads first discussed a couple-identified problem and subsequently collaborated on a Q-sort describing the ideal couple.

7 110 G. I. Roisman et al. Measures Current relationship interview. Participants began the romantic relationship assessment by completing the CRI, a semi-structured interview used to characterize individuals current state of mind with respect to experiences with their romantic partner. According to established protocol, CRIs were transcribed verbatim and all identifying information was removed before they were coded by judges trained by Dr. Judith Crowell, who developed the CRI with her associates at SUNY Stony Brook. Transcripts received primary CRI classifications of secure, dismissing, or preoccupied, according to the criteria outlined by Crowell and Owens (1996) in their coding manual for the CRI. Narratives coded as secure showed evidence of an autonomous state of mind with respect to experiences with their current romantic partner. These participants explored their thoughts and feelings about memories related to their current romantic relationship, whether good or ill, in an open, contained, and above all coherent manner. Narratives coded as insecure in contrast provided strong evidence of dismissing or preoccupied states of mind regarding attachment. Such participants defensively idealized and/or derogated their significant other or appeared currently entangled/enmeshed in their current relationship, respectively. Paralleling the AAI scoring system, all participants whose discourse became disorganized when describing loss or abuse experiences specific to prior romantic relationships or friendships were classified as unresolved and considered insecure for the purposes of this study, irrespective of their secondary classification. Percent agreement for the secure/insecure split on a sub-sample of 25 cases was 80% (k =.53, p 5.01). Note that CRI security status at age (secure/insecure) was used in all analyses. Relationship perceptions battery. The relationship perception battery used in this study consisted of eight self-report scales that provide information about participants views of their romantic relationships. Each scale is detailed below. Commitment Scale. Lund s (1985) Commitment Scale is a 9-item measure that assesses perceived commitment and beliefs regarding the likelihood that one s current relationship will continue. Participants respond on 7-point scales to items such as how likely is it that your relationship will be permanent? and how likely is it that you and your partner will be together six months from now? Internal consistency for this measure has been shown to be acceptable and validity is indicated by significantly higher investment scores among college students who define themselves as more exclusive and for those with longer relationship durations. Commitment scores have been shown to be stable over 6 months (Lund, 1985). As the internal consistency for Commitment was relatively low in this sample (a =.58), we removed items that were suppressing alpha in supplementary analyses (e.g., how attractive would a potential partner have to be for you to pursue a new relationship? and how obligated do you feel to continue this relationship? ) Although the analyses reported in this paper are based on the original scale, results were identical using the more internally consistent measure. Emotional tone index. Berscheid, Snyder, and Omoto (1989) developed the Emotional Tone Index to assess the frequency with which respondents typically experience 27 different emotions in their relationships using 7-point scales. Twelve positive and 15 negative emotions are included in the measure, with both intense emotions (elated and angry) and

8 The Prototype Hypothesis 111 less intense feeling states (such as contented and disappointed) represented. Differences between participants average rating on the positive and the negative emotions are computed to derive the relative frequency with which adults experience positive and negative emotions in their relationships. In prior work, the Emotional Tone Index was shown to be modestly associated with the longevity of relationships and with the Subjective Closeness Index described later. Internal consistency was acceptable in the current study (alpha for positive emotion =.85; alpha for negative emotion =.86). Insecurity scale. The Insecurity Scale (Fei & Berscheid, 1977) assesses the extent of psychological and emotional insecurity felt by individuals in romantic relationships. This 17- item measure is answered on 7-point Likert-type scales and includes such questions as I worry about losing my partner s affection and I feel uneasy if my partner is making friends with someone of the opposite sex (as higher scores indicate greater insecurity, this variable was reversed in composited variables described below). Internal consistency for this scale was high within two college samples and validity is suggested by strong positive associations with self-reports of insecurity in one s romantic relationship, negative correlations with life satisfaction, and higher insecurity scores for college students self-reported primary romantic involvements than for their casual involvements (Fei & Berscheid, 1977). In the current sample, a =.70. Investment scale. Lund s (1985) investment scale is a 26-item instrument that assesses the degree of emotional, social, financial, and behavioral investment in the current relationship. Participants indicate how large of an investment they have made to the relationship on 7-point scales to such questions as how much have you put into your relationship in terms of spending free time with your partner rather than doing things or seeing other people? and...making plans for the future such as discussing living together, getting married, or having children? Internal consistency in previous studies has been high and validity for this scale is suggested by significantly higher investment scores among college students who define themselves as more exclusive and pledged to continue in the relationship, for those with longer relationship durations, for couples living together rather than apart, and for married compared to dating couples. Investment scores have been shown to be stable over 6 months (Lund, 1985). Alpha =.90 in the current study. Love Scale. The Love Scale (developed by Rubin, 1970) is a 9-item measure that assesses feelings of intimacy toward, desire to be with, and concern for the welfare of one s romantic partner. Respondents answer on a 7-point scale to such questions as one of my primary concerns is my partner s welfare and I would forgive my partner for practically anything. Reliabilities reported for the scale have typically been high in research with dating couples. Validity is also indicated in that scores predicts dating stability over a 6-month period (Attridge, Berscheid, & Sprecher, 1998). In the current study, the internal consistency of Rubin s Love Scale was good (a =.85). Relationship assessment scale. The RAS (Hendrick, 1988) is a 7-item scale of relationship satisfaction with responses given on a 7-point scale to such questions as how much do you love your partner? and in general, how satisfied are you with your romantic partner? The RAS has shown to be internally consistent in prior studies and is reliably associated with measures of relevant constructs, such as love for partner (Hendrick, 1988). In the current study, a = 82.

9 112 G. I. Roisman et al. Relationship idealization scale. The RIS assesses tendencies to idealize one s partner and relationship. This 9-item scale, adapted by Attridge (1994) from the Romantic Beliefs Scale (Sprecher & Metts, 1989), includes such items as my partner is the only real love for me and I believe that we are truly in love and that we will be in love forever. The internal consistency of this measure has been shown to be acceptable in prior studies (in the current study, a =.88). In addition, validity is supported by data presented in Sprecher and Metts (1989) demonstrating that the RIS is associated with gender and gender role orientation. Although higher idealization might be conceptualized as either a positive or negative indicator, as in past research, idealization was positively associated with other closeness indicators in the current study. Subjective closeness index. The SCI (Berscheid, Snyder, & Omoto, 1989) assesses perceptions of closeness to partners with two questions (1) relative to all of your other relationships (both same and opposite sex), how close is your relationship with your partner? and (2) relative to what you know about other people s relationships, how close is your relationship with your partner? Responses on this measure are given on a 7-point scale, with higher scores indicating greater perceived closeness. The two item alpha in the current study was.87. Additional validity data for this instrument are presented in Berscheid, Snyder, and Omoto (1989), which indicate that the SCI is modestly associated with other measures of perceived closeness. Self-report scales were reduced to a smaller set of variables using principal components analysis (PCA). PCA revealed two components: (1) self-reported closeness, created by standardizing and averaging the idealization, love, subjective closeness, investment, and commitment scales and (2) positive perceptions of romantic relationship, a standardized average of the emotional tone index and insecurity scales (Hendrick s relationship assessment measure significantly cross-loaded on the two components and was therefore dropped from analysis). Both composite variables were coded so that higher values indicated relationships perceived by participants to be more positive (e.g., closer, less insecurity, more positive relative to negative emotion experienced). Observed relationship quality. Graduate research assistants coded videotapes of the couple interactions using 10 dyadic rating scales of behavior and affect developed to parallel parent child ratings used previously by the project when participants were age 13 (Aguilar, Christian, Collins, Cook, Hennighausen, Hyson et al., 1997; Sroufe, 1991). These scales included Anger, Conflict Resolution, Dyadic Negative Affect, Hostility, Overall Quality, Secure Base, Shared Positive Affect, and three balance scales that focused on the degree to which relationships served to promote the expression of individual ideas, scaffold personal development, as well as help individuals meet task demands (r I ranged from.81 to.95, p 5.001). Coders were blind to the identity of the original participants within the couples. Romantic relationship quality has been previously operationalized in this research project using a composite measure of romantic relationship process derived from a principal components analysis of the rating scales mentioned above (Roisman et al., 2001). This quality measure is a standardized average of the Balance I, Balance II, Conflict Resolution, Overall Quality, Secure Base, and Shared Positive Affect rating scales (a =.95, see Appendix). Previously reported analyses have shown that participants coded as secure on the AAI at age 19 were involved in higher quality romantic relationships at age than insecures (Roisman et al., 2001). The romantic relationship process composite variable was

10 The Prototype Hypothesis 113 used in the current study to determine whether states of mind regarding one s current romantic partnership (e.g., CRI security) are similarly associated with the observed quality of these relationships. Developmental antecedents: Attachment experiences and representations All measures described below are attachment-relevant constructs key to examining the antecedents of secure states of mind regarding participants current romantic relationship as assessed in the CRI as well as the observed quality of these romantic partnerships. Although the longitudinal research project from which this study was drawn includes many observational and self-report measures of relationship quality, only measures validated within the attachment tradition were used in the current analysis. More specifically, the Strange Situation was administered twice to assess the quality of the mother child attachment relationship in infancy. In addition, the AAI was administered to participants at age 19. Measures Attachment security in infancy. At 12 and 18 months, participants and their mothers completed the well-validated Strange Situation behavioral assessment of attachment security (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). At both ages, mother child dyads received one of three primary attachment classifications (secure, avoidant, or resistant) based on the infants responses during separation and reunion from their primary caregivers. Dyads were coded as secure when the infant used the parent as a secure base from which to explore, upon reunion these infants interactions with their caregivers served to alleviate separation distress. In non-secure dyads, the infants did not use parents as a secure base, infants either avoided the caregiver upon reunion ( avoidant ) or displayed distress that was not effectively alleviated ( resistant ). Additionally, a number of infants were identified whose behavior became disorganized, behaving anomalously in the face of separation or reunion (Carlson, 1998; Main & Hesse, 1990). For the purposes of this study, all non-secure dyads, including those classified as disorganized, were coded as insecure. The Strange Situation procedures were videotaped at both 12 and 18 months. Two trained coders watched the 12-month tapes and independently classified the entire sample of infants into the three major groups (rater agreement was 89%). Two other coders who did not know the 12-month classifications rated the 18-month tapes with 93% agreement. Disagreements were resolved at both ages by discussion. As in prior published work from this research project (see, e.g., Ogawa, Sroufe, Weinfield, Carlson, & Egeland, 1997), a single attachment classification was derived by compositing classifications at 12 and 18 months. For infants whose classifications were not the same, a rating of security from a 24-month mother child tool task was used as a tie breaker to define each participant as having a secure or insecure infant attachment history. All Strange Situation tapes still available were scored on Main s Disorganized/Disoriented scale and classified as per Main and Solomon s (1990) system (k =.72, n = 35). As described above, all disorganized cases were coded as insecure, irrespective of their secondary classification. Adult Attachment Interview. At age 19, participants completed the AAI, a semi-structured protocol used to characterize individuals current state of mind with respect to past parent

11 114 G. I. Roisman et al. child experiences (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985). The AAI is a 20-question, approximately hour-long interview that requires participants to describe their early relationships with their parents, revisit salient separation episodes, explore instances of perceived childhood rejection, recall encounters with loss, and speculate about their future feelings and expectations regarding raising their own child. According to established protocol, AAIs were transcribed verbatim and all identifying information was removed from the transcripts before they were coded by judges trained through and reliable with the lab of Dr. Mary Main. Ultimately, transcripts received primary attachment classifications of secure, dismissing, preoccupied, or unresolved according to the criteria outlined by Main and Goldwyn (1998) in their coding manual for the AAI. Narratives coded as secure showed evidence of an autonomous state of mind with respect to attachment. These participants explored their thoughts and feelings about earlier parent child experiences, whether described as good or ill, in an open, contained, and above all coherent manner. Narratives coded as insecure in contrast provided strong evidence of dismissing, preoccupied, or unresolved states of mind with respect to attachment (descriptions of these individual differences parallel those described for the CRI and are therefore omitted here). Percent agreement for the secure/insecure split was 87.8% (k =.72, p 5.001; Inter-rater reliability for the AAI was based on a sub-sample of 49 cases drawn from the full longitudinal sample of 170 participants). For the purposes of the current study, security status at age 19 (secure/ insecure) was used in all analyses reported below. Results Analytic plan We began by first examining the concurrent correlates of secure states of mind in participants romantic relationships as measured by the CRI. Next we determined whether the CRI, as well as observed relationship quality and self-reported relationship perceptions, have antecedents in attachment security in infancy (Strange Situation) and adolescence (AAI). Finally, we investigated whether participants attachment histories provided unique information toward predicting CRI security in young adulthood, once accounting for the (concurrent) observed quality of young adults romantic relationships. In this context we also explored potential mechanisms by which early attachment experiences may be carried forward into adult romantic relationships. Relevant statistics are indicated in the text, including Cohen s standardized differences between means (d) where applicable. According to convention, we adopted Cohen s (1992) criteria in interpreting d (small effect =.2, medium effect =.5, large effect =.8 + ) so that marginally significant differences could be considered in relation to their effect size in determining the substantive significance of findings (see Cohen, 1994). In prior research on adult attachment (e.g., Phelps, Belsky, & Crnic, 1998), d 5.50 have been considered meaningful effects. Additionally, relationship duration interactions are provided for analyses, as appropriate, in order to examine if effects were attenuated for shorter duration relationships. Concurrent correlates Observed quality of romantic relationship. As hypothesized, a t-test revealed that secure CRI participants had higher quality romantic relationships than did insecures CRI, t (66) = 2.89, p 5.01; d =.75 (a medium to large effect, see Table I).

12 The Prototype Hypothesis 115 Table I. Observed romantic relationship quality and self-reported relationship composite means and standard deviations by Strange Situation, AAI, and CRI security group. CRI AAI SS I S I S I S Observed Quality -.25 (.99).45 (.88)** -.24 (.95).39 (.99)* -.24 (1.06).23 (.87)* Self-reported Closeness -.15 (.83).30 (.72)* -.07 (.95).95 (.57)ns -.13 (.92).14 (.72)ns Positive perceptions -.17 (.97).33 (.68)** -.02 (.99).18 (.66)ns -.24 (.88).28 (.77)** ** p 5.01, * p 4.05, ns = difference is not statistically significant I = Insecure, S = Secure, CRI = Current Relationship Interview, AAI = Adult Attachment Interview, SS = Strange Situation. Data are mean z-scores, standard deviations are in parentheses. Group ns appear below means and standard deviations. Relationship perceptions battery. In addition, secure CRI adults perceived their relationships more favorably than did insecures CRI, t (84) = 2.51, p 5.05, d =.58 for closeness composite; t (84) = 2.46, p 5.05, d =.60 for positive perceptions (see Table I). Incremental predictive validity. As the CRI and self-report relationship composites were correlated, we sought to determine whether the CRI was uniquely associated with the observed quality of participants romantic relationships above and beyond self-report measures. It is important to note that the self-reported closeness composite was not associated with observed romantic relationship quality, r (68) =.18, p =.15. Moreover, even after partialing out positive perceptions, r (68) =.38, p 5.01 with romantic quality, CRI security accounted for additional variance in observed dyadic behavior (see Table II). The reverse was also true: self-reported positive perceptions predicted unique variance in observed romantic relationship quality controlling for CRI security. A Relationship Duration X CRI Security interaction revealed a statistically significant but somewhat counterintuitive effect: CRI security was more strongly associated with observed relationships quality for couples who had been dating fewer months based on a median split of the dataset on relationship duration. Developmental antecedents Strange Situation. Results of a cross-tabulation revealed that the quality of mother infant attachment in infancy was associated with CRI classifications in young adulthood. The percent correspondence was 61%, k =.21, p 5.05, see Table III. Strange Situation security was also associated with the observed quality of participants romantic relationships, t (64) = 1.96, p =.05, d =.48, and positive perceptions, t (79) = 2.83, p 5.01, d =.63, but not perceived closeness, t (79) = 1.45, p =.15, d =.32. Adult Attachment Interview. A cross-tabulation of CRI security status at age 20 by AAI security status at age 19 revealed no significant categorical correspondence. The percent agreement for this analysis was 57%, k =.05, p =.64, see Table III. As reported in

13 116 G. I. Roisman et al. Table II. Results of hierarchical regression predicting observed quality of romantic relationships in young adulthood from relationship length, self-reported quality, and CRI security (n = 67). B SE B b p Step 1 Relationship duration Step 2 Relationship duration Self-reported positive perceptions Step 3 Relationship duration Self-reported positive perceptions CRI security R 2 =.23, p 5.01 (DR 2 for step 3 =.05 p =.05). Table III. Cross-tabulations of Current Relationship Interview with Strange Situation and Adult Attachment Interview classifications. Secure Current Relationship Interview Insecure Strange Situation (12/18 month composite) Secure Insecure Adult Attachment Interview (19 years) Secure Insecure Roisman et al. (2001), AAI security at age 19 predicted observed romantic quality, t (64) = 2.53, p 5.05, d =.65. The AAI was not, however, associated with self-reported closeness, t (78) = 1.06, p =.29, d =.26, or positive perceptions, t (78) =.97, p =.34, d =.24. Incremental predictive validity of early attachment experiences A hierarchical binary logistic regression was run to determine whether attachment security in infancy predicted unique variance in CRI security, controlling for relationship duration and the observed quality of participants romantic relationships. As hypothesized, infant attachment security did indeed predict additional variance in CRI security controlling for observed romantic relationship quality and duration (Step 3 Model 2 = 14.7, p 5.01, Nagelkerke R 2 =.28, Overall Percent Correct = 74%; see Table IV, step 3). In addition, Relationship Duration interactions revealed that these effects were not moderated by relationship duration. Given that infant security predicted positive perceptions and this self-report composite in turn predicted CRI security, it was possible that the effects of early experience might be mediated by adults perceptions of their current romantic relationship. To test this possibility, the positive perceptions composite was entered as a fourth block in the hierarchical binary logistic regression. As hypothesized, the predictive significance of infant attachment was reduced to non-significance in this analysis. Nonetheless, it should be noted that the self-report composite was marginally significant in this regression (see Table IV, step 4).

14 The Prototype Hypothesis 117 Table IV. Results of a hierarchical binary logistic regression predicting CRI security from romantic relationship length, observed quality of romantic relationship, Strange Situation security (12/18 month composite), and selfreported positive perceptions of romantic relationship (n = 65). B SE B e B p Step 1 Relationship duration Step 2 Relationship duration Observed romantic relationship quality Step 3 Relationship duration Observed romantic relationship quality Strange Situation Security Step 4 (Mediational Model) Relationship duration Observed romantic relationship quality Strange Situation security Self-reported positive perceptions Overall model: w 2 = 17.9, p =.001; Nagelkerke R 2 =.33, overall percent correct 77%. Discussion The notion that early relationship experiences with caregivers set the stage for adult love relationships has been and will continue to be a source of great controversy for the field of developmental psychology. While it is certainly the case that some arguments for the enduring legacy of early experiences have been overdrawn (e.g., the Mozart Effect, Chabris, Steele, Bella, Peretz, Dunlop, Dawe et al., 1999; Steele, Bass, & Crook, 1999) so too have been critiques of the developmental significance of early life events given the scarcity of relevant prospective, long-term longitudinal data in the psychological literature (Breur, 1999; Kagan, 1998). Said another way, little definitive evidence currently exists to confirm or deny the role of early experiences in the lives of adults because few methodologically rigorous studies have tracked the fate of earlier experiences with caregivers into the adult years. The present study provided initial evidence of this kind with respect to attachment theory s prototype hypothesis. More specifically, the current study offered evidence that young adults states of mind regarding their current romantic relationship, as assessed by the CRI, are both associated with the concurrent quality of participants romantic relationships in addition to having roots in attachment experiences with primary caregivers in infancy. In addition, infant security was also associated with the observed quality of participants romantic relationships in young adulthood. Three primary conclusions emerged from this analysis: (a) CRI security is uniquely associated with the observed quality of young adults romantic relationships, (b) a secure state of mind regarding one s current romantic partnership as well as a higher quality romantic relationship are foreshadowed by a secure attachment relationship with a primary caregiver in infancy, and (c) childhood attachment experiences may be carried forward into adulthood by way of young adults self-reported perceptions of their romantic relationships. Cumulatively, the findings presented herein provide some of the first direct evidence for the prototype hypothesis (see also Grossmann et al., 2002). Of note, while the CRI was associated with attachment security in infancy in the current study, predicted linkages to AAIs administered in late adolescence were nonsignificant.

15 118 G. I. Roisman et al. Although there are several potential reasons for this failure to replicate prior research showing concurrent linkages between the CRI and AAI (Owens et al., 1995), two possibilities include the fact that (a) the AAI was administered to participants approximately two years prior to the CRI in this study and (b) the sample size in this analysis may not have been sufficient to detect significant differences. Findings may also reflect a normative increase in the base rates of insecurity in adolescence, particularly in lower socioeconomic samples. Regardless, these findings underscore the importance of prospectively assessing the quality of attachment relationships in the early years of life toward testing the prototype hypothesis. Limitations and future directions This study was limited both by the modest number of individuals in this longitudinal sample who were involved in stable romantic relationships at the time of our assessment, as well as by the high-risk nature of the cohort. It is possible, for example, that in lower risk samples one would find more continuity and less change in attachment security from childhood to adulthood, as has been shown for the AAI (see, e.g., Waters et al., 2000). A notable strength of this paper, however, is that it provides a rare glimpse of the complex coherence of relationships that Bowlby anticipated in his seminal writings. This strength reflects the uniqueness of this prospective, longitudinal dataset following individuals from birth to young adulthood. That said, as this analysis clearly illustrates, the prototype hypothesis is not one but a family of interrelated proposals regarding the legacy of earlier experiences with parents as reflected in adults romantic relationships. This study operationalized early experience in terms of security as assessed in the Strange Situation; many other approaches, including assessments of the observed quality of participants relationships post infancy might have been explored. Moreover, this study used only two of many potential approaches to assess aspects of individuals romantic relationships that may be organized by earlier encounters with malevolence and support from caregivers. Although this analysis identified links between infant security and both young adults states of mind regarding their current romantic relationships as well as the observed quality of those partnerships, a thoroughgoing adjudication of the prototype hypothesis will require assessments at multiple levels of analysis, including explicit examinations of whether secure infants, children, and adolescents grow up to be more effective at providing, eliciting, and seeking out romantic partners when distressed (see, e.g., Treboux et al., 2004). Longitudinal studies focused on the legacy of childhood experiences in adults romantic relationships are nonetheless beset with a host of challenges, not least of which includes differentiating between stable adult romantic partnerships and casual dating relationships in young adulthood. As discussed in the Introduction, in this analysis we excluded participants who had not been dating a romantic partner for 4 months or longer. Moreover, we found few indications that the duration of romantic relationships observed moderated the principal findings of this study. Still, one of the great challenges for the field will be to develop clear and theoretically defensible criteria for discriminating between romantic relationships and full-fledged attachment partnerships. Conclusion The collection of long-term longitudinal data represents both a challenge as well as a necessity in examining the significance of early attachment experiences from childhood to