Intimate Partner Aggression and Relationship Satisfaction across Attachment Styles

Abstract

This study presents a quantitative study exploring intimate partner aggression (i.e. physical, verbal, relational) and relationship satisfaction across attachment styles (i.e. avoidant, anxious, secure, and fearful). This study analyzed 170 participants, of which 77.8% were female participants and 22.2% were male participants. The sample ranged from ages 20 to 70 and the mean age of the sample was 31.34 (SD = 11.73). The average relationship length of the sample was 7.76 years (SD = 9.18). This study found that the fearful attachment style is most at risk of engaging in verbal and relational aggression with their intimate partners. Secure attachment was found to have the highest levels of relationship satisfaction, whereas the fearful attachment style had the lowest scores of relationship satisfaction. Finally, relationship length was found to have an effect on relationship satisfaction. Overall, the current study targeted critical areas in the scientific literature and created a starting block into research focusing on intimate partner aggression and relationship satisfaction across attachment styles.