Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun 8:12:662237.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.662237. eCollection 2021.

When Love Just Ends: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Dysfunctional Behaviors, Attachment Styles, Gender, and Education Shortly After a Relationship Dissolution

Cristina Civilotti  1   2 , John Lawrence Dennis  3   4 , Daniela Acquadro Maran  1 , Davide Margola  4   5
Affiliations

When Love Just Ends: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Dysfunctional Behaviors, Attachment Styles, Gender, and Education Shortly After a Relationship Dissolution

Cristina Civilotti et al. Front Psychol. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Much information is known about the long-term consequences of separation and divorce, whereas there is a paucity of studies about the short-term consequences of such experiences. This study investigates the adoption of dysfunctional behaviors (e.g., insistent telephone calls and text messages, verbal threats, and sending unwanted objects) shortly after a relationship dissolution. A total of 136 participants who declared to have been left by their former partner in the previous 6 months were included in this study (i.e., females: n = 84; males: n = 52; mean age = 30.38; SD = 4.19). Attachment styles were evaluated as explanatory variables when facing a relationship dissolution, in connection with a set of (1) demographic variables (i.e., gender, education, and current marital/relationship status), (2) dysfunctional behaviors, and (3) motivations on the basis of those behaviors. Results showed that a secure or dismissing attachment style, a higher education, and currently married (but awaiting separation) status were the protective factors in adopting such dysfunctional behaviors, while the preoccupied and fearful-avoidant subjects, especially females, tended to adopt dysfunctional behaviors (i.e., communication attempts and defamation) and reported fear of abandonment and need for attention as underlying motivations. Future study on longitudinal aspects of the relationship dissolution processes is required to have deeper insights into this phenomenon. This study sheds light on the relationship between adult attachment styles and the motivations behind the adoption of dysfunctional behaviors after a relationship dissolution.

Keywords: adult attachment styles; dysfunctional behaviors; gender differences; motivations; relationship dissolution; romantic attachment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Box plot comparisons of adult attachment style raw scores.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Acquadro Maran D., Varetto A. (2018). Psychological impact of stalking on male and female health care professional victims of stalking and domestic violence. Front. Psychol. 9:321. 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00321 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Acquadro Maran D., Varetto A., Zedda M. (2014). Italian nurses' experience of stalking: a questionnaire survey. Violence Victims 29, 109–121. 10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-12-00078 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ahmetoglu E., Ilhan Ildiz G., Acar I. H., Encinger A. (2018). Children's emotion regulation and attachment to parents: parental emotion socialization as a moderator. Soc. Behav. Pers. 46, 969–984. 10.2224/sbp.6795 - DOI
    1. Ainsworth M. D. S., Blehar M., Waters E., Wall S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
    1. Ainsworth M. S., Bowlby J. (1991). An ethological approach to personality development. Am. Psychol. 46:333. 10.1037/0003-066X.46.4.333 - DOI