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Gender Differences in Attachment Styles Regarding Conflict Handling Behaviors Among Turkish Late Adolescents

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Abstract

This study was designed to examine gender differences in attachment styles and explore the relationship between attachment styles and preference for conflict handling behavior in close relationships among Turkish adolescents. The participants comprised 371 Turkish undergraduate students (252 females and 119 males; with a mean age of 21.98 years; standard deviation 1.18) enrolled in different departments of the Faculty of Education at Middle East Technical University in Ankara. A Turkish version of Bartholomew and Horowitz’s (J Pers Soc Psychol, 61:226–244, 1991) Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) and the Conflict Questionnaire (CQ) developed by Tezer (J Psychol, 130:281–292, 1996) were used to obtain data. Intercorrelations among four attachment style subscales, and correlation coefficients among four attachment styles and five conflict handling behaviors were computed in addition to a series of ANOVAs and ANCOVAs. Results revealed an association between attachment styles and conflict handling, as well as gender differences in attachment styles.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks regarding this study go to Esin Tezer, PhD for her invaluable comments on the earlier drafts of this manuscript. We also would like to thank Rahsan Sivis, PhD, Fatos Silman, PhD and Serkan Denizli for reviewing the manuscripts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey

    Özlem Karaırmak

  2. Uludağ University, Bursa, Turkey

    Nagihan Oğuz Duran

Authors
  1. Özlem Karaırmak
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  2. Nagihan Oğuz Duran
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Correspondence to Özlem Karaırmak.

Appendix

Appendix

The English translation of the five statements describing five conflict behaviors proposed in Thomas’s (1976) Model:

  1. 1.

    I persist in pressing my arguments until I get what I want.

  2. 2.

    I either try not to talk about the conflict or change the subject.

  3. 3.

    I accept his or her opinions and wishes even if I do not totally approve of them.

  4. 4.

    I compromise my own desires and solutions. I also want him or her to compromise and I try to find a midpoint solution.

  5. 5.

    I try to find a new solution which helps him or her give up his or her wishes and makes both of us happy (satisfies both of us).

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Karaırmak, Ö., Duran, N.O. Gender Differences in Attachment Styles Regarding Conflict Handling Behaviors Among Turkish Late Adolescents. Int J Adv Counselling 30, 220–234 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-008-9059-8

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