The relationship between attachment prototypes, self-esteem, loneliness and causal attributions in Chinese trainee teachers

The applicability of using the four-category model (Bartholomew and Horowitz, 1991) in classifying Chinese adults into four adult attachment prototypes: secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and fearful was explored. The impact of attachment styles on self-esteem, loneliness, and causal attribution on classroom events was also investigated. Two hundred and twenty-five student-teachers completed a self-report Attachment Style Inventory, and measures of self-esteem, loneliness, and attributional style. Results indicated that subjects with a preoccupied, dismissing, and fearful attachment were lower in self-esteem than their secure counterparts, while secure and dismissing subjects had higher self-esteem than the preoccupied group. The fearful group was the most lonely, followed by the preoccupied and then the dismissing with the secure group being the least lonely. While differences in attributional styles were found between the high self-esteem group and the low self-esteem group, the impact of attachment styles on attributional pattern was less obvious. The results suggest that the four attachment prototypes can be identified in Chinese individuals and that the quality of adult attachment has some influence on social functioning.