Lovestyles and attachment styles compared: Their relations to each other and to various relationship characteristics
Investigated the relationships between attachment classification and personal style of loving. To measure attachment style, they used the Hazan & Shaver (1987) Attachment Attachment Questionnaire but asked participants to score each, rather than choose a single paragraph, using a seven item Likert-type scale.
They tested attachment classification against Lee's love styles (1973) and found modest correlations similar to those proposed by Shaver & Hazan (1988).
Correlations between Attachment Styles and Lee's Love Styles
| Lee's Love Style |
Shaver and Hazan (1988) |
Levy and Davis |
| Eros |
Secure |
Positively to secure, Negatively to avoidant |
| Ludus |
Avoidant |
Positively to avoidant. Negatively to secure. |
| Storge |
n/a |
n/a |
| Mania |
Anxious/ambivalent |
Positively to anxious/ambivalent |
| Pragma |
n/a |
n/a |
| Agape |
Secure |
Positively to secure |
They also related attachment style to Sternberg’s components of love and found that secure corresponded to high scores on all three parameters (Passion, Intimacy and Commitment) whilst avoidant and anxious/ambivalent corresponded to low scores on all three. The major distinction they found between avoidant and anxious/ambivalent was that avoidant attachment was associated with lack of commitment whereas anxious/ambivalent was associated with domination in response to conflict (Sternberg, 1986).