Attachment and Immigrants: Emotional security among Dutch and Belgian Immigrants in California, U.S.A. (UvA Proefschriften)

Attachment and Immigrants

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© Vossiuspers UvA – Amsterdam University Press, 2007

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ATTACHMENT AND IMMIGRANTS Emotional security among Dutch and Belgian Immigrants in California, U.S.A.

ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT

Ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. J.W. Zwemmer ter overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Aula der Universiteit op dinsdag 26 juni 2007, te 10:00 uur

door

Yolanda Herda Petrus van Ecke geboren te Westdorpe

Promotor:

Prof. Dr. Paul M.G. Emmelkamp

Co-promotor:

Prof. Dr. Robert C. Chope

Faculteit der Maatschappij- en Gedragswetenschappen

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Introduction

p.

1

Chapter 2

Immigration from an attachment perspective

p. 16

Chapter 3

Immigrants and attachment status

p. 30

Chapter 4

Unresolved attachment among immigrants

p. 52

Chapter 5

Attachment and personality facets

p. 64

Chapter 6

Attachment style and career thoughts dysfunction

p. 77

Chapter 7

General discussion

p. 95

Chapter 8

Samenvatting/ Dutch Summary

p. 110

Chapter 9

Acknowledgements

p. 115

Chapter 1 - Introduction

1 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

During the 1950’s and 1960’s many Dutch and Belgian nationals emigrated to Canada and the United States for economic reasons. In the 1970’s I was a teenager in Amsterdam, when a friend told me that friends of her parents who had emigrated to the United States had come back for a visit. There was a pause, and then she said “ze kunnen niet meer zo goed Nederlands praten.” (They can’t speak Dutch so well anymore) We were both silent for a moment at this grave fact. I took this in, realizing I felt these people had lost part of their Dutch identity, which was their fluency with the language. I met the people briefly, and hearing their accented Dutch, I felt sorry for their loss. They seemed so eager, so friendly. Then they left, again. I wondered why anyone would leave. Had they been so unhappy? At the time I was unable to know that some years later I would become a Dutch immigrant to the United States myself. The dissertation that follows seeks to elucidate that group of individuals, Dutch and Belgian immigrants in California, USA in the context of attachment theory. Since all but one of the empirical articles in this dissertation are published or currently in press, some overlap is unavoidable.

Attachment Attachment Theory Attachment theory was developed by the British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby (Bowlby, 1944, 1969/1982, 1973, 1980) over a period of forty years to describe the centrality of emotional connection for healthy human development. Although trained in the psychoanalytic tradition, he was “Alive to the deficiencies of Freud’s metapsychology, especially his concepts of psychic energy and drive (1988, p. 60)” and looked to cognitive psychology and ethology to

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formulate his biggest difference with psychoanalytic tradition. Bowlby saw himself as a therapist who viewed his patients as rational beings whose understandings and assumptions were logical conclusions derived from real experiences, not as individuals struggling with irrational unconscious drives, and saw this as perhaps his most fundamental “difference with the psychoanalytic approach” (1988, pp. 141-142) . He viewed attachment as an implicit understanding of how dependable and sensitive the significant other is, that is formed before we can talk, permeates our psyche and personality, yet remains flexibly open to developmental change “throughout the lifespan” (1988 p. 136). Attachment theory suggests that early, preverbal interactions between child and caregiver(s) create a detailed understanding about how reliable, responsive and understanding our caregiver is (Bowlby, 1969/1982). These models continue to inform our behavior later in life, and become active when we experience separation or threat of loss from significant others, and during times of stress, frustration, or anger. These experiences activate our attachment system leading to attachment behavior. Attachment is formed very early and is a universal (Main, 2002) psychobiological process in that attachment system activation is related to stress hormones (Fox & Card, 1999). Bowlby considered whether the terms for describing and assessing assessment should include strength of attachment but concluded that “it seems clear that strength of attachment to one or more discriminated figures is itself altogether too simple a concept to be useful” (1969/1982, p. 336) and appears to agree with Ainsworth as to “the absurdity of trying to arrange children in simple linear order of strength of attachment” (1969/1982, p. 337). Clearly, Bowlby preferred discussing attachment in terms of security, and in terms of status. Mary Ainsworth and her colleagues (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) delineated three attachment statuses in responses of children who were being reunited with their mother after short absences in a procedure called the Strange Situation. Secure attachment status meant these infants were readily reassured upon being reunited with mother. Anxious avoidant attachment status meant the infant avoided mother upon reunion and often was more friendly toward a stranger or eager for toys than for mother. Anxious resistant attachment status meant the infant’s behavior included moving back

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and forth between seeking contact and avoiding the mother upon being reunited(Bowlby, 1969/1982). A fourth category of attachment behavior initially termed “cannot classify” became classified as disorganized/disoriented attachment status because the infant lacked any coherent strategy for relating to the attachment figure and had opposing behaviors such as approach and freezing (Main & Solomon, 1986, 1990). Attachment status designations for adults have similar terminology. Generally, four attachment statuses are recognized: One is secure attachment, also called autonomous (F), the other three are insecure and are called dismissing (Ds), preoccupied (E) and unresolved (U). The letters represent the symbols used for the four attachment statuses in the attachment status literature, see for example Hesse’s chapter (1999, p. 399) in the Handbook of Attachment . The attachment designations are called attachment styles by many social psychologists and most often referred to as ‘attachment representations’, or ‘states of mind with respect to attachment’ by clinical and developmental psychologists (Arindell, 1983; Choi, Lee, & Kim, 1998; de Haas, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & van IJzendoorn, 1994; George & Solomon, 1999; Main, 1999). An adult person’s state of mind is autonomous or secure when there is faith that the attachment figure is available should anything untoward happen. The attachment classification can turn insecure when there is doubt, that in times of need, the attachment figure will be there. The insecure state of mind with respect to adult attachment can take two organized forms, dismissing or preoccupied, meaning the individual still applies mental rules for handling activation of the attachment system upon sensing threat, danger or loss. The first organized insecure state, dismissing attachment suggests that the person seeks other forms of safety during danger instead of interpersonal closeness. Preoccupied attachment is a state of mind that creates a relationship rule to focus as much as possible on the attachment figure, the significant other. A final category in attachment classification is unresolved. In these cases, the person is more than confused about what to do in times of need or danger. Confusion is also seen in individuals with preoccupied status. The person with unresolved attachment has a profound inability to resolve the opposing impulses of confusion. We also see this state of mind with respect to attachment when a person has recently experienced a trauma or loss. There is no clear strategy for how to resolve the activation of the attachment system and return to feeling

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organized, safe and able to meet one’s needs. The intense need and simultaneously experienced lack of any way to meet these attachment needs can be overwhelming to the individual. The person may break of conversation, become emotionally overwhelmed, or unable to stay on the topic of discussion. The past is intruding on the present. In the case of secure attachment, we have received consistent, sensitive care giving, and later tend to respond in confident and flexible ways to others and ourselves. The three categories of insecure attachment develop in different ways in early childhood: Dismissing attachment develops when the caregiver rejects or ignores the child’s feelings of need, fear or anger, which the child, in turn, learns to suppress within him or herself in order to get along with the attachment figure(s). Preoccupied attachment develops in response to inconsistent, even needy care giving that causes increased sensitivity to fear, anger or neediness in the attachment figure in order to stay connected to her or him. The fourth category, unresolved attachment, results from threats of, or actually being abandoned, hurt or ignored by attachment figures. The attachment figure has possibly been a source of danger leaving the child no way of resolving the crisis (Hesse, 2001). Bowlby is clear that “systematic threats” of abandonment can be just as damaging as the actual event (1988 , p. 136). During mourning Bowlby reasoned that humans have a temporary, unresolved state of mind with respect to attachment before experiencing a reorganization that is “cognitive as well as emotional” (1980 p. 85). Bowlby saw the food and sex drives as completely different from the attachment drive, although also organic in nature: “although food and sex sometimes play important roles in attachment relationships, the relationship exists in its own right and has a key survival function of its own, namely protection (1988, p. 121).” Protection consists of care giving and care seeking, the first two components of attachment that are complementary, while the third, exploration, is antithetical to attachment behavior. “When an individual (of any age) is feeling secure he is likely to explore away from his attachment figure. When alarmed, anxious, tired or unwell he feels an urge towards proximity.(1988, p. 121).” This last statement is particularly relevant for the study of attachment and immigrants. Those who have emigrated from their country of birth in a spirit of exploration might be considered secure enough to explore, while those who emigrate to escape from persecution or

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starvation may be already be traumatized in their own country (Bhui et al., 2003; den Velde et al., 2000; Perez-Foster, 2001). Separation from family and a thinner social support network are commonly reported as a severe ongoing stressors among immigrants (Patel, 1992; Sinnerbrink, Silove, Field, Steel, & Manicavasagar, 1997). Other stressors reported by immigrants are social isolation and the loss of social roles (Miller, Worthington, Muzurovic, Tipping, & Goldman, 2002). These circumstances could then be a motivation to seek proximity to attachment figures that are not available.

Attachment Assessments A large number of measurement instruments have been developed specifically for assessing attachment state of mind and attachment style and many are reviewed in the Handbook of Attachment (Cassidy & Shaver, 1999). Measures for adult attachment include the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1984 1985 1996), the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP; George & West, 2001, 2003; George, West, & Pettem, 1999) and the Current Relationship Interview (CRI;Crowell & Owens, 1996). The CRI captures the representation of adult attachment in close relationships that may or may not be romantic, by including in the evaluation the individual’s coherence during the interview, their behavior and their partner’s behavior. It also uses the classifications of secure, dismissing, preoccupied and unresolved attachment, and is correlated with the AAI (Crowell, Fraley, & Shaver, 1999). The AAI and the AAP will be discussed in more detail below. Among the many self report instruments in use today are the Attachment History Questionnaire (AHQ; Pottharst, 1990), the Reciprocal Attachment Questionnaires for Adults (RAQ; M.L West & Sheldon-Keller, 1992) and the Avoidant Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ; Malcolm L. West & Sheldon-Keller, 1994). Unique to the RAQ is that it assesses attachment quality toward whomever the subject designates as primary attachment figure, whether romantic, friendship, familial or parental. If an adult answering questions for the RAQ claims not to have an attachment figure, then the AAQ can be used. Hazan and Shaver (1987; 1990) developed a measure that asked individuals to agree with one of three short descriptions of attachment

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styles which became very popular as this measure was easy to use, but was criticized for having low reliability due to the possible artificial nature of the classifications (Crowell et al., 1999). Consisting of four sentences rather than three, the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ;Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) showed similar reliability. The Relationship Styles Questionnaire by Griffin and Bartholomew (RSQ; Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994) also assesses styles in current romantic relationships but in a 30 question self report format. More lately, the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R;Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000) consists of 36 items and assesses for anxiety and avoidance in attachment. This attachment assessment can be done online, and scored immediately at http://www.yourpersonality.net. The ECR-R data are provided on a continuum, and may allow certain correlation statistics with other instruments that provide scores in terms of continuous data such as the NEO for personality, or the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI; Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1998) for career attitudes. A recent review of the self report measures by Noftle and Shaver (2006) found attachment style measures predicted relationship quality better than personality measures. In general, however, attachment status is more stable over time than attachment style. Crowell, Fraley and Shaver in The Handbook of Attachment (Crowell et al., 1999) conclude that “all the self report attachment scales whether conceived originally in terms of Bowlby’s specific constructs…or Ainsworth’s…load substantially on the same two major factors.” These are “anxiety” vs. “avoidance” or “model of self” vs. “model of other”(1999, p. 451). There does not seem to be a great amount of overlap between how adults say they are attached, and these same adults’ implicit or unconscious blueprints about attachment as measured by attachment status instruments such as the AAI (de Haas et al., 1994) .

The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). The AAI is an hour-long semi structured interview in which people are asked a series of specific questions, which elicit their mental representation of the relation with a parent. The way the person responds to questions becomes the basis for classifying the attachment representation into four different categories: autonomous, dismissing, preoccupied, or unresolved.

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The diagnostic power of the AAI lies more in the coherence of answers than in the actual history of a person’s life (Main, 2000). Bad events can still leave an individual able to give love, and establish a warm, supportive relationship. The reliability and validity of the AAI have been researched and found to have consistency and meaning (Bakermans-Kranenburg & van IJzendoorn, 1993; Crowell et al., 1996; Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994; Sagi, van IJzendoorn, Scharf, & Koren-Karie, 1994) The AAI administrator records information on two levels: First, there is the story of how a person remembers a caregiver, and second the way the individual discusses past events. An interviewee could be saving wonderful things about his or her parents (story), and have large gaps in their discussion, two indicators of dismissing attachment, or be unable to prevent going into a long emotional account of certain experiences , an indicator of preoccupied attachment (Hesse, 1999). An online protocol for the AAI that lists the questions and discusses how they should be asked by the interviewer may be viewed at http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/measures/content/aai_intervi ew.pdf.

The state of mind with regard to attachment is thought to be part of our implicit memory, which is not conscious and therefore not accessible via the facts of our lives. Other research shows that explicit memory of the facts of our lives is highly changeable (Lannon, 2002; Lewis, 2002). Therefore, it is not the events of life, but the way the individual understands, and thus discusses them that is the basis for assessing attachment.

The Adult Attachment Projective (AAP) Although the AAI has a lot of validity evidence, it has the drawback of being cumbersome in administration. It is time consuming and lengthy (de Haas et al., 1994), but it has been the only way to allow the adult state of mind with respect to attachment to be delineated. As noted earlier, George, West and Pettem (1999) developed the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP). In several studies, which compared AAP classifications for individuals who had also been given the AAI, the consistency of agreement between AAP and AAI assessment was strong, between .96 and .94. (George & West, 2001) . A major advantage of the AAP is that it takes about one half hour to

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administer, versus one hour for the AAI. It takes less time to transcribe and to decode, about one hour to transcribe and two to decode, whereas the AAI takes about four hours to transcribe. The AAP also targets the state of mind with respect to attachment, like the AAI, but comes in the form of a projective test using eight drawings about which the individual is asked to tell a story, describe what is happening, what led up to it, and what will happen next. The AAP allows delineation of the four categories of state of mind with respect to attachment by analyzing three dimensions of story telling: defensive process, discourse and content. Defensive processes are further delineated into, cognitive disconnection (related to a preoccupied state of mind), deactivation (related to dismissing state of mind) and segregated systems (related to an unresolved state of mind) (George et al., 1999). The developers of the AAP have made a webpage available that shows one of the pictures of the AAP, as well as current research, psychometric information and discussion of the defensive processes at www.attachmentprojective.com. The AAP interview has to be transcribed, and the transcript coded for attachment status. Coders must be trained in this technique and have reliability as coders. AAP training information is available online at the same website noted above. . Immigrants and Attachment Today, more than 20% of children in the United States are from immigrant families in which one or both parents emigrated from their home country (Landale & Oropesa, 1995). A steady influx of Dutch immigration to the United States is well documented for centuries starting in the 1600’s. During the years after World War II, Dutch emigration to the US and Canada experienced an upsurge, due to government incentives and bad economic conditions in the Netherlands and Belgium (VanderMey, 1983), with another upsurge during the 1990’s to California. Presently Dutch speaking immigrants represent 1.25% of California’s foreign born population and 1.6% of the U.S. foreign-born population (Modarres & Aleman, 2003). Although much is known about their integration into the middle class of U.S. society less is written about the psychological well being of this group of immigrants. In general, educational and economic achievements are correlated with psychological well being, or more precisely, educational and economic underachievements are correlated

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with stress and hardship. A large study of nearly 20,000 individuals comparing immigrants and native born individuals showed that immigrants have more mental health problems even when socioeconomic status was controlled (Angel, Buckley, & Sakamoto, 2001). Most research related to immigrants has focused on those who are minorities based on language, religion, skin color, or income. This is appropriate because it characterizes the majority of immigrants. Less is known about the psychology of immigrants who resemble their host culture in many ways. According to attachment theory, the desire for closeness is part of our evolutionary drive and extends to both people and environment. Bowlby writes, “There is a marked tendency for humans, like animals of other species, to remain in a particular and familiar locale and in the company of particular and familiar people” (1973, p. 147). Obviously, immigrants have broken out of this mold. How then does attachment theory view immigrants?

Dissertation Outline The thesis begins with chapter two, which reviews the research on attachment, and immigration, using an attachment framework to discuss the immigrant experience according to the four stages of vulnerability for immigrants as reflected in current immigrant mental health literature. These stages are premigration (conditions that produce or promote emigration), transit, the period of resettlement, followed by long-term adjustment and adaptation(Perez-Foster, 2001). Chapters three to six are empirical studies. The first study (chapter three) examines whether the immigrant group is characterized by a certain attachment status. The second study (chapter four) examines how attachment status and immigrant status are related to the perception of attachment danger, and to the ability to resolve perceived danger. The second study also asks whether immigrants differ from non-immigrants with respect to the specific events that they perceive as dangerous and if danger is resolved more successfully in certain situations than others. The situations examined are those that tend to activate the attachment system such as depictions of mourning or grief, possible abuse, illness, death, loss or isolation.

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The next several studies explore the links between attachment among the immigrant group on the one hand, and work and personality, respectively, on the other hand. These studies use attachment style measures, as well as attachment status assessment. The third empirical study (chapter five) explores how attachment style relates to personality. More specifically, it investigates whether the two major factors underlying the self-report measures (anxiety and avoidance) correlate with certain aspects of personality as delineated in the NEOFFI such as openness, conscientiousness. Being less anxious and dismissing of attachment needs seems related to being more conscientious or responsible as a person, and anxious attachment corresponds with increased emotionality, whereas dismissing attachment is linked to so little emotionality that the individual may be accused of being cold (Noftle & Shaver, 2006). The final and fourth empirical study (chapter six) asks how attachment style relates to thoughts about work among the group of immigrants under investigation. In short, these four studies explore whether being an immigrant is correlated with attachment status, and how, in turn, unresolved attachment status is linked with specific images of experiences rather than with others, and also how attachment is correlated with cognition about work as well as with our personality facets. The final section (chapter seven) of this dissertation summarizes the research and suggests further avenues of inquiry.

References Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Oxford, England: Lawrence Erlbaum. Angel, J. L., Buckley, C. J., & Sakamoto, A. (2001). Duration or disadvantage? Exploring nativity, ethnicity, and health in midlife. Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 56B(5), 275-284. Arindell, W. A., Emmelkamp, P.M.G., Brilman, E., & Monsma, A. (1983). Psychometric evaluation of an inventory for assessment of parental rearing practices: A Dutch form of the EMBU. Acta Psyciatrica Scandinavica, 67, 163-177.

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Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1993). A psychometric study of the Adult Attachment Interview: Reliability and discriminant validity. Developmental Psychology, 29(5), 870-879. Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. (1991). Attachment Styles Among Young Adults: A Test of a Four-Category Model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(2), 226-244. Bhui, K., Abdi, A., Abdi, M., Pereira, S., Dualeh, M., Robertson, D., et al. (2003). Traumatic events, migration characteristics and psychiatric symptoms among Somali refugees: Preliminary communication. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 38(1), 35-43. Bowlby, J. (1944). Fourty-four juvenile thieves: Their characters and home life. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 25(1952), 107-127. Bowlby, J. (1969/1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. I. Attachment. New York,: Basic Books. Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss Vol. II: Separation anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books, Inc. Publishers. Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss Vol. III: Loss sadness and depression. New York: Basic Books. Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base : Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Routledge. Cassidy, J., & Shaver, P. R. (1999). Handbook of attachment : Theory, research, and clinical applications. New York: The Guilford Press. Choi, H. H., Lee, K. S., & Kim, T. L. (1998). /A study on agreement between child attachment classification and adult representational level of attachment. Korean Journal of Developmental Psychology, 11(1), 131-142. Crowell, J. A., Fraley, R. C., & Shaver, P. R. (1999). Measurement of individual differences in adolescent and adult attachment. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment (pp. 434-465). New York: The Guilford Press. Crowell, J. A., & Owens, G. (1996). Current Relationship Interview and scoring system.Unpublished manuscript, State University of New York at Stony Brook. Crowell, J. A., Waters, E., Treboux, D., O'Connor, E., Colon-Downs, C., Feider, O., et al. (1996). Discriminant validity of the Adult Attachment Interview. Child Development, 67(5), 2584-2599.

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de Haas, M., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1994). The Adult Attachment Interview and questionnaires for attachment style, temperament, and memories of parental behavior. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 155(4), 471(416). den Velde, W. O., Hovens, J. E., Bramsen, I., McFarlane, A. C., Aarts, P. G. H., Falger, P. R. J., et al. (2000). A cross-national study of posttraumatic stress disorder in Dutch-Australian immigrants. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34(6), 919-928. Fox, N. A., & Card, J. (1999). Psychophysiological measures in the Study of Attachment. In J. Cassidy & P. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of Attachment. Theory, Research and Clinical Applications (pp. 226-245). New York: The Guilford Press. Fraley, R. C., Waller, N. G., & Brennan, K. A. (2000). An itemresponse theory analysis of self-report measures of adult attachment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(2), 350-365. George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1984 1985 1996). Adult Attachment Interview Protocol.Unpublished manuscript, Berkeley, University of California. George, C., & Solomon, J. (1999). The development of caregiving: A comparison of attachment theory and psychoanalytic approaches to mothering. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 19(4), 618646. George, C., & West, M. L. (2001). The development and preliminary validation of a new measure of adult attachment: the Adult Attachment Projective. Attachment and Human Development, 3, 55-86. George, C., & West, M. L. (2003). The Adult Attachment Projective: Measuring individual differences in attachment security using projective methodology. In M. Hilsenroth & D. Segal (Eds.), Objective and projective assessment of personality and psychopathology (Vol. 2. Personality Asessment. In M. Hersen (Ed.-in-Chief), Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment). New York: John Wiley & Sons. George, C., West, M. L., & Pettem, O. (1999). The Adult Attachment Projective. Disorganization of adult attachment at the level of representation. In J. Solomon & C. George (Eds.), Attachment disorganization. New York: The Guilford Press. Griffin, D. W., & Bartholomew, K. (1994). Models of the self and other: Fundamental dimensions underlying measures of adult

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attachment. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 67(3), 430-445. Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 52(3), 511-524. Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1990). Love and work: An attachmenttheoretical perspective. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 59(2), 270-280. Hesse, E. (1999). The Adult Attachment Interview: Historical and Current Perspectives. In J. a. S. Cassidy, Phillip R. (Ed.), Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research and Applications. New York: The Guilford Press. Hesse, E. (2001). Unclassifiable and disorganized responses in the adult attachment interview and in the infant strange situation procedure : theoretical proposals and empirical findings. Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands. Landale, N. S., & Oropesa, R. S. (1995). Immigrant children and the children of immigrants: Inter- and intra-ethnic group differences in the United States (Population Research Group Research Paper No. No. 95-2). East Lansing: Michigan State University. Lannon, R. (2002, October 12). The psychobiology of attachment. Paper presented at the Cohesive Self: The Critical Role of Implicit Memory and Attachment in the Development of the Sense of Self., Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A. Lewis, T. (2002, October 12). Implicit memory. Paper presented at the Cohesive Self: The Critical Role of Implicit Memory and Attachment in the Development of the Sense of Self., The Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, U.S.A. Main, M. (1999). Mary D. Salter Ainsworth: Tribute and portrait. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 19(5), 682-736. Main, M. (2000). The organized categories of infant, child, and adult attachment: Flexible vs. inflexible attention under attachmentrelated stress. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 48(4), 1055-1096. Main, M. (2002, October 12). Longitudinal studies on attachment. Paper presented at the Cohesive Self: The Critical Role of Implicit Memory and Attachment in the Development of the Sense of Self., The Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, U.S.A. Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1986). Discovery of a new, insecuredisorganized/disoriented attachment pattern. In T. B. Brazelton

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& M. Yogman (Eds.), Affective development in infancy (pp. 95-124). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation. In M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and interventions. (pp. 134-146). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Miller, K. E., Worthington, G. J., Muzurovic, J., Tipping, S., & Goldman, A. (2002). Bosnian refugees and the stressors of exile: A narrative study. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 72(3), 341-354. Modarres, A., & Aleman, E. (2003, retrieved 3/22/05). State of Immigration. from www.patbrowninstitute.org Noftle, E. E., & Shaver, P. R. (2006). Attachment dimensions and the big five personality traits: Associations and comparative ability to predict relationship quality. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(2), 179-208. Patel, N. (1992). Psychological disturbance, social support and stressors: A community survey of immigrant Asian women and the indigenous population. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 5(3), 263-276. Perez-Foster, R. (2001). When immigration is trauma: Guidelines for the individual and family clinician. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 71(2), 153-170. Pottharst, K. (1990). The search for methods and measures. In K. Pottharst (Ed.), Explorations in adult attachment (pp. 9-37). New York: Peter Lang. Sagi, A., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Scharf, M., & Koren-Karie, N. (1994). Stability and discriminant validity of the Adult Attachment Interview: A psychometric study in young Israeli adults. Developmental Psychology., 30(5), 771-777. Sampson, J. P., Peterson, G. W., Lenz, J. G., Reardon, R. C., & Saunders, D. E. (1998). The design and use of a measure of dysfunctional career thoughts among adults, college students, and high school students: The Career Thoughts Inventory. Journal of Career Assessment, 6(2), 115-134. Sinnerbrink, I., Silove, D., Field, A., Steel, Z., & Manicavasagar, V. (1997). Compounding of preimigration trauma and postimigration stress in asylum seekers. Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary & Applied, 131(5), 463-470.

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VanderMey, A. (1983). To all our children: The story of Dutch postwar immigration to Canada. Jordan Station, Ontario Canada: Paideia Press. West, M. L., & Sheldon-Keller, A. E. (1992). The assessment of dimensions relevant to adult reciprocal attachment. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 37, 600-606. West, M. L., & Sheldon-Keller, A. E. (1994). Patterns of relating: An adult attachment perspective. New York: The Guilford Press.

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CHAPTER 2

IMMIGRATION FROM AN ATTACHMENT PERSPECTIVE1

Abstract The current literature on attachment and immigration is reviewed and attachment theory is used to illuminate immigrants’ responses during the stages of pre-migration, transit, settlement, and adjustment/adaptation. The author argues that immigrants are more likely than non-immigrants to have an insecure attachment representation, and considers both causes and effects of immigration from an attachment theory perspective. It is suggested that long-term implications of immigration experience may include increased vulnerability to attachment trauma and that understanding social support and clinical aspects of immigrants’ needs will benefit from the application of attachment theory. The author considers the usefulness of applying attachment theory to non-immigrant groups including expatriate employees, members of the armed services, government employees stationed abroad and even foreign students. Several attachment-based research focuses to examine attachment among immigrants are proposed.

Introduction As an immigrant, therapist and educator, I have found a sense of shared experience with other immigrants, regardless of where they are from or how they got here. Many who say they wanted to come to the new country (in this case, the United States) feel years later that they had not adequately considered the emotional consequences of 1

van Ecke, Y. (2005) Social Behavior & Personality, International Journal, Vol. 33, pp 467 - 477.

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realizing they will probably live out their lives without proximity to family back home. Others who were forced to leave their home country will admit they really did not expect to stay away as long as they did, and they experience longing. Over the years, I have shared with many other immigrants the excitement over new opportunities, the longing when important life events such as births, new homes and anniversaries continue to take place back home without our presence, the sense of sadness when family back home become ill and we cannot be there to support them, and the grief when loved ones pass away before we have time to see them and say goodbye. For immigrants, this is the norm, not the exception, and despite e-mail, affordable phone service and convenient travel availability, life for an immigrant has a different quality marked by both opportunity and separation. No matter how great life in the new country, at times we all miss the feelings of being surrounded with the people, sounds, smells and sights that constitute “back home”. According to attachment theory, the desire for closeness is part of our evolutionary drive and extends to both people and environment. Bowlby writes, “There is a marked tendency for humans, like animals of other species, to remain in a particular and familiar locale and in the company of particular and familiar people” (1973, p. 147). Obviously, immigrants have broken out of this mold. How then does attachment theory view immigrants? I will use an attachment framework to discuss the immigrant experience according to the four stages of vulnerability for immigrants as reflected in current immigrant mental health literature. These stages are premigration (conditions that produce or promote emigration), transit, the period of resettlement, followed by long-term adjustment and adaptation (Perez-Foster, 2001). Since attachment security, separation and loss are the core themes of attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969/1982, 1973, 1982), it seems well suited for examining the experiences that immigrants have in common. Attachment theory posits that we like to explore, as long as we have a secure base to which to return (Bowlby, 1988). Humans, like other mammals, have evolved and survived because we build and maintain close relationships. We live in groups. Separation does not devastate us as long as we are confident of the possibility of return to our secure base. Initially this base is the actual presence of our caregiver, but later on this relationship with its specific, unspoken rules and characteristics becomes a mental representation.

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This mental representation constitutes what is known as our attachment representation, or state of mind with respect to attachment. Bowlby recognized three different attachment representations: secure attachment and two forms of insecure attachment. Normally we develop secure attachment as the result of our interactions with early caregivers, and thus respond to our own emotions, to others and to our environment with confidence, sensitivity, and flexibility. Experiences of abandonment, loss, or inconsistency in relationships, however, can cause us to feel threatened at a survival level, prompting us to alter both awareness of our emotions and behaviors in attachment relationships. We are most vulnerable as children, but attachment theory holds that we have developmental pathways that are constantly open to revision (Bowlby, 1988). The first insecure form of attachment, also called ‘anxious avoidant’ when referring to children or ‘dismissive’ when speaking of adults, comes about when we come to learn, through early interaction, that our emotions and needs are rejected by our caregiver, so we reject our own emotions in order to maintain the relationship with the all-important other. We develop the second form of insecure attachment, called ‘anxious resistant’ (children) or ‘preoccupied’ (adult) (Bowlby, 1969/1982), if the care given to us is inconsistent, sometimes absent, but other times needy on the part of the caregiver. In this situation, we learn that in order to sustain the relationship, we must pay very close attention to the other, and become hypersensitive. These patterns were documented in the first assessment measure of attachment, The Strange Situation (TSS) developed by Mary Ainsworth (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Bowlby, 1969/1982, p. 338). Ainsworth’s behavior observation measure for attachment used the child’s reactions to the mother’s brief departures as the basis for four attachment classifications for children: secure, insecure anxious, insecure avoidant, and disorganized. The fourth attachment representation is not only insecure but more complicated. There appears to be no sense of organization about how to get one’s needs met, how to relate to the emotion, to other people, or to one’s needs; the individual’s behavior is characterized as “dazed” or “immobile”(Bowlby, 1988, p. 125). This disorganized or unresolved attachment is seen after physical abuse or gross neglect (Bowlby, 1988; Crittenden, 1985), when the caregiver treats the child in a very erratic and unpredictable way (Radke-Yarrow, Cummings, Kuczynski,

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& Chapman, 1985), is mourning a parental loss from his or her own childhood, or is a victim of abuse (Hesse & van IJzendoorn, 1998). These earliest—and many later—measures of adult attachment that are being used today are reviewed in detail in The Handbook of Attachment (Crowell, Fraley, & Shaver, 1999). In this literature review with a primary focus on adult migration and atttachment (except for an initial section on transit and children), I accordingly use the terms for adult attachment statuses: autonomous, dismissive, preoccupied and unresolved attachment. I will also discuss attachment as being secure (meaning autonomous only), and insecure (a group including dismissive, preoccupied and unresolved). This summary of attachment assessment is presented to be helpful in the review of attachment literature and immigrants that follows next.

Pre-emigration: Who Emigrates? Some leave their home countries to escape poverty, famine, or oppression, and others seek a better life enabled by the exercise of free will. At some level, all make a choice to leave their homelands as either a means of survival or a means to a better life. It appears that those who desire to emigrate tend to have higher achievement and power motivation, yet be more work-oriented and less focused on family centrality than those who do not want to emigrate (Boneva & Frieze, 2001; Frieze et al., 2004). These characteristics also apply to individuals with dismissive attachment, as one of the childhood experience criteria associated with dismissive attachment status (as measured on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI;George, Kaplan, & Main, 1984 1985 1996) is parental pressure to achieve (George & West, 2003). It would obviously be interesting and useful to have research data on the attachment status of emigrants. A study comparing values of immigrants’ relationships, work and spirituality with those of native-born individuals showed that Caribbean women remaining in their homeland derived more meaning from relationships and found them most important, while women who had emigrated from the Caribbean to Canada derived less meaning from work and spirituality but found them still important (Ali & Toner, 2001). It is unclear whether personal relationships became less

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important for this group of immigrant women, or if they had always been less important: Attachment status of the immigrants would more likely be insecure, and, more specifically, dismissive. Transit and Attachment Transit for children.

Today, more than 20% of children in the United States are from immigrant families in which one or both parents emigrated from their home country (Landale & Oropesa, 1995). A recent study with nearly 400 immigrant youth from five different countries found that 85% experienced separations from one or both parents. These separations ranged from 6 months to 10 years. Long separations from family were linked to increased reports of depressive symptoms (Suarez-Orozco, Todorova, & Louie, 2002). Interestingly, 65% of incoming freshmen at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2002 had at least one foreign-born parent (Schevitz, 2002). Mackey’s (2003) review of the research leads to the impression that depression is more closely linked with an insecure preoccupied attachment than with other attachment statuses (Allen, Moore, Kupermine, & Bell, 1998; Kobak, Sudler, & Gamble, 1991), while dismissive attachment shows greater correlation with the tendency to externalize (triangulate) into substance abuse and conduct issues (Rosenstein & Horowitz, 1996). The lengthy separations experienced by a number of immigrant children in the Harvard study may be linked to insecure attachment representation. Attachment representation can change when an influence is persistent and negative (Waters, Hamilton, & Weinfield, 2000). Certainly prolonged separations from parents do not contribute to secure attachment for children and are almost certain to be detrimental in terms of attachment representation. Studies examining the relationships between different migration experiences and attachment among children are clearly needed.

Early adjustment for adults. A study by Pianta using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Iventory (MMPI; Butcher, 1989, 1990) shows that individuals with dismissive attachment report less psychiatric distress and anxiety

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while emphasizing independence, while those with secure attachment scored between those with preoccupied (with the highest distress, anxiety) and dismissing attachment (Pianta, Egeland, & Adam, 1996). These findings are consistent with the idea that immigrants who have dismissive attachment would have more a more favorable initital adjustment because they are accustomed to not feeling needy and to being tough, whereas those with the preoccupied and autonomous attachment representations would report more problems in postimmigration adjustment. When a person with secure attachment status experiences a separation, perhaps due to work assignment or necessary education abroad, he or she may be more keenly aware of his or her suffering than are people with insecure attachment, because securely attached individuals are less inclined to deny their own pain than those with dismissive attachment, and less likely to over focus on others’ needs than those with preoccupied attachment. Those in the dismissive attachment group would thus assign less importance to the family of origin, and be more adaptable to the initial isolation and hardships of emigration because they have a frame of mind that assumes no one but the individual herself or himself is likely to meet their needs. A study focusing on the attachment style of Chinese Indonesian immigrants using Bartholomew’s Relationship Style Questionnaire (RSQ; Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994) with a sample of 297 first-generation immigrants to the United States shows a positive correlation between secure attachment style, general satisfaction with life and ease of relating to the host culture (Handojo, 2000). More interestingly, this study finds that people with a preoccupied attachment style relate less easily to the new culture than to their culture of origin, and that those with a dismissive attachment style relate more easily to the new culture than their own. Persons with dismissive attachment may be more interested in emigrating, and after arrival in the new country appear prepared for the initial rigors of the isolation, confusion and need for personal hardiness that accompany the immigration experience. Resettlement Ataca studied 200 married Turkish immigrants from 19 to 73 years old in Toronto, Canada, and found that their psychological adaptation was correlated with “hardiness, social support, acculturation attitudes, and discrimination” (Ataca & Berry, 2002). Another study by Hovey that

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focused on Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles concluded that family dysfunction, geographical separation from family, nonpositive expectations for the future, and low income levels were also significantly related to elevated levels of acculturative stress, and that acculturative stress was the best predictor for increased risk for depression (Hovey, 2000). What is acculturative stress? It may be viewed as a the loss of familiar ways, sounds and faces, coupled with a sense of not knowing quite how to belong, connect, and get support. Mendlovic et al. propose that immigration can be associated with a profound state of anomie, the concept developed by the sociologist, Emile Durkheim, to describe a disconnect between society’s values and the individual’s aspirations (Mendlovic, Ratzoni, Doron, & Braham, 2001). Also keenly aware of our attachment to a familiar environment, Bowlby noted that “Each individual has its own relatively small and very distinctive personal environment to which it is attached” (1973, p. 147) and that “looked at in this light the regulatory systems that maintain a steady relationship between an individual and his familiar environment can be regarded as an ‘outer ring’ of life-maintaining systems complementary to the ‘inner ring’ of systems that maintain physiological homeostasis” (1973, p. 150). Acculturative stress may be seen in attachment theory as not only a separation with accompanying attachment behavior, but also as a loss accompanied by protest and despair. As Perez-Foster ( 2001) describes the experiences of immigrants, it becomes clear that previous trauma and current language issues have a profound effect on the resettlement experience. When coupled with the ongoing isolation vis-à-vis the larger society in which the immigrant functions, the separation and isolation may have the effect of an attachment trauma, that is, an unresolved, painful, emotional wound to an individual’s internal working model of attachment relationships. Adjustment and Adaptation Over time, many immigrants improve their economic status, and the next generation builds on that foundation, going to college, starting businesses and buying homes. It would seem that, in general, the higher someone’s socioeconomic security, the greater the likelihood they have secure attachment. Healthy family functioning and secure socioeconomic status seem to be more important for attachment security than one’s cultural background (Sagi, van IJzendoorn, &

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Koren-Karie, 1991; van IJzendoorn & Sagi, 1999). An interesting exception here is that although lack of poverty is generally a protection against insecure attachment, better socioeconomic status does not decrease the immigrant’s vulnerability to emotional health problems. (Angel, Buckley, & Sakamoto, 2001). Specific findings show mental health is lower for second-generation immigrants who are as diverse as South Asians in Canada (Abouguendia & Noels, 2001) and Latinos in the United States (Escobar, Nervi, & Gara, 2000). Factors discussed by Perez-Foster ( 2001) that haunt immigrants over time are for example decreasing functionality of family, sense of isolation and multiple compound losses over time. Over time these factors may lead to unresolved attachment status despite political freedom, educational opportunities and economic improvement. Indeed, one of the attachment-related risk factors for mental disorders is major separation from and permanent loss of the attachment figures (Allen, Hauser, & Borman-Spurrell, 1996; Carlson, 1995; Cicchetti, 1995; Main, 1996). In many cases, immigration permanently separates the individual from her or his attachment figures, although the immigrant had not anticipated such a result. Many of the immigrants with whom I have spoken intended to stay abroad as a trial period for a few years but wound up remaining permanently. The personal loss and grief as a result of immigration may be viewed in terms of Bowlby’s stages of mourning: the initial experience of numbness, shock and disbelief, followed by despair, homesickness and longing, and concluded by a reorganization, the end of grieving and an acceptance of one’s role in the new society (Arredondo-Dowd, 1981). Attachment theory does not say that separation and loss put people at risk for mental disorders, but major separation and permanent loss do pose a risk. Loss is a fact of life and if earlier experiences have taught us that our emotional needs are met, we presumably will adjust to losses and build new relationships. Most of the time, however, death of a loved one, a move, divorce, or lengthy separation takes place while the rest of our relationships and life structure remain the same.

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TABLE 1

Overview of Attachment Status Terms for Children and Adults. Child 1 Adult 2 Strategy to handle anxiety 3 Secure (B)

Autonomous (F)

Insecure-avoidant (A)

Dismissing (Ds)

Insecure-anxious (C) (Also termed anxious resistant/ambivalent)

Preoccupied (E)

Disorganized (D)

Unresolved (U)

Have faith, support is there Support is absent, disassociate from the source of anxiety Support is unreliable, focus intensely on the source of support Unclear Strategy

Note 1, 2:source: {Hesse, 1999 #p.399) 3 source {Main, 2002 }

,

.

With immigration, multiple changes occur simultaneously, so the overall effect is more profound (Dovidio & Esses, 2001). Attachment theory distinguishes between the experiences of separation (Bowlby, 1973) and loss (Bowlby, 1982), so I believe that in trying to understand the response of immigrants to immigration we should distinguish between initial immigration (early separation) and years of accumulated instances of separation which add up to a sense of isolation and loss. My discussions with immigrants lead me to believe that the time of initial separation, although traumatic for many, is not in and of itself the most damaging time for many immigrants. The trauma is not one that is generally recognized, as would be danger to one’s life or several serious losses in succession. More often there are many smaller events that build up to the level of trauma. Over time, the immigrant misses out on happy events such as births, new homes and anniversaries for loved ones back home. The immigrant also suffers from not being able to support loved ones in their illnesses, personal traumas and deaths. The continued inability to participate directly and

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be surrounded by loved ones at such times leaves the immigrant with a sense of isolation, multiple losses and complicated grief. Perez Foster (2001) chronicles immigrants’ pre-emigration traumas that they try to hide afterwards in order to forget and function; those suppressed traumas certainly could be a source of unresolved attachment among immigrants. In addition, I propose the possibility that the attachment representation of immigrants may suffer over time as the effects of multiple losses compound as they accumulate. Therefore, we would see more unresolved attachment among immigrants than among nonimmigrants. Further research is needed to test this hypothesis. Summary Much literature has been developed on immigrants, but not much on attachment and immigration. Since attachment research has shown that attachment status affects how we explore, play, form new relationships, and handle conflict and how vulnerable we are to mental health problems later, it is no surprise that such research has grown tremendously over the past few decades. The literature on attachment illuminates how people respond to separation, but how immigrants as a group experience the separation from family, country and other support systems over time needs to be examined from an attachment perspective. Additional research findings about attachment and immigrants would have implications for clinicians working with immigrants, and with clients in professional circumstances that require significant time away from family such as expatriate employees, members of the armed forces, representatives of government stationed abroad, and even foreign students in certain circumstances. References Abouguendia, M., & Noels, K. A. (2001). General and acculturationrelated daily hassles and psychological adjustment in first- and second-generation South Asian immigrants to Canada. International Journal of Psychology, 36(3), 163-173. Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Oxford, England: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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Ali, A., & Toner, B. B. (2001). Symptoms of depression among Caribbean women and Caribbean-Canadian women: An investigation of self-silencing and domains of meaning. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 25(3), 175-180. Allen, J. P., Hauser, S. T., & Borman-Spurrell, E. (1996). Attachment theory as a framework for understanding sequelae of severe adolescent psychopathology: An 11-year follow-up study. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 64(2), 254-263. Allen, J. P., Moore, C. M., Kupermine, G. P., & Bell, K. L. (1998). Attachment and adolescent psychosocial functioning. Child Development, 69, 1406-1419. Angel, J. L., Buckley, C. J., & Sakamoto, A. (2001). Duration or disadvantage? Exploring nativity, ethnicity, and health in midlife. Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 56B(5), 275-284. Arredondo-Dowd, P. M. (1981). Personal loss and grief as a result of immigration. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 59(6), 376378. Ataca, B., & Berry, J. W. (2002). Psychological, sociocultural, and marital adaptation of Turkish immigrant couples in Canada. International Journal of Psychology, 37(1), 13-26. Boneva, B. S., & Frieze, I. H. (2001). Toward a concept of a migrant personality. Journal of Social Issues, 57(3), 477-491. Bowlby, J. (1969/1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. I. Attachment. New York,: Basic Books. Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss Vol. II: Separation anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books, Inc. Publishers. Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and Loss Vol. III: Loss Sadness and Depression. New York: Basic Books. Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base : Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Routledge. Butcher, J. N. (1989). MMPI-2 users' guide. Minneapolis: Natural Computer Systems. Butcher, J. N. (1990). MMPI-2 in psychological treatment. New York: Oxford University Press. Carlson, E. A., Sroufe, L.A. (1995). Contribution of atachment theory to developmental psychopathology. In D. C. D. Cohen (Ed.), Developmental Psychopathology: Vol. 1. Theory and methods (Vol. 1, pp. 581-617). New York: Wiley. Cicchetti, D., Toth. S.L., Lynch, M. (1995). Bowlby's dream comes full circle: the application of attachment theory to risk and

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psychopathology. Advances in Clinical Child Psychology, 17(1), 75. Crittenden, P. M. (1985). Maltreated infants:vulnerability and resilience. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 26, 85-96. Crowell, J. A., Fraley, R. C., & Shaver, P. R. (1999). Measurement of individual differences in adolescent and adult attachment. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment (pp. 434-465). New York: The Guilford Press. Dovidio, J. F., & Esses, V. M. (2001). Immigrants and immigration: advancing the psychological perspective. Journal of Social Issues, 57(3), 375 (313). Escobar, J. I., Nervi, C. H., & Gara, M. A. (2000). Immigration and mental health: Mexican Americans in the United States. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 8(2), 64-72. Frieze, I. H., Boneva, B. S., Sarlija, N., Horvat, J., Ferligoj, A., Kogovsek, T., et al. (2004). Psychological Differences in Stayers and Leavers: Emigration Desires in Central and Eastern European University Students. European Psychologist, 9(1), 15-23. George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1984 1985 1996). Adult Attachment Interview Protocol.Unpublished manuscript, Berkeley, University of California. George, C., & West, M. (2003). The Adult Attachment Projective: Measuring individual differences in attachment security using projective methodology. In M. H. D. Segal (Ed.), Objective and projective assessment of personality and psychopathology. (Vol. 2 in M. Hersen (Ed.-in-Chief), Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. Griffin, D. W., & Bartholomew, K. (1994). The metaphysics of measurement: The case of adult attachment. In K. Bartholomew & D. Perlman (Eds.), Attachment processes in adulthood: Advances in personal relationships (Vol. 5, pp. 1752). London: Jessica Kingsley. Handojo, V. (2000). Attachment styles, acculturation attitudes/behaviors, and stress among Chinese Indonesian immigrants in the United States. Dissertation Abstracts International 61 (4),Series B, p 2271 (UMI no 9968471). Fuller Theological Seminary. Hesse, E., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1998). Parental loss of close family members and propensities towards absorption in

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offspring. Developmental Science, 1(2), 299-305. Hovey, J. D. (2000). Psychosocial predictors of acculturative stress in Mexican immigrants. Journal of Psychology, 134(5), 490-502. Kobak, R., Sudler, N., & Gamble, W. (1991). Attachment and depressive symptoms during adolescence: A developmental pathways analysis. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 461474. Landale, N. S., & Oropesa, R. S. (1995). Immigrant children and the children of immigrants: Inter- and intra-ethnic group differences in the United States (Population Research Group Research Paper No. No. 95-2). East Lansing: Michigan State University. Mackey, S. K. (2003). Adolescence and attachment: From theory to treatment applications. In P. Erdman & T. Caffery (Eds.), Attachment and family systems (pp. 79-117). New York: Brunner-Routledge. Main, M. (1996). Introduction to the special section on attachment and psychopathology: 2.Overview of the field of attachment. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 64(2), 237-243. Mendlovic, S., Ratzoni, G., Doron, A., & Braham, P. (2001). Immigration, Anomie and Psychopathology. Journal for the Psychoanalysis of Culture & Society, 6(2), 324. Perez-Foster, R. (2001). When immigration is trauma: Guidelines for the individual and family clinician. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 71(2), 153-170. Pianta, R. C., Egeland, B., & Adam, E. K. (1996). Adult attachment classification and self-reported psychiatric symptomatology as assessed by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 64(2), 273281. Radke-Yarrow, M., Cummings, E. M., Kuczynski, L., & Chapman, M. (1985). Patterns of attachment in two- and three- year olds in normal families and families with parental depression. Child Development, 56, 884-893. Rosenstein, D. S., & Horowitz, H. A. (1996). Adolescent attachment and psychopathology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(2), 244-253. Sagi, A., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Koren-Karie, N. (1991). Primary appraisal of the Strange Situation: A cross-cultural analysis of preseparation episodes. Developmental Psychology, 27(4), 587-596.

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Schevitz, T. (2002, September 26, 2002). Surprise on Poll of Cal students. San Francisco Chronicle, pp. A27-Colum 21. Suarez-Orozco, C., Todorova, I. L. G., & Louie, J. (2002). Making up for lost time: The experience of separation and reunification among immigrant families. Family Process, 41(4), 625-643. van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Sagi, A. (1999). Cross-cultural patterns of attachment: Universal and contextual dimensions. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment. Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 713-734). New York,: The Guilford Press. Waters, E., Hamilton, C. E., & Weinfield, N. S. (2000). The stability of attachment security from infancy to adolescence and early adulthood: General introduction. Child Development, 71(3), 678-683.

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CHAPTER 3

IMMIGRANTS AND ATTACHMENT STATUS Research findings with Dutch and Belgian Immigrants in California2

Abstract Although immigrants are an extremely diverse group, adults who emigrate nearly always experience separation from family of origin, extended family and country. This research examines state of mind with respect to attachment, using the Adult Attachment Projective (George & West, 2003; George, West, & Pettem, 1999), and compares the attachment status of adult Californians who still live near their family of origin in the area in which they were born and raised (m 12, f 18) to that of individuals who emigrated from the Netherlands and Belgium as adults to California (m 29, f 41). The findings showed a significant relationship between being an immigrant and unresolved attachment status (n= 100, X2 =5.81, p=< 0.0160) unrelated to time in the U.S., reason for immigration, being married or single. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed. Introduction Today in the United States, immigrants are the parents of over 20 percent of children in the country (Landale & Oropesa, 1995). At the University of California, Berkeley in 2002, 65% of incoming freshmen have at least one foreign born parent (Schevitz, 2002). Many immigrants and their children are quite successful in American society (Simon, 1995; U.S., 2000), yet the four different stages of the process 2

van Ecke, Y., Chope R.C., Emmelkamp, P.M.G. (2005) Social Behavior and Personality, International Journal, Volume 33, Number 7, pp.657-675

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(pre-emigration, transit, settlement and post immigration conditions) can become traumatic under conditions related to language barriers, discrimination and poverty (Perez-Foster, 2001). Risk factors in the early years include unemployment, lack of familiarity with the environment, and not having relatives in the new country (Aroian & Norris, 2002) while later on the factor of not being married or otherwise attached appears to contribute to continued depression (Beiser, 1988). Lower mental health in the second generation, i.e. children of immigrants (Abouguendia & Noels, 2001) appears related to acculturation and alienation from family. Mental health improvements over time are due less to economic prosperity than improved social networks and attachments. Attachment theory suggests that early on in life, before we can talk, we form internal working models about how reliable, responsive and understanding our caregiver is (Bowlby, 1969/1982). These models continue to inform our behavior later in life, and become active when we experience separation or threat of loss from significant others, and during times of stress, frustration, or anger. Attachment is formed very early and is a universal (Main, 2002), psychobiological process in that attachment system activation is related to stress hormones (Fox & Card, 1999). Generally, four attachment statuses are recognized and each is designated by a letter in the attachment status literature. Table one summarizes the overview. The first attachment status is secure attachment, also called autonomous (F), the other three are insecure and are called dismissive (Ds), preoccupied (E) and unresolved (U). They are called ‘attachment representations’, or ‘states of mind with respect to attachment’ by clinical and developmental psychologists (Arindell, 1983; Choi, Lee, & Kim, 1998; de Haas, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & van IJzendoorn, 1994; George & Solomon, 1999; Main, 1999). In the case of secure attachment, we have received consistent, sensitive care giving, and later tend to respond in confident and flexible ways to others and ourselves. The three categories of insecure attachment develop in different ways in early childhood: Dismissive attachment develops when the caregiver rejects the child’s feelings of need, fear or anger, which the child, in turn, learns to suppress in order to get along with the attachment figure(s). Preoccupied attachment develops in response

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TABLE 1 ADULT ATTACHMENT STATUSES OVERVIEW

Adult attachment status

Implicit assumptions Mental rules to about attachment handle attachment relationships activation

Secure (F)

Needs for safety and security are recognized. Support is there when needed.

Dismissing (Ds)

Needs for safety and security are ignored or rejected. Support is not there when needed.

Preoccupied (E)

Needs for safety and security are sometimes ignored. Sometimes the caregiver is needy of help. Care and security are inconsistent.

Unresolved (U)

Potential isolation when needy, or even danger from those on whom you depend. Loss of attachment

Express what is needed or feared.. Problems are addressed and processed. Do not express what is needed or feared. Suppress anxiety. Do not depend on others. Be extra sensitive towards attachment figures as they are not dependable. Worry about them.

There is no resolution to a dangerous situation. Sometimes you are left to fate, isolated and/or threatened. figure There is no time to think or feel, strong emotions that can There is danger from overwhelm. those you need.

Source: Main, 2002 to inconsistent, even needy care giving causing the child to have increased sensitivity to fear, anger or neediness in order to stay connected to the attachment figure. The fourth category, unresolved attachment, results from threats of being abandoned, hurt or ignored by our attachment figures when we are most needy, or as a consequence of not being able to do anything about loss or hurt.

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Although attachment status as developed in childhood becomes more stable as we age, changes in the way we feel treated can shift our attachment organization in a more or less favorable direction throughout life (Bowlby, 1988). Attachment status can change at any stage in life under profound influences such as loss, separation and trauma. In general we respond to separation with one of the three organized attachment statuses (secure, dismissive or preoccupied), unless the experience is traumatic such as abuse, loss or disaster, in which case we all exhibit signs of the fourth status, disorganized attachment. After a certain time, however, most of us reorganize our attachment representation through emotional change and cognitive restructuring. Bowlby notes that “this redefinition of self and situation is no mere release of affect but a cognitive act on which all else turns” (1969/1982, p. 94), after which we revert to the organized status we had, i.e., secure, dismissive or preoccupied. Attachment theory views exploration as a normal, voluntary separation and a sign of secure attachment: "Exploring the environment, including play and varied activities with peers, is. seen as a third basic component and one antithetic to attachment behavior. When an individual (of any age) is feeling secure he is likely to explore away from his attachment figure. When alarmed, anxious, tired or unwell he feels an urge towards proximity." (Bowlby, 1988, p. 121) We apply Bowlby’s perspective on exploration to emigration by viewing travel to other countries, in this increasingly international world, as a normal behavior of which permanent residence in another country may be the end result. We want to explore as long as we feel we have a secure base to return to, and we generally explore within boundaries of the familiar: “It is still too little realized, perhaps, that the individuals of a species...usually spend the whole of their lives within an extremely restricted segment of it, known as the home range.” (1973, pp. 146-147). While leaving one’s country of origin is often exploration into what appears to be the familiar based on previous exposure to brochures, movies and books, being an immigrant goes further; it results in life characterized by separation from country, culture, extended family and (often) family of origin.

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Arredondo-Dowd (1981) has proposed how attachment theory should serve as a model for understanding personal loss and grief as a result of immigration, and others have argued that whether emigration is voluntary or not, it eventually is accompanied by loss, grief and even trauma (Levenbach & Lewak, 1995; Marlin, 1992, 1994; Mendlovic, Ratzoni, Doron, & Braham, 2001). Given the characterization of immigration as a traumatic event, as well as existing evidence that ongoing loss and separation may relate to unresolved attachment status (Bowlby, 1969/1982; Hesse & van IJzendoorn, 1998; Main, 1996; Sable, 1995; van IJzendoorn, Feldbrugge, Derks, & de Ruiter, 1997) we tested as the first hypothesis whether immigrants are characterized more by unresolved attachment than non-immigrants. As a second hypothesis we examined whether being with an attachment figure (being married), was related to lower rates of unresolved attachment, and as the third hypothesis whether length of stay in the new country decreased the rate of unresolved attachment. Hazan and Shaver (1990) showed that those with secure attachment view exploration (work) as equally important to home base (personal relations), while those with dismissive attachment assign work a higher priority, and those with preoccupied attachment give more priority to personal relations. We have argued that the initial emigration process is one of exploration. We tested as the fourth hypothesis whether reason for immigration was linked to attachment status, in that those with dismissive attachment would more frequently report immigrating for education and work, while those with preoccupied attachment would immigrate for love, and those with secure attachment more often as a result of tourism. Method Measures Research participants were assessed for attachment state of mind with the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP ;George & West, 2003; George, West, & Pettem, 1999), a series of eight drawings about which the individual is asked to tell a story. He or she is asked to say (1) what is happening, (2) what led up to this situation, (3) what might happen next, and (4) what the story subject might be feeling or thinking. The entire set of 8 stories is taped, then transcribed, and decoded by a trained, reliable coder to assess the subject’s state of

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mind with respect to attachment. The instructions are similar to those given with administration of the Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1943). Coding AAP story transcripts for attachment status requires a lengthy training and acquiring reliability as a coder. The process of coding is quite detailed and systematic. A summary of the process may be helpful at this point. The Adult Attachment Projective coder first assesses the coherence of the stories, based on manner of storytelling, lack of personal relations brought up in the story, as well as the quantity and quality of the story. This is not unlike coding rules for AAI transcripts that the storyteller will adhere to Grice’s principles of cooperative discourse Quality, Quantity, Relation and Manner (Hesse, 1999). Next, the coder assesses other aspects of attachment that are revealed in the story such as the character acting in one’s own behalf, and being connected to others. This is followed by deciding the level of synchrony (a feature of a goal-corrected relationship) in the stories about drawings with more than one person. The coder also examines all stories for defensive processing against attachment system activation, which are infrequent and mild in stories evidencing secure attachment. These defensive processing markers are hallmarks of insecure attachment. Words and themes in the story that show deactivation of attachment related anxiety indicate dismissive attachment. Signs of hyper activation of attachment anxiety, called cognitive disconnect markers such as indecision, worry and emotionality, are signs of preoccupied attachment status. Finally the stories are examined for indicators of danger, isolation and fear called segregated systems markers which when they are not resolved, indicate unresolved attachment. The AAP assesses the same four adult attachment status classifications as the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI`; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1984, 1985, 1996), secure, dismissive, preoccupied and unresolved. These are, as is customary with the AAP, also sometimes abbreviated as F (secure), Ds (dismissive), E (preoccupied), and U (unresolved). The AAP was tested on individuals drawn from samples in the United States and Canada (see George & West, 2001 for details). Individuals were predominantly middle class, Caucasian women ranging in age from 19-65. Participants in these samples represented community and clinical populations. The authors report strong interrater reliability of .97 for secure versus insecure classifications,

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and of .92 for the four major attachment groups of secure, dismissive, preoccupied and unresolved. Construct validity evidence for the AAP was evaluated based on the convergence between AAP and the AAI classifications. Convergence between the AAP and the AAI for the four attachment classifications of secure, dismissive, preoccupied and unresolved was .94 (kappa = .86,) (George, 2003; George & West, 2001). Information on AAP studies, reliability and validity evidence is also reported on www.attachmentprojective.com, which shows one of the AAP drawings, as well. Although the AAI has more validity evidence than the AAP, we found that there was enough preliminary evidence for the AAP and some practical considerations to warrant selection of the AAP for the research instrument. The AAP measures the same attachment representation as the AAI, but takes less time to administer and score. The AAI takes up to 4 to 10 hours to administer, transcribe, and code, whereas the AAP takes 2 to 4 hours per transcript. In addition to the assessment of attachment representation above, both groups of research participants also completed questionnaires on socioeconomic background, including age, gender, education, income, religion, and ethnicity. Immigrants also provided information on length of time in the U.S., marital status and reason for immigration. Participants Lower socioeconomic status is correlated with dismissive and unresolved attachment status in some studies (van IJzendoorn & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 1996) but not in others (Barnett, Kidwell, & Leung, 1998). We invited participation from a middle class adult immigrant group. We favored a sample population with characteristics that other studies had found to be associated with a lower rather than higher rate of unresolved attachment, so that a possible finding of a higher proportion of unresolved attachment among our study’s immigrant participants might be more meaningful. Furthermore, since ethnic and racial minority status also affects socioeconomic status, we selected a group that differed as little as possible from the Caucasian middle class in the U.S. except that they were immigrants. Participants were then recruited via Dutch and Belgian organizations in the San Francisco Bay area, and with assistance of the Netherlands Consulate in San Mateo, California. A letter inviting people to participate in the research, accompanied by an introductory letter from

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the clubs, was mailed out by these organizations and the consulate. They explained that the research was entirely voluntary. A total of four hundred letters were sent out. When participants responded, they were screened to ensure they were first generation immigrants, who had come here as young adults or adults. They were given a confidential participant number, and an initial research participant introduction letter which explained the research steps in further detail to ensure informed consent. Confidentiality and anonymity were guaranteed. A total of 75 immigrants, agreed to participate in the project. Participants for a comparison sample consisting of adult Californian individuals who were born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and still living there, were recruited by e-mailing over 1400 invitations to a convenience sample of people in San Francisco Bay Area corporations, city government offices, and church groups. When potential participants responded, they were screened to ensure that they were born and raised in California, still residing within driving proximity to family of origin, whose parents were not immigrants but otherwise similar to the immigrant group in socioeconomic profile. They were given a participant introduction letter, explaining the research, and signed informed consent forms. Thirty Californians fit the criteria established for the comparison sample, perhaps illustrating the notion that most California residents have migrated from other locales. Responses among the Dutch and Belgian immigrant group who comprise 1.2% of the California population (Modarres & Aleman, 2003) were more forthcoming than among Californians born and raised in the area which may have been related to the strong support shown for the research by the Dutch Consulate and the leaders of the Dutch and Belgian social organizations in the Bay Area. Many participants said they were happy that someone was interested in their story telling, since they felt rather “onzichtbaar” or invisible as immigrants, considered themselves pretty unremarkable and focused on “aanpassen” or fitting into society. Perhaps the concept of attachments and story telling differences between immigrants and non-immigrants was just not as appealing to non-immigrants.

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Procedures Subjects in both groups were given the AAP at a private psychotherapy office, the participant’s home or their office. We felt it was important to include those participants who objected to coming to the researcher’s office in order to broaden the participant group. The AAP interview was conducted by the same researcher in all instances. All subjects were told this was a study about immigrants and the stories they tell, including those about their relationships to significant others. In order to ensure confidentiality each participant was asked to put a participant number (issued at the time of initial agreement to participate) on the audio tape used to record individual responses to the AAP test items. Participants were also provided written explanations of the research both verbally and in writing. There were a total of 105 AAP transcripts, of which 75 were immigrants’ transcripts and 30 were native Californians’ transcripts. Of the 75 immigrant AAP transcripts, 5 tapes were eliminated from the research due to bad audio quality or other problems like not being able to decipher a word that the coder found essential in order to be able to determine attachment status. We had 70 immigrant (m 29, f 41) and 30 native (m 12, f 18) transcripts. After the AAP responses were taped, they were transcribed by the interviewer and then decoded by an experienced, highly reliable coder, one of the developers of the AAP. The coder was uninformed as to the participant’s gender, age, or immigrant status. The AAP coder saw only a participant number and the text of the transcript and was “blind” to possible hypotheses on the researchers’ part. The AAP administrator was trained in administration protocol for the AAP, but at that point still untrained in coding transcripts for attachment status thus avoiding the possibility of influencing the assessment outcome by being knowledgeable about anything in the subject’s manner of answering the questions that might affect AAP coding. There were 70 immigrant AAP results and 30 native Californian AAP results. Results Sociodemographic Comparison The socio demographic profiles of those born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, and the immigrant group are described and

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compared in Tables 2 through 6. We had 70 immigrant (m 29, f 41) and 30 native (m 12, f 18) participants. Although the immigrant sample (40% between 61 and 75 years) was significantly older than the native group (47% between the ages of 46 to 60), chi-square testing showed that age was not significantly related to attachment status (see notes to Table 2).

TABLE 2 AGE VS. IMMIGRANT STATUS (N 90)

Age group 20-35 36-45 46-60 61-75 76-91

Immigrants n 60a 7 12% 13 22% 9 15% 24 40% 7 12%

Natives n 30 8 27% 6 20% 14 47% 1 3% 1 3%

.a

of the 70 immigrant participants, 10 did not answer this item question. Note: although there was significant difference between immigrants and natives, X2 = 21.82, p < 0.0002bcd we found no significance of age to attachment status in 1 way ANOVA, f =0.74, p=<0.5307. b Age group vs. attachment F,Ds,E,U: X2 =18.69, p=<0.0964 (N=90) c

Age group vs. attachment Secure/Insecure X2 =4.49, p=<0.3436 (N=90)

d

Age group vs. attachment Resolved/Unresolved: X2 =6.86, p=<0.1436 (N=90)

The majority of the immigrants had education of a Master’s degree (High school plus six years), and the native group a Bachelor’s degree (high school plus four years). The immigrant group had significantly higher education levels compared to the native group (n = 90, X2 = 12.80, p = < 0.01, see Table 3) but education was not found to have a significant relationship with attachment status (see notes to Table 3). The majority of both groups had incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 per year, but nearly 30% of the immigrants earned more than $100,000, whereas 10% of the non-immigrants earned more than $100,000. Overall, income levels for the immigrant group were higher than for the native group but not at a significant level (see Table 4). Both immigrant- and native groups reported themselves to be mostly Christian, 74% and 90%, respectively. The immigrant group felt less affiliated with a religious orientation. One-fifth of the

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immigrant group but only three percent of the non-immigrant group reported no religion (see Table 5). The immigrant group was 98% Caucasian, and 2% Asian (mostly of Indonesian descent) with significantly less diverse ethnicity than the native group (n=89, X2=15.38, p= <0.0040, see Table 6). The non immigrant group who were born and raised in California’s Bay Area, was 73% Caucasian, 3% Asian, 3% Native American Indian, 17% African American and 7% Latino. Ethnicity did not have a significant relationship with attachment status (see notes to Table 6). TABLE 3 EDUCATION VS. IMMIGRANT STATUS

Education Hs Hs + 2 Hs + 4 Hs + 6 PhD/M.D.

Immigrants n 60a 1 2% 14 23% 17 28% 18 30% 11 18%

Natives n 30 3 10% 3 10% 15 50% 9 30% 0 0%

Note: X2= 12.80, p < 0.0123cde a of 70 participants, 61 returned the questionnaire but one did not answer the education question c Education vs. attachment (F,Ds,E,U) X2 =11.80, p=<0.4621 (n=90) d e

Education vs. attachment secure/insecure X2 =3.82, p=<0.4308 (n=90) Education vs. attachment resolved/unresolved X2 =8.86, p=<0.0648 (n=90)

TABLE 4 INCOME VS. IMMIGRANT STATUS

Income $0-25k/yr 25-50k/yr 50-100k/yr 100-150k/yr >150k/yr

Immigrants n 57a 4 7% 16 28% 18 32% 14 25% 5 9%

Natives n 30 5 17% 6 20% 16 53% 2 7% 1 3%

Note: X2 =8.92, p <0.0631 a 70 immigrant AAP’s were coded, 61 of those returned the questionnaire, and of those 61 persons 4 did not answer the income question.

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TABLE 5 RELIGION VS. IMMIGRANT STATUS

Religion Christian Jewish Moslem Buddhist Other/none

Immigrants n 61 a 45 74% 2 3% 1 2% 1 2% 13 21%

Natives n 30 27 2 0 1 1

90% 7% 0% 3% 3%

Note X2 =5.91, p <0.1160. a of the 70 immigrant subjects, 61 returned questionnaires with SES questions.

The immigrant group had been in the U.S. for an average of 30 years, with a range from 2 to 62 years. Of the 61 persons who provided reason for immigration, 22 came for work, 13 for love, 10 for tourism, 6 for education and 10 for necessity. Nine of the 70 participants did not respond to this question. TABLE 6 ETHNICITY VS. IMMIGRANT STATUS

Ethnicity Caucasian Asian Latino Afr. Am. Nat. Am.

Immigrants n 59a 58 98% 1 2% 0 0 0

Natives n 30 22 73% 1 3% 2 7% 5 17% 1 3%

Note: X2 =15.38, p <0.05bcd. a of the 70 immigrant subjects, 59 answered the ethnicity question b ethnicity vs. attachment F,Ds,E,U X2 =9.62, p = <0.6494 (n=89) c

ethnicity vs. attachment secure(F)/insecure (Ds,E,U): X2 =1.31, p = <0.8953 (n=89)

d

ethnicity vs. attachment resolved (F,Ds,U)/unresolved (U) X2 =1.14, p = <0.8878 (n=89)

There was a substantial emigration from the Netherlands and Belgium after WWII. For a number of years starting in 1950 the Dutch government’s financial incentives boosted emigration to Canada and

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the U.S. (van der Mey, 1983). Baggage, including furniture, was shipped free, and personal travel paid for but the emigrants had to stay abroad at least two years or repay the cost of returning (personal discussions with participants). There was another wave of immigration during the last twenty years related to the Silicon Valley near San Francisco becoming a center of the high tech boom (personal discussions with participants). Of those who responded emigrating for necessity, two reported escaping the Nazi regime but others declined to discuss. Many of the earlier immigrants came by boat with little information whereas the more recent immigrants had a lot of preparation. Attachment status findings

TABLE 7 ATTACHMENT STATUS VS. IMMIGRANT STATUS

Attachment status Secure F Dismissing Ds Preoccupied E Unresolved U

10 26 4 30

Immigrants n 70 14% 37% 6% 43%

Natives n 30 7 23% 15 50% 3 10% 5 17%

Note: X2 = 6.52, p <0.0887

Overall, the distribution of the four attachment classifications in the immigrant group (n= 70) was 14% secure, 36% dismissive, 6% preoccupied and 44% unresolved, and in the native group (n= 30) it was 23% secure, 50% dismissive, 10% preoccupied and 17% unresolved (see Table 7). The immigrant group had a lower percentage of securely attached individuals (14% vs. 23%), a lower percentage of preoccupied individuals (6% compared to 10%) and a lower percentage of people with dismissive attachment (37% vs. 50%), but were much higher in unresolved attachment (43% vs. 17%). When the two attachment classifications of secure vs. insecure (which is comprised of dismissive, preoccupied, and unresolved) were compared against immigrant versus native status (see Table 8), there

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was no significant relationship (N = 100, X 2 =0.66, p =< 0.4160). Immigrants were more insecure, but not significantly so. We also examined the two groups on the three categories of insecure attachment, dismissive, preoccupied and unresolved.

TABLE 8 ATTACHMENT SEC/INSEC VS. IMMIGRANT STATUS

Attachment status Immigrants n 70 Secure (F) 10 14.3% Insecure (Ds,E,U) 60 85.7% Note: X2 = 0.66, p < 0.4160

Natives n30 7 23.3% 23 76.7%

TABLE 9 ATTACHMENT DISMISSING/NON-DISMISSING VS. IMMIGRANT STATUS

Attachment status Immigrants n70 Dismissive (Ds) 26 37% Non-dismissive (F,E,U) 44 63% Note: X2 = 0.95, p <0.3290 ( Corrected for continuity).

Natives n30 15 50% 15 50%

TABLE 10 PREOCCUPIED ATTACHMENT AND IMMIGRANT STATUS

Attachment status Immigrants n70 Preoccupied (E) 4 5.7% Not preoccupied 66 94.3% (F,Ds,U) Note: X2 = 0.12, p <0.07323 ( Corrected for continuity).

Natives n30 3 10% 15 90%

We examined whether the differences in dismissive attachment between the immigrant group and the native Californians shown in Table 7 were significant. Dismissive attachment status was more frequently found among native Californians (50%) than among

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immigrants (37%), but this was not a significant difference (X2=0.95, p= <0.3290, see Table 9). And although the immigrant group also had a lower percentage of people with preoccupied attachment, we found no significant difference between immigrants and non-immigrants with respect to preoccupied attachment status (X2=0.12, p= <0.7323, see Table 10) Hypothesis # 1: We tested whether for differences in unresolved attachment between immigrants and against non-immigrants by dividing AAP results into the two categories of resolved (including the secure, dismissive, and preoccupied) and unresolved attachment status. When we compared against immigrant or non-immigrant status using a chi square we found a significant relationship between unresolved attachment status and being an immigrant (see Table 11) (N= 100, X2 =5.81, p=< 0.0160). These results support the first hypothesis that the immigrant group has more unresolved attachment than the non-immigrant group.

TABLE 11 ATTACHMENT RESOLVED/UNRESOLVED VS. IMMIGRANT STATUS

Attachment status Immigrants n70 Resolved (F,Ds,E) 39 55.7% Unresolved (U) 31 44.3% Note: X2 = 5.81, p <0.0160 ( Corrected for continuity).

Natives n30 25 83.3% 5 16.7%

TABLE 12 ATTACHMENT BY REASON FOR IMMIGRATION (N 61)1

Att Work Love Tourism Educ Necc Secure 4 (3.6) 1(2.1) 3 (1.6) 0 (1.0) 2 (1.6) Ds 7 (8.3) 6 (4.9) 4 (3.8) 3 (2.3) 3 (3.8) E 3 (1.1) 0 (0.6) 0 (0.5) 0 (0.3) 0 (0.5) U 8 (9.0) 6 (5.3) 3 (4.1) 3 (2.5) 5 (4.1) Tot 22 13 10 6 10 Note: X2 = 9.83, p = 0.6313. 1: 9 of the 70 did not answer.

Tot 10 23 3 25 61

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Hypothesis # 2 that having an attachment figure would be related to attachment status was not confirmed. Being married or not was found unrelated to attachment status. Of the 70 participants, 55 answered whether they were married (39), or single (16). Of the 16 who were single, only three said they were divorced or widowed. Of those three, one was unresolved, one secure and one dismissive. Using a chisquare, we found no relation or being married or not to either the four attachment statuses (X2 = 1.27, p = 0.7369) or to being organized or not with respect to attachment (X2 = 0.24, p = 0.6263, corrected for continuity). Hypothesis # 3 that length of stay in the U.S. relates to attachment status was not supported. Length of time in the U.S. (average 30.5 years for resolved individuals and 30.4 years for unresolved) was unrelated to attachment organization using a t-test (t (59) 0.01, p = 0.9946, two tailed). Of the 70 participants, 9 declined to reveal length of stay or reason for immigration. Hypothesis # 4, that attachment status was related to reason for immigration was not supported (X2 = 9.83, p = 0.6313, n 61, see table 12). Secure individuals more often came for tourism and work than expected, and did not report coming for education. Dismissive individuals, however, less often than expected emigrated for work and more often than expected for love, tourism and education. The three preoccupied individuals all came for work. Among the unresolved group, necessity was reported as the reason for emigration more often than expected, with both tourism and love less frequently than expected. Discussion To our knowledge this is the first study to examine attachment status of immigrants, although other studies have been done relating acculturation (Berry, 2001) attitudes to attachment style (Handojo, 2000; van Oudenhoven, 2005) using Bartholomew’s self report measure of attachment (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991; Bartholomew & Perlman, 1994). This is the first study to compare adult immigrant attachment status using the AAP to that of adults who are currently living near their family of origin in the same area. The main finding was that the immigrant group has a significantly higher

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proportion of individuals with unresolved attachment status, unrelated to years in the U.S., being with an attachment figure or reason for immigration. This supports previous assertions that immigration can be traumatic (Arredondo-Dowd, 1981; Levenbach & Lewak, 1995; Marlin, 1992, 1994; Mendlovic et al., 2001), and that ongoing loss and separation may relate to unresolved attachment status (Bowlby, 1969/1982; Hesse & van IJzendoorn, 1998; Main, 1996; Sable, 1995; van IJzendoorn et al., 1997), even for adults. It is unclear from this study whether unresolved attachment is related to abuse, loss, separation or isolation, only that it appears related to immigrant status with this sample. This study’s findings showed no relationship between attachment status and stated reason for immigration. The hypothesis was based on Hazan & Shaver’s findings that work is a more important motivator for those with dismissive attachment and personal relations dominate for those with preoccupied attachment. Others have shown however, that immigrants may not be clear about the reason for immigration. Schmiedeck (1975) showed that it was an accumulation of smaller decisions and circumstances that lead eventually to becoming an immigrant. The high proportion of dismissive attachment in this study’s sample has been found in other samples using the AAP, which consisted not of immigrants and native Californians, but of University of California (U.C.) college students. There was a nearly identical percentage of dismissive attachment status in the college student sample (47%) (Personal communication with George, December 2, 2003) as in this study’s non-immigrant sample (50%). This finding might be related to characteristics of a self-selected population for our study. Participants, after all, volunteered for this study, and there is the possibility that individuals who show an interest in participating in a research study about relationships comparing immigrants’ and non-immigrants’ stories, might interpret such participation as an opportunity to demonstrate competence. This might be especially attractive to those with dismissive attachment and thus a greater interest in idealized attachment relationships evidenced in story telling. The United States is a country in which immigration and migration have become the norms on which the culture is based. For many decades now immigrants have made up between eight and 13 percent of the population (Simon, 1995) and this study was done with an

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immigrant group comprising only 1.2% of the California population (Modarres & Aleman, 2003). There is a clear need to compare other immigrant groups in the context of attachment status. Also of interest may be further studies including pre- and post separation attachment status with non-immigrant individuals who move away from their family support system within the United States, such as college students. It its unclear if the current findings will be replicated with individuals who work abroad for long periods in the service of government or international corporations. Further study of how long term separation from attachment figures and familiar surroundings may be related to attachment status of adults is indicated. This study is limited by lack of data on the pre-emigration attachment status of the immigrant group. Possibly some were unresolved with respect to attachment before emigration. After all, although the average length of stay in the U.S. was 30 years indicating arrivals in the 1970’s, the range of stay varied from 1 to 62 years, indicating that the earlier arrivals began right during WWII for some, a traumatic time. The data for this study were collected from March through September 2003, when the war on Iraq by the U.S. had just begun. Some individuals participating in the study left war torn Europe during and after WWII. Possibly the horror of that was coming to life for some participants at the time of AAP administration. As well, continued separation and isolation from the environment and family of origin for this study’s immigrant sample may constitute an attachment related risk evidencing itself in the high proportion of unresolved status. The results of this study point to the usefulness of further attachment research with other immigrant groups, as well as with pre- and post immigration populations. Clearly other avenues of research that explore the variables affecting the interaction between immigration and attachment status for adults and children would be useful. 3

3

Note: The authors would like to thank Dr. Carola Suarez-Orozco for

her review and comments on the data related to her study of immigrant mental health.

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(1994). The Adult Attachment Interview and questionnaires for attachment style, temperament, and memories of parental behavior. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 155(4), 471(416). Fox, N. A., & Card, J. (1999). Psychophysiological measures in the Study of Attachment. In J. Cassidy & P. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of Attachment. Theory, Research and Clinical Applications (pp. 226-245). New York: The Guilford Press. George, C. (2003). Adult Attachment Projective. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from http://www.attachmentprojective.com George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1984 1985 1996). Adult Attachment Interview Protocol.Unpublished manuscript, Berkeley, University of California. George, C., & Solomon, J. (1999). The development of caregiving: A comparison of attachment theory and psychoanalytic approaches to mothering. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 19(4), 618646. George, C., & West, M. L. (2001). The development and preliminary validation of a new measure of adult attachment: the Adult Attachment Projective. Attachment and Human Development, 3, 55-86. George, C., & West, M. L. (2003). The Adult Attachment Projective: Measuring individual differences in attachment security using projective methodology. In M. Hilsenroth & D. Segal (Eds.), Objective and projective assessment of personality and psychopathology (Vol. 2. Personality Asessment. In M. Hersen (Ed.-in-Chief), Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment). New York: John Wiley & Sons. George, C., West, M. L., & Pettem, O. (1999). The Adult Attachment Projective. Disorganization of adult attachment at the level of representation. In J. Solomon & C. George (Eds.), Attachment disorganization. New York: The Guilford Press. Handojo, V. (2000). Attachment styles, acculturation attitudes/behaviors, and stress among Chinese Indonesian immigrants in the United States. Dissertation Abstracts International 61 (4),Series B, p 2271 (UMI no 9968471). Fuller Theological Seminary. Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1990). Love and work: An attachmenttheoretical perspective. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 59(2), 270-280. Hesse, E. (1999). The Adult Attachment Interview: Historical and Current Perspectives. In J. a. S. Cassidy, Phillip R. (Ed.),

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Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research and Applications. New York: The Guilford Press. Hesse, E., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1998). Parental loss of close family members and propensities towards absorption in offspring. Developmental Science, 1(2), 299-305. Landale, N. S., & Oropesa, R. S. (1995). Immigrant children and the children of immigrants: Inter- and intra-ethnic group differences in the United States (Population Research Group Research Paper No. No. 95-2). East Lansing: Michigan State University. Levenbach, D., & Lewak, B. (1995). Immigration: Going home or going to pieces. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, 17(4), 379-394. Main, M. (1996). Introduction to the special section on attachment and psychopathology: 2.Overview of the field of attachment. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 64(2), 237-243. Main, M. (1999). Mary D. Salter Ainsworth: Tribute and portrait. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 19(5), 682-736. Main, M. (2002, October 12). Longitudinal studies on attachment. Paper presented at the Cohesive Self: The Critical Role of Implicit Memory and Attachment in the Development of the Sense of Self., The Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, U.S.A. Marlin, O. (1992). Emigration: A psychoanalytic perspective. Ceskoslovenska Psychologie, 36(1), 41-48. Marlin, O. (1994). Special issues in the analytic treatment of immigrants and refugees. Issues in Psychoanalytic Psychology, 16(1), 7-16. Mendlovic, S., Ratzoni, G., Doron, A., & Braham, P. (2001). Immigration, Anomie and Psychopathology. Journal for the Psychoanalysis of Culture & Society, 6(2), 324. Modarres, A., & Aleman, E. (2003, retrieved 3/22/05). State of Immigration. from www.patbrowninstitute.org Murray, H. A. (1943). Thematic Apperception Test. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Perez-Foster, R. (2001). When immigration is trauma: Guidelines for the individual and family clinician. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 71(2), 153-170. Sable, P. (1995). Attachment theory and post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Analytic Social Work, 2(4), 89-109. Schevitz, T. (2002, September 26, 2002). Surprise on Poll of Cal students. San Francisco Chronicle, pp. A27-Colum 21.

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Schmiedeck, R. A. (1975). Austrian scientists in the United States: A study of the migration motivation and the development of emigration. Social Psychiatry, 10(1), 15-24. Simon, J. L. (1995). Immigration: the demographics and economic facts. Retrieved February 28, 2004, from www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/pr-immig.html U.S., B. o. L. (2000). Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2000 annual averages. Retrieved February 27, 2004, from http://www.bls.gov/opub/working/page5b.htm van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. (1996). Attachment representations in mothers, fathers, adolescents, and clinical groups: a meta-analytic search for normative data. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(1), 8(14). van IJzendoorn, M. H., Feldbrugge, J., Derks, F., & de Ruiter, C. (1997). Attachment representations of personality-disordered criminal offenders. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 67(3), 449-459. van Oudenhoven, J. P. (2005, January 19-20, 2005). Attachment Styles and Acculturation Strategies. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Personality, New Orleans, LA, 70130.

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CHAPTER 4

UNRESOLVED ATTACHMENT AMONG IMMIGRANTS4 An Analysis using the Adult Attachment Projective

Abstract Previous research found that Dutch and Belgian immigrants in California, compared to native Californians, have a high rate of unresolved attachment status, unrelated to time in the United States, to being married, or to their reasons for immigration. This study analyzes attachment at the representational level by comparing coherence in responses of 69 immigrants (29 males and 40 females) and 30 natives (12 males and 18 females) to drawings in the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP). Analysis of variance indicates that being unresolved with regard to attachment is linked to greater perception of danger in general (F(1,95) = 7.81, p < 0.01), and to a lower ability to resolve danger once perceived (F(1,95) = 113.17, p < 0.001). Resolution of danger in story responses to AAP images shows the immigrant group is most troubled by images of saying goodbye and isolation, but natives are most disturbed by images of illness (X 2 = 3.71, p = < 0.05).

Introduction Central to attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969/1982, 1973, 1980) is the idea that the attachment system is activated when we perceive danger, loss, or threat to the attachment relationship (e.g. abuse, loss through death). Further, the organization of attachment at the behavioral and representational level is the result of how attachment figures respond, especially in these situations (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Bowlby, 1969/1982, 1973, 1980). Assessments such as the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI George, Kaplan, & Main, 1984, 1985, 1996) and the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP: 4

van Ecke, Y. (In press) Journal of Genetic Psychology

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George & West, 2001; George, West, & Pettem, 1999) were developed to assess attachment status in adults, designating attachment groups parallel to those found in children: secure, dismissing, preoccupied, or unresolved. Secure, dismissing and preoccupied attachment statuses are considered “organized.” That is, they have rules for coping with attachment system activation, the goals of which are mental or physical proximity to attachment figures for comfort and care, although these goals get compromised due to attachment figure insensitivity to attachment needs in insecure individuals (dismissing and preoccupied). Unresolved attachment is comparable to the disorganized attachment seen in children. Theory and research have demonstrated that the adult unresolved and child disorganized groups are defined in relation to frightening attachment events (Bowlby, 1980; Main & Hesse, 1990), that activate the attachment system that subsequently is not unable to become reorganized because of the attachment figure’s failure to provide care and protection when the attachment need is the greatest (George & Solomon, 1999). Life situations under which an individual may develop unresolved attachment status can be when he or she has suffered abuse or gross neglect (Bowlby, 1988; Cole-Detke & Kobak, 1998; Crittenden, 1985), when care giving is perceived as frightening (Lyons-Ruth, Bronfman, & Atwood, 1999; Main & Hesse, 1990; Schuengel, van IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Blom, 1998), or very erratic and unpredictable (Radke-Yarrow, Cummings, Kuczynski, & Chapman, 1985), or when an adult is mourning a loss, usually from his or her own childhood (Ainsworth & Eichberg, 1991; Hesse & van IJzendoorn, 1998). To summarize, adults with unresolved attachment status may have a history of loss, confusion, fear, or isolation in important emotional relationships. The proposed explanations for unresolved/disorganized attachment status, following Bowlby (1973), all emphasize fear as the key etiological factor. Main and Hesse (1990) originally proposed a “frightened/frightening hypothesis,” suggesting that disorganization is the product of the attachment figure frightening the infant, for example, by becoming frightened herself, leaving the infant without a resolution for its attachment distress. More recently, Lyons-Ruth and her colleagues (Lyons-Ruth, Bronfman, & Parsons, 1999) have described that what is especially frightening is simultaneous elicitation and rejection of attachment needs, as well as extreme unresponsiveness. They also argue the stress-diathesis model (LyonsRuth, Bronfman, & Atwood, 1999) which says that attachment trauma

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is mediated by (a) the characteristic of the threat, (b) the diathesis (existing vulnerability) to stress, and (c) the caring comfort available in close relationships .Solomon and George (1999) stress the attachment-caregiving breakdown hypothesis meaning that when the lack of comfort results in repeated ‘breakdowns’ in the reciprocity of an attachment relationship the child (and later the adult) becomes overwhelmed and frightened. This is turn has been linked to disorganized attachment, and to representations of the self as frightened, unprotected, abandoned and helpless. George, West and Pettem (1999) emphasize that “the key to understanding the meaning of disorganization lies in the close examination of attachment at the representational level” (p. 319) and that “more research is needed to identify the circumstances that unleash segregated models” (p. 321). The present study examines unresolved attachment by testing several hypotheses about how individuals with resolved (i.e., organized) attachment status respond differently from unresolved individuals to AAP picture stimuli that represent attachment threat and danger. First, it tests the hypothesis developed by Lyons-Ruth et al (1999) that a predisposing vulnerability to attachment stress, in this case unresolved attachment, relates to greater sensitivity to attachment danger in general. Hypothesis 1: Individuals with unresolved attachment perceive their world as more dangerous and see more danger in AAP pictures than those with resolved attachment. A study by van Ecke, Chope, and Emmelkamp (2005) found that immigrants had significantly higher rates of unresolved attachment than natives. Immigration, as compared to native status, can be viewed through the attachment lens as a disruption to attachment relationships. Disruption and threat of separation from attachment figures was postulated by Bowlby (1973) as core to the development of personality and mental distress. Solomon and George (1999) have argued that parental divorce results in a permanent disruption of a child’s relationship with his or her attachment figures. Physical and psychological proximity to the attachment figures must be reworked, often in the context of parental conflict and chaotic visitation arrangements. Like children of divorce, immigrants also face the difficulties brought about by geographical or physical inaccessibility of one or more of their attachment figures. The disruption in the relationship is considered a risk factor for attachment distress and regulation. The immigrants would be expected to perceive more danger as the result of immigration being a form of disruption of

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attachment, including the fact that immigration often prohibits seeing attachment figures before they die. Therefore, the following hypothesis related to unresolved attachment and immigrants will be examined: Hypothesis 2: Immigrants perceive more attachmentrelated danger signals than natives. This finding would indicate that at the representational level they perceive the world around them as a more dangerous place. Solomon and George (1999) have also reasoned that repeated failures in repairing attachment-related injury leads to unresolved attachment via a lowered ability to resolve successive attachment dangers. This leads to Hypothesis 3: Attachment-related danger signals in AAP transcripts are less often resolved by those with unresolved attachment, indicating a lower ability to re-organize or regulate attachment-related danger once it is perceived. Since immigrants in the van Ecke et al (2005) study were found to have higher rates of unresolved attachment than natives, this paper also tests Hypothesis 4: Immigrants have a lower ability to resolve attachment-related danger signals in AAP stimuli than natives. A study by van IJzendoorn and Bakermans-Kranenburg (1996) reported that unresolved attachment is more pathological than resolved attachment, and Colon-Downs, Crowell, Allen, Houser, and Waters (1997) found that being unresolved for abuse was associated with clinical status but being unresolved for loss was not. Since the immigrants in the van Ecke (2005) study had high rates of unresolved attachment compared to the natives in the study, and since this paper has argued earlier that immigration involves disruption of attachment relationships, this article further examines the relationship between unresolved attachment and loss versus abuse. Hypothesis 5: Immigrants perceive loss- and isolation-related attachment stimuli in the AAP as more threatening than do natives, indicating that unresolved attachment is activated by different experiences or stimuli for immigrants than natives in the study.

Method Participants The sample on which this study is based consisted of 69 Dutch and Belgian immigrants (29 men, 40 women) and 30 natives (12 men, 18

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women) in California who were non-clinical. They had been recruited via community and social organizations and given a letter explaining the research, and all signed informed consent forms. The participants were not compensated. The average age was 57 years in the immigrant group and 47 in the native group. Both groups had an average of college level education with incomes in the range from $50,000 to $100,000, average considering income in this area in 2002 was $83,640 (State of California, 2003). Both groups had an overall Caucasian ethnicity and Christian religion. Average length of time in the U.S. for the immigrants was 30 years, ranging from 2 to 63 years. The native group consisted of people born, raised, and still living in the San Francisco Bay area. The sample was recruited for a study of attachment differences between the two groups which found the immigrant group higher in unresolved attachment (van Ecke et al., 2005). Measures All participants completed a sociodemographic information form and completed the AAP to assess attachment status. The Adult Attachment Projective (George & West, 2001; George et al., 1999), was developed to assess the same four states of mind with respect to attachment as the AAI: secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and unresolved. There is extensive reliability and validity evidence for the AAI (Bakermans-Kranenburg & van IJzendoorn, 1993; Sagi, van IJzendoorn, Scharf, & Koren-Karie, 1994). Convergence between the AAP and AAI on the four major attachment groups was .85 (George & West, 2001) and more than 40 studies currently in progress are increasing available reliability and validity evidence (see www.attachmentprojective.com). For illustrations of AAP images and examples of how transcripts are coded, specifically for unresolved attachment, the reader is referred to the chapter by George, West, and Pettem (1999, pp. 318 - 347) in Attachment Disorganization. The AAP interview asks questions about eight ambiguous drawings, meant to elicit attachment system activation, about which an individual is asked to tell a story. The interview is tape recorded, transcribed and then seven of the eight story transcripts are coded for attachment status. The first is a warm-up picture. The system for coding is quite detailed and systematic, and learning it requires training. Although the AAP stimulus material may resemble the Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1943) the interpretation of

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coherence in stories is specifically to identify attachment status. An example of one of the AAP images (“bench”) may be viewed on www.attachmentprojective.com, and several other examples are in George, West and Pettem’s (1999) chapter on the AAP in Attachment Disorganization (Solomon & George, 1999). The seven drawings in the AAP that are used for coding the attachment status are, in order of coding, 1. “departure” (a drawing of two people in coats, standing with suitcases), 2.”bed” (an older person sitting on a bed facing a young person with outstretched arms in the bed), 3. “ambulance” (an older female standing next to a seated young person in front of what could be a window, viewing two persons outside who handle a person on a gurney next to an ambulance), 4. “window” (showing the back of a young person with braids who faces a window), 5. “bench” (a figure seated on a bench), 6. “cemetery” (a male figure standing with hands in coat pockets, facing two gravestones) and 7. “corner” (a young person in a corner with arms slightly raised and face averted). George, West, and Pettem (1999, p. 324) note that the drawings show events that activate attachment as they portray attachment threats such as illness, separation, solitude, death, and danger, while they “gradually increase activation of the attachment system” and are intended to refer to “both child and adult attachment situations” (p. 324) . Procedure To test Hypothesis 1, we identified the total number of stories with danger signals in all 99 AAP transcripts generated by the earlier study (69 immigrants and 30 natives) and compared the mean number of danger signals generated per transcript in the unresolved group to those of the resolved group using a t-test for significance. Hypothesis 2 was tested by comparing the average number of danger signals per transcript between the immigrant and native groups using an initial ttest for significance. Hypothesis 3 was tested by comparing the means of danger signals resolved by all resolved participants to those of the unresolved group using a t-test for significance. Hypothesis 4 was tested by comparing the mean of danger signals resolved by immigrants to that of natives, using a t-test for significance. Interactions between the variables in Hypotheses 1 through 4 were tested using two-way ANOVAs.

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Hypothesis 5 was tested by comparing expected to actual frequencies of resolved to unresolved danger markers per picture for immigrants and natives using chi square tests for significance. Results There were 65 resolved individuals who generated an average of 2.40 (SD 1.3) danger signals per transcript, and 34 unresolved individuals who generated an average of 3.30 (SD 1.4) danger signals per transcript, with a difference between the means (t (97) 3.51, p = < 0.01, two tailed), supporting Hypothesis 1. Hypothesis 2 is not supported as there was no significant difference between the 29 unresolved immigrants who generated an average of 3.30 (SD 1.5) danger signals per transcript, and 5 unresolved natives who generated an average of 3.60 (SD 0.5) danger signals per transcript (t (32) 0.38, p = 0.71, two tailed). Hypothesis 3 was supported as 34 unresolved individuals resolved an average of 55% (SD 0.22) of the danger signals, which was significantly less than the inevitable 100% resolved by 60 resolved individuals (t (92) 15.89, p= < 0.01). Testing for Hypothesis 4 showed that the average ratio of danger signals resolved to generated in the unresolved immigrant group (n = 29) was 0.52 (SD 0.23), and in the unresolved natives (n = 5) this was 0.67 (SD 0.10). Although the immigrant group showed a lower ability to resolve danger signals, this was not significant (t (32) 1.33, p = 0.19, twotailed). In order to examine the relationship between immigrant status and attachment, two separate ANOVA’s were conducted. In the first, the dependent variable was the number of danger signals shown on the AAP interview transcripts, and in the second the dependent variable was the resolution of danger signals. Immigrant status and attachment were the between-subjects variables. The two levels of the immigrant status factor were native and immigrant. The two levels of the attachment factor were resolved and unresolved. In the first ANOVA a significant main effect was found for the factor attachment, F(1, 95) = 7.81, p < .01. In the second ANOVA a significant main effect was also found for the factor attachment, F(1, 95) = 113.17, p= < .001. Participants with resolved attachment had a higher than average proportion of resolved danger signals (M = 1.0) compared to participants with unresolved attachment (M = .56). The results were interpreted to mean that resolved vs. unresolved attachment status, not

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immigrant or native status, was the main influence on both the number of danger signals perceived and the resolution of danger signals. Testing for Hypothesis 5 was done with separate chi square tests for each of the seven AAP pictures comparing the two groups on the number of resolved versus unresolved danger signals, which showed a strong difference between the immigrant and native group in the resolution of danger signals for picture 5 “bench” (X 2 = 3.71, p < 0.05). There was a remarkable variation between the immigrant and native groups when compared on the percent of danger signals generated that they resolved for the AAP pictures. The greatest difference between the two groups was for “departure” and “bench” (56% and 28% lower resolution rates for immigrants, respectively). Ranking the AAP pictures according to how hard it was to resolve perceived danger showed that the immigrant group was most threatened by “departure” (only resolved only 44% of the time), followed by “bench” (72%), “cemetery” (79%), “corner” (81%), “window” (88%), “bed,” and “ambulance” (both 92%). For natives the most threatening picture was “ambulance” (80% of the time resolved), followed by “bed” (88%), “cemetery” (94%), and “corner” (96%), and least threatening were “departure,” “window,” and “bench” (100% each). Discussion This study examined five hypotheses about unresolved attachment at the representational level. The analysis of coherence in responses to images in the AAP using t-tests and ANOVA revealed a main interaction between unresolved attachment status and both the number of danger signals perceived as well as the ability to resolve them. Individuals with unresolved attachment perceive more attachment-related danger signals and are less able to resolve danger than those with resolved status. The findings are interpreted to mean that, at the representational level, the world is perceived as significantly more dangerous by those with unresolved attachment than by those with resolved attachment. Unresolved immigrants who had higher rates of unresolved attachment than natives in other studies experienced the same number of danger signals in AAP images as unresolved natives in this study. This suggests that at the representational level the immigrant group does not experience the world as inherently more dangerous than natives, nor are they less

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able to resolve attachment-related danger signals than unresolved natives. This indicates that at the representational level, having unresolved attachment lowers one’s ability to resolve other attachment-related dangers. These findings support the stress-diathesis hypothesis by Lyons-Ruth (1999) and the attachment-caregiving breakdown hypothesis proposed by Solomon and George (1999). Bowlby (1980) theorized that, when we experience irresolvable attachment danger we segregate it away from awareness, and thus away from being emotionally and cognitively integrated, rather than being overwhelmed by the danger. This study’s findings support the assertion by George and Solomon (1999) and George, West, and Pettem (1999) that this short-term defense actually weakens the person’s ability to handle successive attachment dangers. The main difference between immigrants and natives is in which AAP images are the most threatening. The immigrant group had the most problems resolving danger in the “departure” and “bench” pictures, which are images of saying goodbye and isolation outside the home. This finding is almost a metaphor for the immigration experience at the representational level. “Departure” and “bench” were the least threatening ones for natives. The images of “ambulance” and “bed” are the least threatening for immigrants and the most threatening for natives, findings that are supported by attachment theory. While analyzing a series of research findings with separation (Hinde & Spencer-Booth, 1968), Bowlby mentions that “differences in behavior between the previously separated infants and controls were far more evident when the infant was tested in a strange environment than when it was in its home” (1973, p. 70). So what may damage the immigrant group’s ability to resolve the specific attachment dangers they perceive is their experiencing them in another country. This study’s findings thus also support Bowlby’s assertion that attachment is a developmental concept in that these vulnerabilities to images of aloneness and saying goodbye may have arisen out of the group’s experiences as immigrants. Finally, these findings support the idea that the various AAP pictures stimulate different attachment dangers (George et al., 1999, p. 324). Limitations of this study are that the sample includes a specifically defined immigrant population comprising only 1.2% of California’s population, compared with a narrowly defined matching group of native Californians, so findings may not be generalizable to other groups with different experiences and backgrounds before and after coming to the U.S. or to other countries. Other considerations are

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the small number of unresolved cases in the native group although this group actually has a percentage of unresolved cases (16%) that is similar to that found in large (n = 2000) cross-cultural, non-clinical comparisons where 19% were unresolved (van IJzendoorn & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 1996). It was noted at the beginning of this paper that research indicates being unresolved for loss is not a clinical risk factor whereas being unresolved for abuse is. Since the immigrant group’s unresolved status shows links to images of separation and isolation, elements of loss, they should not be at a higher risk for clinical symptoms. These individuals are thus less likely to feel the need to seek therapy or help, but if being unresolved with respect to attachment is viewed as an ongoing stressor, one may be less able to handle successive stressors such as health problems, interpersonal conflicts, loss, moving, jobrelated stress, or financial difficulties. Further research is indicated with other groups who live in prolonged separation from their attachment figures, such as expatriate employees and individuals in government service abroad as well as other immigrant groups in the U.S. and other countries. References Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Oxford, England: Lawrence Erlbaum. Ainsworth, M. D. S., & Eichberg, C. G. (1991). Effects on infantmother attachment of mother's unresolved loss of an attachment figure, or other traumatic experience. In Attachment across the life cycle. (pp. 160-183). New York, NY, US: Tavistock/Routledge, New York, NY, US. Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1993). A psychometric study of the Adult Attachment Interview: Reliability and discriminant validity. Developmental Psychology, 29(5), 870-879. Bowlby, J. (1969/1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. I. Attachment. New York,: Basic Books. Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss Vol. II: Separation anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books, Inc. Publishers. Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss Vol. III: Loss sadness and depression. New York: Basic Books. Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base : Clinical applications of attachment

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theory. London: Routledge. Cole-Detke, H., & Kobak, R. (1998). The effects of multiple abuse in interpersonal relationships: An attachment perspective. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 2(1), 189205. Colon-Downs, C., Crowell, J. A., Allen, J. P., Hauser, S. T., & Waters, E. (1997). Investigating the unresolved adult attachment classification: A pattern of attachment or an index of general psychosocial functioning. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Washington, D.C. Crittenden, P. M. (1985). Maltreated infants:vulnerability and resilience. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 26, 85-96. George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1984 1985 1996). Adult Attachment Interview Protocol.Unpublished manuscript, Berkeley, University of California. George, C., & Solomon, J. (1999). Attachment and caregiving. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (pp. 649-670). New York: The Guilford Press. George, C., & West, M. L. (2001). The development and preliminary validation of a new measure of adult attachment: the Adult Attachment Projective. Attachment and Human Development, 3, 55-86. George, C., West, M. L., & Pettem, O. (1999). The Adult Attachment Projective. Disorganization of adult attachment at the level of representation. In J. Solomon & C. George (Eds.), Attachment disorganization. New York: The Guilford Press. Hesse, E., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1998). Parental loss of close family members and propensities towards absorption in offspring. Developmental Science, 1(2), 299-305. Hinde, R. A., & Spencer-Booth, Y. (1968). The study of mother-infant interaction in captive group-living rhesus monkeys. Paper presented at the Proceeding ,Royal Society of London, Biological Sciences, London. Lyons-Ruth, K., Bronfman, E., & Atwood, G. (1999). A relational diathesis model of hostile-helpless states of mind: Expressions in mother-infant interaction. In J. Solomon & C. George (Eds.), Attachment disorganization (pp. 33-71). New York: Guilford Press. Lyons-Ruth, K., Bronfman, E., & Parsons, E. (1999). Maternal

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frightened, frightening, or atypical behavior and disorganized infant attachment patterns., Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development (Vol. 64, pp. 67-96). United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing. Main, M., & Hesse, E. (1990). Parents' unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status: Is frightened and/or frightening parental behavior the linking mechanism? In M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention. (pp. 161-182). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Murray, H. A. (1943). Thematic Apperception Test. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Radke-Yarrow, M., Cummings, E. M., Kuczynski, L., & Chapman, M. (1985). Patterns of attachment in two- and three- year olds in normal families and families with parental depression. Child Development, 56, 884-893. Sagi, A., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Scharf, M., & Koren-Karie, N. (1994). Stability and discriminant validity of the Adult Attachment Interview: A psychometric study in young Israeli adults. Developmental Psychology., 30(5), 771-777. Schuengel, C., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., & Blom, M. (1998). Frightening maternal behaviour, unresolved loss, and disorganized infant attachment: A pilot-study. Journal of Reproductive & Infant Psychology, 16(4), 277-283. Solomon, J., & George, C. (1999). The place of disorganization in attachment theory. In J. Solomon & C. George (Eds.), Attachment disorganization (pp. 3-32). New York: Guilford Press. State of California, F. T. B. (2003, November 29, 2005). State reports on median income for 2002. Retrieved May 3, 2006, from http://www.ftb.ca.gov/aboutFTB/press/archive/2004/04_53a.ht ml van Ecke, Y., Chope, R., & Emmelkamp, P. (2005). Attachment and immigrants. Social Behavior and Personality, 33(7), 657-674. van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. (1996). Attachment representations in mothers, fathers, adolescents, and clinical groups: a meta-analytic search for normative data. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(1), 8(14).

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CHAPTER 5

ATTACHMENT AND PERSONALITY FACETS: Attachment style, attachment status and personality aspects5

Abstract This study examined the relationship between personality aspects as measured with the NEO-FFI, and on the one hand attachment status as measured with the AAP, as well as attachment style as measured with the ECR-R among Dutch and Belgian immigrants (20 men, 34 women) who were found to have high proportion of unresolved attachment. The results failed to show expected correlations between attachment status and personality aspects. Attachment style anxiety showed a significant positive correlation with Neuroticism (r = 0.43, two-tailed p = 0.0015) while both attachment anxiety (r = - 0.33, p = 0.0143), and avoidance (r = -0.29, p = 0.0321) showed significant inverse relation to Conscientiousness. Attachment style did not show the expected relationship to Openness, Extraversion and Agreeableness. The author proposes being unresolved with respect to loss might not be linked to Neuroticism, whereas being unresolved for abuse which has been linked to clinical status may show a relationship with the personality aspect of Neuroticism. Introduction In studies investigating attachment representations in adults with personality disorders, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI:George, Kaplan, & Main 1984) has often been used (Dozier, Chase Stovall, & Albus, 1999). The AAI is a semi-structured interview designed to elicit thoughts, feelings, and memories about early attachment experiences, and to assess the individual's state of mind with regard to early attachment relationships. The interview yields one of four primary classifications: secure/autonomous, dismissing, preoccupied, or unresolved. More recently, the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP; 5

Van Ecke, Y., Emmelkamp, P.M.G. (Manuscript under review.)

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George & West, 2003; George, West, & Pettem, 1999) was developed to assess the same states of mind with respect to attachment as the AAI. Over the years, alternatives in the measurement of attachment style have been proposed, the most important being the assessment of attachment by using dimensional measures rather than a categorical measure such as the AAI by George, Kaplan and Main (1985) or the AAP by George and West (2003). The most influential is the model of Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) who distinguish four attachment types that are conceptualised on two essentially orthogonal dimensions: concept of self and concept of others. Using this typology of attachment style and looking at personality disorders, Timmerman and Emmelkamp (2006) found that research outcomes were strongly related to whether variables were categorical or dimensional. More recently, Brennan, Clark, and Shaver (1998) and Fraley and Shaver(2000) found that a two-dimensional, continuous measure of attachment style (the Experiences in Close Relationships scale, or ECR), comparable to the scheme proposed by Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) captures most of the meaningful variances in individual attachment differences and thus may be more reliable than previous measures. The dimensions are called “attachment-related anxiety,” representing anxiety about rejection, abandonment, being unlovable and extreme emotional reactivity, and “attachmentavoidance,” reflecting emotional and behavioural distancing in intimate relationships. Whereas most of the research into personality disorders has taken place using the AAI and the AAP (Dozier et al., 1999), research related to romantic relationships and career issues often uses one of the attachment style instruments. The typology of Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991), and Brennan et al. (1998), originates from a social psychological tradition, in which attachment is defined as an interpersonal concept, whereas the classification used by Ainsworth (1978), Main and Goldwyn (1984), and George and West (2001; , 2003) stems from developmental psychology and is linked to the first evidence that the attachment that Bowlby (Bowlby, 1969/1982, 1973, 1980) described in his theory could be systematically observed using the Strange Situation(Ainsworth et al., 1978). The measures that are derived from these views, such as the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985) and Adult Attachment Projective (George & West, 2003; George, West, & Pettem) on the one hand, and the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ; Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) and the

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Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R :Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000) on the other, are therefore not always regarded as measures of identical constructs (Crowell, Fraley, & Shaver, 1999). Attachment Representations and Personality How do attachment representations contribute to personality traits and disorder? A number of studies addressed this issue by comparing attachment styles with measures of the Big-Five personality traits. As reviewed by Noftle and Shafer (2006), Carver (1997), and Shaver and Brennan (1992), results revealed that attachment security (low scores on both attachment anxiety and avoidance) is moderately negatively correlated with Neuroticism and moderately positively correlated with Extraversion and Agreeableness, modestly positively correlated with Conscientiousness, and not correlated with Openness. Attachment anxiety is moderately to strongly correlated with Neuroticism and not correlated with Openness. Attachment anxiety is especially related to the depression, vulnerability, and anxiety facets of Neuroticism, which suggests “that anxious attachment occurs when a person feels inadequately loved and insufficiently in control of interpersonal events” (Noftle and Shaver, 2006, p. 205), thus supporting Bowlby’s theory. The relation of attachment anxiety to the other three dimensions is equivocal. Although some studies found significant associations with Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, other studies did not. Further, attachment avoidance has been modestly to moderately correlated (negatively) with Extraversion and Agreeableness, but not correlated with Openness. Results with respect to avoidance on the one hand and Neuroticism and Conscientiousness are inconclusive. Wayment (2006) found a negative correlation between empathy and avoidant attachment. Empathy has shown a high correlation with the Altruism facet of the Agreeableness scale on the NEO-PIR. Furthermore, avoidant attachment is characterized by tough-mindedness with regard to emotions, exactly the opposite of the tender-mindedness that describes the Agreeableness facet. Therefore, we propose that dismissing attachment would be related to low scores on the Agreeableness facet of the Big Five personality test. Carver (1997) found secure attachment correlated with higher Extraversion and Agreeableness scores on the NEO. The aim of the present study is to investigate in a sample of immigrants, who are characterized by unresolved attachment (van

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Ecke, Chope & Emmelkamp, 2005) related to loss (van Ecke, in press), whether personality traits are related to specific attachment statuses and to specific attachment styles. More specifically, we investigated attachment from a developmental perspective by using the AAP, and from a social psychological perspective using the ECRR. We tested the following hypotheses: Hypotheses: 1. Secure attachment (shown by designation F on the AAP; and by low scores on both the avoidance and anxiety scales of the ECR-R), correlates positively with Extraversion, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, but negatively with Neuroticism scales and not at all with Openness on the NEOFFI. 2. Unresolved attachment status linked to loss is related to higher scores on the NEO-FFI Neuroticism scale as loss relates to depression, vulnerability, and anxiety which are all facets of the Neuroticism scale. 3. Unresolved attachment status linked to loss is related to lower scores on the NEO-FFI Extraversion scale as loss is opposite the warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, and positive emotions that constitute the Extraversion scale. 4. Preoccupied attachment status relates to higher scores on the NEO-FFI Neuroticism scale. 5. Dismissing attachment status relates to lower scores on the NEO-FFI Extraversion and Agreeableness scales. Method Participants The participant group consisted of 75 Dutch and Belgian immigrants living in California, of whom 54 (20 men, 34 women) completed all components of the current study. The participants were recruited with more than 200 letters of invitation sent to all members of the Dutch and Belgian social and business organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. The research invitation was accompanied by a letter of recommendation from the Netherlands Consulate. Recipients were each sent a letter explaining the research, and signed informed consent forms. The participants were not compensated. For the current study, 75 packets were mailed to the 75 participants who had completed the initial attachment status assessment, and of those 54 completed both

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the ECR-R and the NEO-FFI. Characteristics of the study’s participants are summarized in Table 1. The participants are well defined and represent a population of individuals who, by necessity, had to relinquish many close attachments.

TABLE 1 SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS N 54

Gender

Education n 532

M F

Hs HS+2 BA/BS MA/MS PhD/MD

Income in $10,000 yr n 51 1 20 <25 2 34 25-50 14 50-100 17 100-150 13 >150 5

0 10 15 17 11

Marital status Yes 39 Not 15

Note 1: of N 54, 3 declined to state income. Note 2: of N 54, 2declined to state education

The average participant age was 56, and ranged from 29 to 78 years, with a median age of 60, and SD of 16.11. The sample’s age is useful because the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the number of people in the labor force aged 55 to 64 years old will grow by 51%, more than four times the average for all age groups (Horrigan, 2003). Of the participants, 98% were Caucasian and 2% of Asian or Indonesian descent. During the time after World War II when the former Dutch colony of Indonesia became independent, a number of Indonesians chose to move to the Netherlands. They continued to be represented among the individuals who emigrated from the Netherlands to the United States during the 1950’s and early 1960’s. The average length of stay in the US was 28.6 years (SD 17.33), ranging from 1.5 to 55 years. As people from Curacao, Morocco, and Turkey only arrived in the Netherlands and Belgium during the late 1960’s and 1970’s, the ethnic composition of the sample is therefore not uncommon among Dutch and Belgian immigrants of that age. As this study’s sample was not independently composed, it will be shown

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that the sample’s data are comparable to norm group data provided for the measures used in this study.

Measures and Procedure

Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) Although data on attachment status were previously published for the sample, we wanted in this instance to also assess attachment style and its relation to personality facets, as the existing body of research comparing personality and attachment has been completed with both types of attachment instruments. To assess attachment style, participants completed the Experiences in Close Relationships – Revised (ECR-R`; Fraley et al., 2000), a revised version of Brennan, Clark, and Shaver's (1998) Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) questionnaire. The ECR-R is a 36-item self-report measure, with agreement to statements such as “I talk things over with my partner” and “I find it easy to get close to my partner” indicated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1=Strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree. The ECR-R has norms for attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance based on 22,000 people (78% female) with an average age of 24 (SD = 10). Fifteen percent of the sample was married. The authors define attachment anxiety as the extent to which a person is insecure about his or her partner's availability and responsiveness, and attachment avoidance as the extent to which a person is uncomfortable being close to others. Lower anxiety or avoidance scores indicate a more secure attachment style. A drawback of the ECR-R is that it, like other self-report measures for attachment style such as the Adult Attachment Scales (Collins & Read, 1990) and the Relationship Styles Questionnaire (Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994), is found to be less precise for assessing low levels of avoidance and anxiety (R.Chris Fraley et al., 2000), but since our sample is already high in insecurity as measured by the AAP, we consider this limitation to be acceptable. The ECR-R was further tested by Sibley and Liu (Wolfe & Betz, 2004), who found that this test has acceptable classical psychometric properties with good test/retest reliability of 86% over six weeks.

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The NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) To assess personality dimensions we selected the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI:Costa & McCrae, 1991) , a well-researched instrument with good reliability and validity evidence. The NEO-FFI is a 60-item paper and pencil, self report measure that can be completed in about 15 minutes by indicating agreement with statements on a five point scale, and can be scored in about 4 minutes. Statements are, for example “I am not a worrier” and “I am not a cheerful optimist.” Separate norms are published for mean, women, college age students and adults, but they do not exist for clinical populations. Factor analysis of descriptions of personality traits allowed these to be narrowed down to five personality factors or domains. The first is Neuroticism (N) referring to the general tendency to experience negative affect such as fear, sadness, guilt and anger as well as coping ability and impulse control. It is the strongly related to psychological well being but may not be viewed as a measure of pathology. The second factor measured is Extraversion (E) which captures interest in people, stimulation and the tendency to be upbeat and energetic. The third factor, openness (O) encompasses intellectual curiosity, independent judgment, and a socially and politically progressive outlook. The fourth factor measured by the NEO-FFI is Agreeableness or altruism, referring to the tendency to want to help others and be cooperative. The fifth factor is Conscientiousness (C) or the tendency to control impulses and the desire to achieve at work or school. Reliability evidence for internal consistency is provided by coefficient alphas for the form S, used in this study, of .86 to .92 for the five domains. Test retest reliability was .63 to .81. Validity evidence links the personality domains to a variety of other instruments. Older individuals tend to be lower on the N, E, and O and slightly higher on the A and C than younger adults, which is important as this study’s participants tend to be older. Especially older women show a marked decrease in the N score on the Big Five from age 21 to age 60 (Srivastava, John, Gosling, & Potter, 2003). Finally, education is associated with higher O scores, as well, also significant as this study’s participants are well-educated.

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Results Since none of the attachment measures have shown correlations with Openness, the fact that our sample’s Openness scores differed significantly from the norm was taken to be insignificant to the study. The study’s sample was significantly lower than the published norm for adults on the Neuroticism scale (N 54; M 15.70, SD 7.27, t = 3.40, p = 0.0013). Srivastava and colleagues (2003) have shown, however, that among women the N scores decrease dramatically with age. We therefore took only the male scores in our sample (n 20, M 16.1, SD 7.20), and compared these to the norm published for men (M 17.60, SD 7.46). The results showed that there was no significant difference (t = - 0.94, p = 0.3605). Comparing the female scores in our sample (n 34, M 15.5, SD 7.4) to the norm published for women revealed a significant difference (t = - 3.98, p = 0.0004) as predicted by Srivastava’s work. We concluded that the sample was representative enough to compare personality facets to attachment style and attachment status. Attachment style and personality facets Attachment anxiety showed a significant positive correlation with Neuroticism (r = 0.43, two-tailed p = 0.0015), but attachment avoidance did not (r = -0.05, two-tailed p = 0.736) providing partial support for hypothesis 1. Attachment anxiety showed no relation to Extraversion (r = 0.03, p = 0.845), nor did attachment avoidance (r = 0.20, p = 0.1465). Attachment anxiety (r = -0.05, p = 0.7112), nor avoidance (r = -0.01, p = 0.9272) showed relation to Openness. Neither attachment anxiety (r = 0.17, p = 0.2265), nor avoidance (r = 0.03, p = 0.8078) showed relation to Agreeableness. Finally both attachment anxiety (r = - 0.33, p = 0.0143), and avoidance (r = -0.29, p = 0.0321) showed significant inverse relation to Conscientiousness supporting hypothesis 1.

Attachment status and personality facets. Using an independent samples t-test showed no relation between attachment secure vs. insecure status and Neuroticism (N 54, two tailed t = -0.22, p = 0.8301), Extraversion (N 54, two tailed t = 0.97, p = 0.3367), Openness (N 54, two tailed t = -0.50, p = 0.6194) Agreeableness (N 54, two tailed t = -0.26, p = 0.7961) or Conscientiousness (N 54, two tailed t = -0.11, p = 0.9094).

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Hypothesis 2 was unsupported as unresolved vs. resolved attachment did not show a significant relationship to Neuroticism scores (N 54, t = -0.82, two tailed p = 0.4141). Hypothesis 3 was unsuported as unresolved vs. resolved attachment status did not show a significant relationship to Extraversion scores (N 54, t = 1.11, two tailed p = 0.2739) Hypothesis 4 was unsupported as an independent samples t test showed no relationship between preoccupied attachment status and Neuroticism personality scores (N 54, t = -1.58, two tailed p = 0.1193). Hypothesis 5 was unsupported as an independent samples t test showed no relationship between dismissing attachment status and low Extraversion personality scores (N 54, t = 0.15, two tailed p = 0.8833), nor between dismissing attachment and low Agreeableness scores (N 54, t = - 0.05, two tailed p = 0.9593)

Discussion This to our knowledge is the first study to use both attachment style as measured with the ECR-R, and attachment status as measured with the AAP to examine links to personality. It is also the first study to examine attachment style, attachment status and personality among a well-defined group of Dutch and Belgian immigrants. Hypothesis 1 was partially supported in that attachment security as evidenced by low anxiety and low avoidance predicted high Conscientiousness scores which was also found in the review by Noftle and Shafer (2006). The positive links of attachment security to Extraversion and Agreeableness they noted were not found in this study, but then the links found previously were at best moderate. Neither this study, nor the Noftle and Shafer review found a link of attachment to Openness. The conscientious personality trait has been related to a good work ethic (Costa, & McCrae, p. 18) which in turn is linked to career progress. Attachment studies have linked high avoidance to placing a higher value on work (Hazan & Shaver, 1990). This study links low avoidance and low anxiety to Conscientiousness suggesting that valuing work is not necessarily the same as having a beneficial approach to the employment process. Securely attached individuals may value work less than dismissing individuals, yet do better overall. These results support the finding that the avoidant attachment style

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shows a significant correlation with dysfunctional career thoughts (van Ecke, In press). Work for dismissing individuals can become too important, causing the individual to lose perspective and balance. Attachment status as measured with the AAP failed to show any relationship to personality measures on the NEO-FFI, so hypotheses 2, 3, 4 and 5 were not supported. These results support the point made by a number of researchers (Crowell et al., 1999) of profound differences between what is measured with the attachment status instruments and the attachment style instruments. Timmerman and Emmelkamp (2006) also noted that having dimensional versus categorical personality variables strongly influenced outcomes. The participants in this study were unresolved for separation, isolation and loss (van Ecke, in press) which is not associated with clinical status as opposed to being unresolved for abuse which is associated with clinical status (ColonDowns, Crowell, Allen, Hauser, & Waters, 1997). Clinical status, in turn, has been linked with Neuroticism. The absence of a relationship between being unresolved for loss and separation on the one hand, and certain personality facets that relate to unhappiness and sadness may be understood to imply that unresolved loss does not form the personality the way that unresolved trauma does. Limitations of this study are that the sample consists of a well-defined group of Dutch and Belgian immigrants in California who were found to have a high proportion of unresolved attachment in a previous study. That study did not consider the possibility of whether the unresolved attachment could be related to a personality trait. There is a rich literature linking especially unresolved attachment to certain personality disorders on the one hand, and also evidence of links between extremely high Neuroticism scores and pathology. One might expect to find links, therefore, between individuals with unresolved attachment and Neuroticism. On the contrary, this study’s findings, however, show that the Dutch and Belgian immigrant group’s personality profile is quite similar to the norms provided by the publishers, even representing the decrease in Neuroticism scores found among women as they age (Srivastava et al., 2003). These findings might also be related to the fact that the participants in this study were unresolved for separation, isolation and loss (van Ecke, in press) which is not as associated with clinical status as being unresolved for abuse (Colon-Downs et al., 1997). The absence of a relationship between being unresolved for loss and separation on the one hand, and certain personality facets that relate to unhappiness and sadness may be interpreted to imply that unresolved loss does not

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form the personality the way that unresolved abuse does. As noted earlier, the older sample for this study is useful because the working population over 65 is increasing fast. This study also revealed previously noted (Srivastava, 2003) negative correlations between age and decreased Neuroticism scores for older women only. Other studies linking attachment style vs. attachment status to personality facets among other immigrant groups are indicated.

References Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Oxford, England: Lawrence Erlbaum. Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: A test of a four-category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(2), 226-244. Bowlby, J. (1969/1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. I. Attachment. New York,: Basic Books. Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss Vol. II: Separation anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books, Inc. Publishers. Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss Vol. III: Loss sadness and depression. New York: Basic Books. Brennan, K. A., Clark, C. L., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 47-76). New York: Guilford Press. Carver, C. S. (1997). Adult attachment and personality: Converging evidence and a new measure. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(8), 865-883. Collins, N. L., & Read, S. J. (1990). Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 58(4), 644-663. Colon-Downs, C., Crowell, J. A., Allen, J. P., Hauser, S. T., & Waters, E. (1997). Investigating the unresolved adult attachment classification: A pattern of attachment or an index of general psychosocial functioning. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Washington, D.C.

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Costa, P. T. J., & McCrae, R. R. (1991). Professional manual: Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Lutz: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Crowell, J. A., Fraley, R. C., & Shaver, P. R. (1999). Measurement of individual differences in adolescent and adult attachment. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment (pp. 434-465). New York: The Guilford Press. Dozier, M., Chase Stovall, K., & Albus, K. E. (1999). Attachment and psychopathology in adulthood. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications. (pp. 497-520). New York: The Guilford Press. Fraley, R. C., & Shaver, P. R. (2000). Adult romantic attachment: Theoretical developments, emerging controversies, and unanswered questions. Review of General Psychology, 4(2), 132-154. Fraley, R. C., Waller, N. G., & Brennan, K. A. (2000). An itemresponse theory analysis of self-report measures of adult attachment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(2), 350-365. George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1984,1985,1996). Adult Attachment Interview Protocol.Unpublished manuscript, Berkeley, University of California. George, C., & West, M. L. (2001). The development and preliminary validation of a new measure of adult attachment: the Adult Attachment Projective. Attachment and Human Development, 3, 55-86. George, C., & West, M. L. (2003). The Adult Attachment Projective: Measuring individual differences in attachment security using projective methodology. In M. Hilsenroth & D. Segal (Eds.), Objective and projective assessment of personality and psychopathology (Vol. 2. Personality Asessment. In M. Hersen (Ed.-in-Chief), Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment). New York: John Wiley & Sons. George, C., West, M. L., & Pettem, O. (1999). The Adult Attachment Projective. Disorganization of adult attachment at the level of representation. In C. George (Ed.), Attachment disorganization. New York: The Guilford Press. Griffin, D. W., & Bartholomew, K. (1994). The metaphysics of measurement: The case of adult attachment. In D. Perlman

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(Ed.), Attachment processes in adulthood: Advances in personal relationships (Vol. 5, pp. 17-52). London: Jessica Kingsley. Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1990). Love and work: An attachmenttheoretical perspective. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 59(2), 270-280. Horrigan, M. W. (2003). Introduction to projections. Occupational Outlook Quarterly, 47(4), 2-4. Main, M., & Goldwyn, R. (1984). Adult attachment scoring and classification system.Unpublished manuscript, University of California at Berkeley. Noftle, E. E., & Shaver, P. R. (2006). Attachment dimensions and the big five personality traits: Associations and comparative ability to predict relationship quality. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(2), 179-208. Shaver, P. R., & Brennan, K. A. (1992). Attachment styles and the "Big Five" personality traits: Their connections with each other and with romantic relationship outcomes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18(5), 536-545. Srivastava, S., John, O. P., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2003). Development of personality in early and middle adulthood: Set like plaster or persistent change? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(5), 1041-1053. Timmerman, I. G. H., & Emmelkamp, P. M. G. (2006). The relationship between attachment styles and Cluster B personality disorders in prisoners and forensic inpatients. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 29(1), 48-56. van Ecke, Y. (In press). Attachment style and career thoughts dysfunction: Implications for career counseling. Career Development Quarterly. van Ecke, Y. (in press). Unresolved attachment among immigrants: an examination of unresolved attachment among Western European immigrants using the Adult Attachment Projective. Genetic Psychology. Wayment, H. A. (2006). Attachment style, empathy, and helping following a collective loss: Evidence from the September 11 terrorist attacks. Attachment & Human Development, 8(1), 1-9. Wolfe, J. B., & Betz, N. E. (2004). The Relationship of attachment variables to career decision-making self-efficacy and fear of commitment. Career Development Quarterly, 52(4), 363-369.

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CHAPTER 6

ATTACHMENT STYLEAND CAREER THOUGHTS DYSFUNCTION How attachment style can affect the career counseling process.

Abstract This article examines the relationship between attachment style measured by Experiences in Close Relationships – Revised (ECRR;Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000), and dysfunctional career thoughts measured by the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI;J. P. J. Sampson, G. W. Peterson, J. G. Lenz, R. C. Reardon, & D. E. Saunders, 1994). Two hypotheses related to attachment and dysfunctional career thoughts were tested with 46 adult immigrants (17 men, 29 women). Results show both attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly relate to scores on the CTI (r = .30, p < .05, r = .41, p <.01 respectively); increased attachment avoidance also significantly correlates with decision making confusion (r = .36, p <.01) and external conflict (r = .40, p <.01). Implicationsof the relationship between attachment style and dysfunctional career thoughts for the career counseling process are discussed. Introduction Bowlby (Bowlby, 1969/1982) reasons that a child’s emotional connection to the parent(s) creates a blueprint that informs responses to essential relationships later in life. Ainsworth provides further evidence that our attachment response pattern can be secure, avoidant or preoccupied (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). A securely attached person feels able to explore, yet is also ready to recognize and respond to attachment system activation by giving or seeking care. The person with avoidant attachment, often called “dismissing” attachment (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1984,1985,19961996 #127), tends to deactivate the anxiety associated with attachment activation (caregiving/careseeking), by focusing on self-sufficiency instead. The person with anxious attachment, also

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called “preoccupied” attachment, maximizes caregiving/careseeking concerns, being unsure whether attachment needs will be rebuffed or met with concern (Bowlby, 1988). Although the construct of attachment status is generally associated with developmental psychology, and attachment style with social psychology, Bowlby (1988) sees the defensive exclusion that occurs with insecure attachment as rooted in cognitive psychology when he describes how deactivation of attachment stress occurs: “Amongst such else that is clinically congenial, this revolution in cognitive theory not only gives unconscious mental processes the central place in mental life that analysts have always claimed for them, but presents a picture of the mental apparatus as being well able to shut off information of certain specified types and of doing so selectively without the person being aware of what is happening” (p. 34). Also based in cognitive theory and related to a lower sense of coherence (Lustig & Strauser, 2002) is the construct of dysfunctional career thoughts (Borders & Archadel, 1987; Corbishly & Yost, 1989; Dorn & Welch, 1985; Dryden, 1979; Hornak & Gillingham, 1980; Krumboltz, 1983, 1990; Lewis & Gilhousen, 1981; Nevo, 1987; J. Sampson, G. Peterson, J. Lenz, R. Reardon, & D. E. Saunders, 1994; Strawser & Figler, 1986; Thompson, 1976). That construct is also related to nearly all areas of career development such as career exploration, commitment (Serling & Betz, 1990), decision-making (Luzzo, Hitchings, Retish, & Shoemaker, 1999; J. Sampson et al., 1994; Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1998), career progress factors such as performance quality (Erez & Arad, 1986), willingness to relocate (Brett & Reilly, 1988), workaholic tendencies (Burke, 2001), and job satisfaction (Judge & Locke, 1993). Even avoiding the stress of looking for a job may hide latent career thought dysfunction (Keim, Strauser, & Ketz, 2002). Fouad and Keeley (1992) found significant correlations between the career maturity construct of decisiveness and measures of accepting authority and responsibility. A case study by Whiston (1990) illustrates the importance of analyzing adult clients’ self-efficacy perceptions as they affect career decisions. Perception of barriers and facilitators toward career goals influences career choice. For example, Perrone, Sedlack and Alexander (2001) found that intrinsic interest influenced choice for Caucasians, whereas

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anticipated earnings did so for African Americans, Native Americans and Asian Americans. Most researchers accept that romantic relationships for an adult are also attachment relationships, but Hazan and Shaver (1990 ) found that individuals with avoidant attachment use work to avoid social interaction, those with preoccupied attachment permit relationship issues to interfere with work, while securely attached people value relations more than work without letting them interfere in their work lives. Secure attachment among young adults is shown to support career commitment and greater career exploration while protecting against premature decision formation (Ketterson & Blustein, 1997; Lee & Hughey, 2001; Wolfe & Betz, 2004). Tokar, Withrow, Hall, and Moradi (2003) conclude that insecure attachment most likely has a greater effect on measures of chronic indecisiveness than on informational indecision. Preoccupied attachment is linked to worry and emotional dependence, and dismissive attachment to emotional distance (Dozier, Cue, & Barnett, 1994; Dozier, Lomax, & Tyrrell, 1996). Avoidant people argue at home over time spent at work (Hardy & Barkham, 1994), because, presumably, they find work more important than relationships (Hazan & Shaver, 1990). To summarize, research links a secure attachment to a healthier balance between work and personal life and more confident decision-making, avoidant attachment to a greater emphasis on work, and preoccupied attachment to a greater focus on personal life. Research has also shown that, among Dutch and Belgian immigrants in California, 85% had insecure attachment (van Ecke, Chope, & Emmelkamp, 2005), suggesting that they should show a less healthy balance between work and personal life, with a greater emphasis on either work or personal issues. Nearly 45% of the 61 participants in that study who reported the reasons for immigration gave reasons that could be considered a focus on work over relationships: 22 said they came for work, 6 for education, 13 for love, 10 for tourism, and 10 out of necessity (p. 669). The authors stated that the reason for immigration, however, was found to be unrelated to attachment status. Since the literature review cited earlier shows several established links between attachment and work/life balance, perhaps the way this group of immigrants thinks about career issues relates to attachment rather than to their stated reason for immigration.

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The present study re-examines the connection within this group of immigrants between attachment and career thoughts by testing the following hypotheses. Hypothesis # 1: Secure attachment style is less related to dysfunctional career thought than is insecure attachment. Hypothesis # 2: Avoidant attachment style is more strongly related to dysfunctional career thought than is anxious attachment style. Method Participants The participant group consisted of 75 Dutch and Belgian immigrants living in California, of whom 46 (17 men, 29 women) completed all components of the current study. The participants were recruited with more than 200 letters of invitation sent to all members of the Dutch and Belgian social and business organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The research invitation was accompanied by a letter of recommendation from the Netherlands Consulate. Recipients were each sent a letter explaining the research, and they each signed informed consent forms. The participants were not compensated. Characteristics of the study’s participants are summarized in Table 1. TABLE 1 SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS N 46 Age 20-35 36-45 46-60 61-75 76-91

Gender 5 12 8 16 4

M F

17 29

Income in $10,000 yr1 <25 2 25-50 13 51 -100 13 101-150 11 >150 4

Education2

Marital Status Yes Not

Hs 0 33 HS+2 9 13 BA/BS 10 MA/MS 17 PhD/M 9 D Note 1: of N 46, 3 declined to state income. Note 2: 1 declined to state education

The participant are a well-defined sample. They are a homogenous group of Caucasian, middle-aged, college educated immigrants

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earning above median incomes. They represent a population of individuals who, by necessity, had to relinquish many close attachments. The average participant age was 54 and ranged from 27 to 79 years, with a median age of 58, and SD of 16.29. The sample’s age is useful because the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the number of people in the labor force aged 55 to 64 years old will grow by 51%, more than four times the average growth for all age groups (Horrigan, 2003). Of the participants, 98% were Caucasian and 2% of Asian or Indonesian descent. During the time after World War II when the former Dutch colony of Indonesia became independent, a number of Indonesians chose to move to the Netherlands. They continued to be represented among the individuals who emigrated from the Netherlands to the United States during the 1950’s and early 1960’s. As people from Curacao, Morocco, and Turkey only arrived in the Netherlands and Belgium during the late 1960’s and 1970’s, the ethnic composition of the sample is therefore not uncommon among Dutch and Belgian immigrants of that age. As this study’s sample was not independently composed, it will be shown that the sample’s data are comparable to norm group data provided for the measures used in this study.

Measures and Procedure Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R). ’The existing body of research that compares work and attachment has been done using attachment style instruments. The current study specifically assesses attachment style to see how it relates to dysfunctional career thoughts. Data on attachment status for the sample that was used in the current study were published previously.. To assess attachment style, participants completed the Experiences in Close Relationships – Revised (Fraley et al., 2000), a revised version of Brennan, Clark, and Shaver's (1998) Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) questionnaire. The ECR-R is a 36-item selfreport measure, with agreement to statements such as “I talk things over with my partner” and “I find it easy to get close to my partner” indicated on a 7-point Likert scale where 1 = “strongly disagree” to 7 = “strongly agree.. The ECR-R has norms for attachment style

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anxiety and attachment style avoidance based on 22,000 people (78% female) with an average age of 24 (SD = 10). Fifteen percent of the sample was married. Fraley et al defined attachment anxiety as the extent to which a person is insecure about his or her partner's availability and responsiveness, and attachment avoidance as the extent to which a person is uncomfortable being close to others. Lower attachment anxiety or attachment avoidance scores indicate a more secure attachment style. A drawback of the ECR-R is that it, like other self-report measures for attachment style such as the Adult Attachment Scales (Collins & Read, 1990) and the Relationship Styles Questionnaire (Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994), is found to be less precise for assessing low levels of attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety (Fraley et al., 2000). However, because participants in the sample for the current study had already been shown to be high in attachment insecurity as measured by the AAP, I consider this limitation to be acceptable. The ECR-R was further tested by Sibley and Liu (as cited in Wolfe & Betz, 2004), who found that this test has acceptable classical psychometric properties with good test/retest reliability of 86% over six weeks.

Career Thoughts Inventory. To assess career thought I selected the Career Thoughts Inventory (J. P. J. Sampson et al., 1994), a measure designed to assess dysfunctional thinking about career issues based on a cognitive information processing approach to career development. The CTI is a self-report, paper-and-pencil test consisting of 48 negative statements about work, such as “I get upset when people ask me what I want to do with my life,” and “There are few jobs that have real meaning,” marked by respondents’ degree of agreement using a 4-point scale from 1 = “strongly disagree” to 4 = “strongly agree.”. The test can be completed in about 10 minutes. The CTI scores consist of one total CTI score and scores on three subscales. The overall CTI score is a single global indicator of dysfunctional thinking in career problem solving and decision making. The Decision Making Confusion (DMC) subscale measures the

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inability to make decisions due to disabling emotions or to lack of understanding about the decision making process. The Commitment Anxiety (CA) subscale reflects the inability to make a commitment to a specific career choice, often accompanied by anxiety over the outcome of the decision. Finally, the External Conflict (EC) subscale assesses difficulties in balancing one’s own needs and perceptions with those of others. The test developers note that, for adult nonclient populations, the commitment anxiety subscale is not an operative construct in the absence of a career problem, whereas decision making and external conflict (with significant others such as spouses) remain operative constructs. This difference is important because this study examines the relationship between attachment style and career thoughts for adults who do not necessarily have career problems. The CTI was designed for high school and college students, as well as adults who are looking for employment, are considering a change of employment, or are seeking re-employment while currently out of the labor market. Considering the age range of our study’s population, this instrument was believed to be suitable for assessing career thoughts. Reliability evidence for the CTI total score includes internal consistency alpha coefficients from .93 to .97, and a test/retest coefficient of .77. Construct validity evidence derives from studies with other career instruments and personality trait measures such as the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PIR;Costa & McCrae, 1991) while criterion-related validity is presented for persons seeking career services versus those not seeking career services.In addition to the above assessment of attachment style and career thoughts, the research participants also completed questionnaires on socioeconomic background, including age, gender, education, income, religion, and ethnicity. Results The scores for attachment style and career-thought dysfunction have been summarized in Table 2. Given this study’s participants’ characteristics such as higher age, higher income and immigrant status, I first conducted preliminary analyses to confirm that age, income, or immigrant status did not correlate significantly with scores on the CTI or the ECR-R.

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Sociodemographic variables. Given the relatively high average age of 54 years of the participant group, age was examined more thoroughly for a possible relation to the overall score and the three subscale scores on the Career Thoughts Inventory. On the basis of a Pearson correlation, age did not correlate significantly with total scores on the Career Thoughts Inventory (r = .11, p < .4576) or the subscales of decision making confusion (r= .16, p < .2980), external conflict ( r= .07, p < .6217), or commitment anxiety (r = – .02, p < .8817). With only a minimal negative correlation to attachment style anxiety (r = – .07, p < .6626) and a slight positive relation with attachment style avoidance (r = .04, p < .8114), age also failed to show a significant relationship to the attachment style instrument, the ECR-R. Income, however, had a significant negative relation to total Career Thoughts Inventory scores (r = –.32, p < .05), as well as to the subscale of external conflict (r = –.30, p <.05), showing that higher income relates to a lower level of dysfunctional career thoughts and to less concern with external conflict, a fact not reported in other research results which will be reviewed in the Discussion section.. Increases in income correlated with lowered scores on all of the dysfunctional career thought scales. Immigrant status. Since data were obtained with a sample comprised of immigrants , it was important to see if this group was comparable to norms established for the dependent variable of the dysfunctional career thoughts measure, the CTI. The immigrant group’s scores were compared to the norms provided by the publisher for adults who were not career counseling clients using a one-sample t-test. The study participants’ mean scores for the CTI total were lower than the norms (30.7 and 36.3, respectively), but not significantly (t = -1.69, p < .0978). For the CTI decision-making confusion subscale, the participants’ scores were also lower (6.7 and 8.2,) but, again, not significantly (t = -1.49, p < .11441). CTI commitment anxiety subscale scores of the participants compared with the CTI norms were almost significantly lower (7.7 and 9.3, respectively with t = -2.00, p < .0515). The test developers note, however, that, for adult non-client populations, commitment anxiety is not an operative construct in the absence of unemployment or career problems, whereas decision

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making and external conflict (with significant others such as spouses) remain operative constructs (J. Sampson et al., 1994 , p.52). Finally, participant scores for the EC of the CTI were lower than the CTI norm (2.7 and 3.0, respectively) but not significantly (t = -.76, p < .4505). In summary, the participant group was acceptably similar to the norm group on all applicable Career Thoughts Inventory scores. Avoidance vs. Anxiety Attachment Style and Scores on the Career Thoughts Inventory hypothesis #1. Table 2 shows the Pearson correlations that examine the direction and strength of relationship between attachment style and career thought dysfunction scores. Both attachment style anxiety and avoidance scores showed a significant, positive correlation to the CTI total score (r = .30, p < .0446, r = .41, p < .0043). This correlation supports hypothesis #1 that secure attachment styles are linked to lower career thought dysfunction.

TABLE 2 CORRELATIONS OF ATTACHMENT (ECR-R) TO CAREER THOUGHTS (CTI)

Mean Sd M SD 2.33 1.22 2.38 1.12

Instrument 1. ECR-R Attachment anxiety 2. ECR-R Attachment avoidance 3. CTI total score 30.7 4. CTI decision making 6.7 confusion 5. CTI commitment anxiety 7.7 6. CTI external conflict 2.7 Significance Note: **p < .01,*p < .05

Correlations r To 1 To 2 -----

22.40 0.30* 0.41** 6.66 0.23 0.36* 5.59 0.24 2.52 0.22

0.27 0.40**

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hypothesis #2. There was a positive but non-significant relation of attachment anxiety to all three CTI subscales of decision making confusion (r = .23, p < .1255), commitment anxiety (r = .24, p< .1119), and external conflict (r = .22, p < .1472). The attachment avoidance scores correlated significantly with two of three of the CTI subscales, decision making confusion (r=.36, p < .0126) and external conflict (r = .40, p < .0066), but not with commitment anxiety (r= .27, p < .0667). Attachment avoidance showed a much more robust relationship to every one of the dysfunctional career thought scores than attachment anxiety did. This finding supports hypothesis #2 that avoidant attachment style is more strongly related to dysfunctional career thoughts than is anxious attachment style.

Discussion The results of the current study support the first hypothesis that a more secure attachment style, as evidenced by both less anxiety and less avoidance in response to attachment issues, relates clearly to lower career thought dysfunction. These results agree with Lee and Hughey’s (2001) finding that parental attachment shows a significant correlation to attitudinal career maturity aspects. Second, avoidant attachment style correlates more strongly than the anxious attachment style with increases in overall dysfunctional career thoughts and with two of three CTI subscales, decision making confusion and external conflict. Wolfe and Betz (2004) also found that avoidant attachment correlated more strongly to career indecision than did anxious attachment among college students. Hazan and Shaver (1990) reason that people with an avoidant attachment style generally assign more meaning to work, perhaps too much, given that in the current study avoidant attachment style correlates strongly with external conflict. Relationship problems at home regarding the number of hours spent on the job can be a significant issue for people with an avoidant attachment style (Hardy & Barkham, 1994). Working long and hard for many years is normal for a number of immigrants, and for this reason the emphasis on work as a link to avoidant attachment would not have been perceived as a choice but as a necessity by both partners in a relationship. From a clinical perspective, it might be prudent to

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keep in mind that the client with an avoidant rather than a preoccupied style might keep working extremely hard long after the need to do so has decreased. Counseling clients regarding the benefits of leisure activities (Harper & Shoffner, 2004; Liptak, 1990) and coaching them in relaxation techniques and in making time for family activities might be useful interventions at that point. Mitchell, Levin and Krumboltz (1999) have argued that individuals who are flexible can make productive use of serendipity to support their career growth. Because they use more defensive exclusion, individuals with insecure attachment tend to respond less flexibly than those with secure attachment (Bowlby, 1988). Therefore, individuals with high attachment avoidance and career thought dysfunction are less likely to demonstrate the flexibility required to make use of serendipity or planned happenstance. . A negative relationship between CTI scores and income that was found in this study indicates the need for more research. Other studies show that higher income relates to the desire to work fewer hours (Reynolds, 2005) and is associated with longer work hours and intensified conflict over work versus family demands (Blair-Loy & Wharton, 2004). Yet a study of income and work satisfaction among more than 5,700 physicians found that those with the lowest income in the group, general pediatricians, had the lowest job stress and highest job satisfaction (Shugerman et al., 2001). Finally, two studies encompassing more than 7,000 persons in eight nations over 25 years provide evidence that one’s sense of subjective well-being is increased with less income inequality in one’s environment (Hagerty, 2000). Concluding that higher income definitely relates to lower dysfunctional career thoughts would be premature, as this relationship may be influenced by numerous other factors some of which are listed above. As noted earlier, it is useful that participants in the sample for the current study were older adults. because the working population over 65 years of age is increasing fast. The current study found slight positive correlations between age and attachment style avoidance, and between age and total career dysfunction score and two CTI subscales, those of decision making confusion and external conflict. These findings can be considered in light of Harper and Shoffner’s (2004) comments that for individuals whose identities are tied to work (that is, those who score high on avoidant attachment), retirement becomes a challenge to maintaining one’s identity. Harper and Shoffner

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proposed using the theory of work adjustment (TWA: Lofquist & Dawis, 1969; 1984; 1991) to help retirees express identity in volunteer and avocational activities, as well as family activities. A slight correlation between gender and dysfunctional career thoughts indicates that women would have more dysfunctional career thoughts than men. The study’s men (n 17) had an average CTI total score of 24.9, and the women (n 29) had an average CTI total score of 34.1 (rpb = .482). However, Cassirer and Reskin (2000) found that women’s attitudes about promotions were not different from those of men when the effects of prior promotion and organizational location were factored out of the equation. Perhaps women’s work situations are more dysfunctional than those of men due to factors beyond their control. Although a number of studies have been cited that focus on attachment and career variables, this study contributes by examining the relationship between the Career Thoughts Inventory and the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised. Although older adults have been shown to have a higher rate of dismissive attachment (Magai et al., 2001), this study adds data on attachment style and career variables. The applications of the relationship between attachment style and dysfunctional career thoughts to career counseling are useful. Having a client complete the CTI in the office, and the ECR-R on line at www.yourpersonality.net is easy and inexpensive. The results then may provide a basis for conceptualizing concerns and attitudes the client may bring to the counseling relationship. Clients with high attachment avoidance scores might feel uncomfortable expressing needs in the counseling environment and have been described by Magai (1999, p. 791) as potentially “lonely, self-absorbed, alienated from people and full of contempt.” The problems of such clients may involve arguments with significant others over time spent on the job, while they may be overly focused on following duty, rules and regulations. These clients may value education and titles more than most. Clients with high attachment anxiety scores are likely to be more open to the counseling experience and to the Dental model (Goodman, 1992, 1994) of career counseling, implying regular checkups. The career-related problems of these clients may stem more often from interpersonal issues and be related to worry about approval. A client

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with attachment anxiety may have greater internal preoccupation (Cole-Detke & Kobak, 1996) and more often have emotional disturbances such as depression or dysthymia (Rosenstein & Horowitz, 1996). People with anxious attachment styles generally are hypervigilant to stress and express themselves more, whereas those with an avoidant attachment style typically have emotional inhibition or minimization (Magai, 1999). Knowledge about a client’s attachment style can provide the career counselor with additional insight into aspects of the counseling process itself, as well as outline groups of issues that may be dominant for either avoidant for anxious clients. Although this research explores attachment and career thought dysfunction with a very specific population of older Dutch and Belgian immigrants, different immigrants from different ethnicities might demonstrate wholly different results using the same instruments, the ECR-R and the CTI. Moreover, other populations which may not be subject to the attachment issues that immigrants are also need to be studied. The research represented in the current study intertwines personal issues into the career counseling process in a multicultural context and opens a new area for counselors to explore.

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Burke, R. J. (2001). Workaholism components, job satisfaction, and career progress. Journal of Applied Psychology, 31(11), 23392356. Cassirer, N., & Reskin, B. (2000). High hopes: Organizational position, employment experiences, and women's and men's promotion aspirations. Work & Occupations, 27(4), 438-463. Cole-Detke, H., & Kobak, R. (1996). Attachment processes in eating disorder and depression. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 64(2), 282-290. Collins, N. L., & Read, S. J. (1990). Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 58(4), 644-663. Corbishly, M. A., & Yost, E. B. (1989). Assessment and treatment of dysfunctional cognitions in career counseling. Career Planning and Adult Development Journal, 5(3), 20-26. Costa, P. T. J., & McCrae, R. R. (1991). Professional manual: Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PR-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Dorn, F. J., & Welch, N. (1985). Assessing career mythology: A profile of high school students. The School Counselor, 33, 136-142. Dozier, M., Cue, K. L., & Barnett, L. (1994). Clinicians as caregivers: role of attachment organisation in treatment. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 62, 793-800. Dozier, M., Lomax, L., & Tyrrell, C. (1996). Psychotherapy's challenge for adults using deactivating attachment strategies.Unpublished manuscript, Delaware. University of Delaware. Dryden, W. (1979). Rational-emotive therapy and its contribution to careers counseling. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 7, 181-187. Erez, M., & Arad, R. (1986). Participative goal-setting: social, motivational and cognitive factors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(4), 591(597). Fouad, N. A., & Keeley, T. (1992). The relationship between attitudinal and behavioral aspects of career maturity. Career Development Quarterly, 40(3), 257-271. Fraley, R. C., Waller, N. G., & Brennan, K. A. (2000). An itemresponse theory analysis of self-report measures of adult attachment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,

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78(2), 350-365. George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1984,1985,1996). Adult Attachment Interview Protocol.Unpublished manuscript, Berkeley, University of California. Goodman, J. (1992). The key to pain prevention: The dental model for counseling. American Counselor, 1(2), 27-29. Goodman, J. (1994). Career adaptability in adults: A construct whose time has come. The Career Development Quarterly, 43, 74-84. Griffin, D. W., & Bartholomew, K. (1994). The metaphysics of measurement: The case of adult attachment. In K. Bartholomew & D. Perlman (Eds.), Attachment processes in adulthood: Advances in personal relationships (Vol. 5, pp. 1752). London: Jessica Kingsley. Hagerty, M. R. (2000). Social comparisons of income in one's community: evidence from national surveys of income and happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(4), 764-771. Hardy, G. E., & Barkham, M. (1994). The relationship between interpersonal attachment styles and work difficulties. Human Relations, 47(3), 263-281. Harper, M. C., & Shoffner, M. F. (2004). Counseling for continued career development after retirement: an application of the theory of work adjustment. Career Development Quarterly, 52(3), 272-284. Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1990). Love and work: An attachmenttheoretical perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(2), 270-280. Hornak, J., & Gillingham, B. (1980). Career indecision: a self defeating behavior. The Personnel and Guidance Journal, 58, 252-253. Horrigan, M. W. (2003). Introduction to projections. Occupational Outlook Quarterly, 47(4), 2-4. Judge, T. A., & Locke, E. A. (1993). Effect of dysfunctional thought processes on subjective well-being and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(3), 475-490. Keim, J., Strauser, D. R., & Ketz, K. (2002). Examining the differences in career thoughts of women in three low socioeconomic status groups. Journal of Employment Counseling, 39(1), 31-42. Ketterson, T. U., & Blustein, D. L. (1997). Attachment relationships and the career exploration process. Career Development

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Quarterly, 46(2), 167-178. Krumboltz, J. D. (1983). Private rules in career decision making (Special Publications Series No. 38). Columbus, OH: Ohio State University, National Center for Research in Vocational Education, Advanced Study Center. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 229 608. Krumboltz, J. D. (1990, March). Helping clients change dysfunctional career beliefs. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the American Association for Counseling and Development, Cincinnati, OH. Lee, H.-Y., & Hughey, K. F. (2001). The relationship of psychological separation and parental attachment to the career maturity of college freshmen from intact families. Journal of Career Development, 27(4), 279-293. Lewis, R. A., & Gilhousen, M. R. (1981). Myths of career development: A cognitive approach to vocational counseling. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 59(5), 296-299. Liptak, J. (1990). Preretirement counseling: Integrating the leisure planning component. Career Development Quarterly, 38(4), 360-368. Lofquist, L. H., & Dawis, R. V. (1969). Ajustment to work: A psychological view of man's problems in a work-oriented society. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. Lofquist, L. H., & Dawis, R. V. (1984). Rsearch on work adjustment and satisfaction: Implications for career counseling. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Handbook of counseling psychology (pp. 216-237). New York: Wiley. Lofquist, L. H., & Dawis, R. V. (1991). Essentials of personenvironment-correspondence counseling. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Lustig, D. C., & Strauser, D. R. (2002). The relationship between sense of coherence and career thoughts. Career Development Quarterly, 51(1), 2-11. Luzzo, D. A., Hitchings, W. E., Retish, P., & Shoemaker, A. (1999). Evaluating differences in college students' career decision making on the basis of disability status. The Career Development Quarterly, 48(142-156). Magai, C. (1999). Affect, imagery and attachment. Working models of interpersonal affect and the socialization of emotion. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment (pp. 787-802). New York: Guilford.

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Magai, C., Cohen, C., Milburn, N., Thorpe, B., McPherson, R., & Peralta, D. (2001). Attachment styles in older european american and african american adults. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B.(pS28). Mitchell, K. E., Levin, A. S., & Krumboltz, J. D. (1999). Planned happenstance: Constructing unexpected career opportunties. Journal of Counseling and Development, 77(2), 115-125. Nevo, O. (1987). Irrational expectations in career counseling and their confronting arguments. The Career Development Quarterly, 35, 239-250. Perrone, K. M., Sedlacek, W. E., & Alexander, C. M. (2001). Gender and ethnic differences in career goal attainment. The Career Development Quarterly, 50, 168-178. Reynolds, J. (2005). In the face of conflict: work-life conflict and desired work hour adjustments. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(5), 1313-1331. Rosenstein, D. S., & Horowitz, H. A. (1996). Adolescent attachment and psychopathology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(2), 244-253. Sampson, J., Peterson, G., Lenz, J., Reardon, R., & Saunders, D. E. (1994). Career Thoughts Inventory Professional Manual. Lutz, Florida: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Sampson, J. P., Peterson, G. W., Lenz, J. G., Reardon, R. C., & Saunders, D. E. (1998). The design and use of a measure of dysfunctional career thoughts among adults, college students, and high school students: The Career Thoughts Inventory. Journal of Career Assessment, 6(2), 115-134. Sampson, J. P. J., Peterson, G. W., Lenz, J. G., Reardon, R. C., & Saunders, D. E. (1994). Career Thoughts Inventory. Lutz, Fl.: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Serling, D. A., & Betz, N. E. (1990). Development and evaluation of a measure of fear of commitment. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 37, 91-97. Shugerman, R., Linzer, M., Nelson, K., Douglas, J., Williams, R., & Konrad, R. (2001). Pediatric generalists and subspecialists: determinants of career satisfaction. Pediatrics, 108(3), 40-46. Strawser, K., & Figler, H. (1986, April). Steps that career counselors can use to help clients reverse the effects of self defeating statements. Paper presented at the American College Personnel Association convention, New Orleans, LA. Thompson, A. P. (1976). Client misconceptions in vocational

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counseling. The Personnel and Guidance Journal, 55, 30-33. Tokar, D. M., Withrow, J. R., Hall, R. J., & Moradi, B. (2003). Psychological separation, attachment security, vocational selfconcept crystallization, and career indecision: A structural equation analysis. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50(1), 319. van Ecke, Y., Chope, R., & Emmelkamp, P. (2005). Attachment and Immigrants. Social Behavior and Personality, 33(7), 657-674. Whiston, S. C. (1990). Dilemmas of life planning: an adult in transition. Career Development Quarterly, 38(4). Wolfe, J. B., & Betz, N. E. (2004). The Relationship of attachment variables to career decision-making self-efficacy and fear of commitment. Career Development Quarterly, 52(4), 363-369.

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CHAPTER 7

GENERAL DISCUSSION

The previous studies have focused on a small group of immigrants who do not share the characteristics of most immigrants.The Dutch and Belgian immigrants in California, 1.2% of the population (Modarres & Aleman, 2003), are well integrated into the American society, and they have little discernable racial, income, religious or language differences from the majority population. It is precisely this similarity with many other native born Americans that made them such interesting individuals to study in the context of attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969/1982, 1973, 1980). Bowlby focused on separation and loss as central threats to our mental and emotional equilibrium against which we try to defend ourselves at nearly all cost, inasmuch as our evolution as humans and as mammals has depended on staying connected to others. Immigrants have separated, but usually with this separation came a history of persecution, or a future of poverty, language difficulties, and discrimination because of religion, race, ethnicity or language. The Dutch and Belgian immigrants experienced relatively little discrimination, yet have gone through separation from the home country, and extended family. Studying this group might provide insight into what all immigrants have in common from an attachment perspective, which might be hidden in other groups who have also suffered from poverty and discrimination on top of separation. More recently, of course, many European countries have struggled with integrating immigrants with the native population and more established immigrants, as illustrated by riots in France, and the difficulties in the Netherlands with the assassination of Pim Fortuyn and the murder of Theo van Gogh. In the Netherlands, tensions grow as groups from Turkey Morocco and Eastern European countries are now also claiming their place along earlier immigrants from Surinam, Antilles, Indonesia and Southern European countries. The research reported in this dissertation brings out the point that all immigrants have suffered a trauma, and that to support connectedness and emotional security is of the utmost importance for individual and

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collective mental health and a functional diversity not only in the American, but also in the Dutch society. The research results show that despite good integration into its host society, the immigrant group under study has a significantly higher proportion of unresolved attachment status compared to native individuals. The latter are defined as persons who have continued to live near their family of origin, but who otherwise resemble the immigrant group in age, education, income, ethnicity and religion. However, unresolved attachment status is shown to be unrelated to the individual’s length of stay in the U.S. or to being married (van Ecke, Chope, & Emmelkamp, 2005). Interestingly, Bowlby theorizes that a loss leaves even securely attached individuals temporarily disorganized or unresolved with respect to attachment in the third phase of mourning, (the first two being numbing and yearning) which is then followed by reorganization of one’s state of mind with respect to attachment (Bowlby, 1980). If length of stay in the new country were a factor, one might hypothesize that the initial process of immigration contained the factor of loss, or traumatic experience, which became less so over time as the immigrant reorganized his or her state of mind with respect to attachment. The data in the study reported in Chapter three (van Ecke et al., 2005) did not support this idea. Therefore, it appears reasonable to propose that attachment trauma among the immigrant group is not contained within the trip, i.e. the departure from the homeland and arrival in the host country. Rather, the fact that the immigrant group has unresolved attachment indicates that the trauma was there either before emigrating, or after. Den Velde and colleagues (den Velde et al., 2000) have studied Dutch immigrants in Australia, and compared them with Dutch citizens who never emigrated on the incidence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and war trauma. They found that those who emigrated had experienced more trauma, more problems that are interpersonal and worries about the future. At the same time, they had less social support. One way of trying to assess whether trauma occurred before or after immigration is to incorporate the concept of intergenerational transmission of attachment status which Bowlby thought deserved further attention (Bowlby, 1988). Early on in attachment research researchers found evidence that attachment status of the parent influences the attachment status of the child (Caviglia, Fiocco, & Dazzi, 2004; Fonagy, Steele, Steele, Higgitt, & et al., 1994; Lyons-

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Ruth, Yellin, Melnick, & Atwood, 2003; Main & Hesse, 1990; Schuengel, van IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Blom, 1998). More recently it was shown that the attachment status of a mentor affects the perceived availability of that mentor by a teen (Zegers, Schuengel, van Ijzendoorn, & Janssens, 2006) and that improvement in the caregiver’s mental representation affects the attachment, especially of highly reactive children (Klein Velderman, BakermansKranenburg, Juffer, & van Ijzendoorn, 2006). Studies on the intergenerational transmission of role reversal (Macfie, McElwain, Houts, & Cox, 2005), and the unprocessed pain of loss (Ringel, 2005) contribute to a growing body of evidence that the caregiver is highly influential in the type of specific state of mind with respect to attachment that the child develops. Although no two siblings are raised in the exact same environment with a parent who behaves the exact same way, presumably most siblings would have the same attachment status as their immigrant brother or sister unless the attachment status of the parent changed. Research with immigrants’ siblings who have not emigrated from the native country might provide additional insight into the etiology of unresolved attachment among immigrants. If the presence of an attachment figure in the sense of a romantic partner protected an individual, this would lessen the prevalence of unresolved attachment among married participants. This was not the case in the current study, indicating that other attachment relationships contained the trauma among the immigrant sample. Doherty and Feeney (2004) documented the existence of attachment networks within which different individuals are primary attachment figures for the study participants. This could be applied to the current study. If a romantic partner did not protect the immigrant individuals in the studies reported here, this raises the possibility that another individual in the attachment network is a potentially influential attachment figure with whom there is attachment system activation that is still unresolved. Further research should try to examine which primary attachment relationships exist, and what types of situations trigger unresolved attachment activation. Although Bowlby wrote extensively about the effects of attachment on the relationship between mother and child, he did not exclude from this thinking the effect of groups and environment: “Since two of the natural clues that tend to be avoided are strangeness and being alone, there is a marked tendency for humans, like animals of other species, to remain in a particular and familiar locale and in the

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company of particular and familiar people" (1973, p. 146), “Thus each individual has its own relatively small and very distinctive personal environment to which it is attached” (1973, p. 147). The findings of unresolved attachment among immigrants regardless of whether they had a life partner leads to the question whether being separated from the familiar environment and people plays a role in the formation of unresolved attachment. Research with expatriates, individuals in the diplomatic service and government armed forces abroad, who experience lengthy separations but eventually return to their original environment, might provide data that will illuminate the relationship between attachment status and an individual’s length of separation, from family. If environment played a role in the formation of unresolved attachment, then future research might look at other immigrant groups and familiarity of environment. Researchers might focus on immigrants who join compatriots from their home country or town in the new country, who are able to buy native foods and participate in native customs, and assess whether their attachment status is more secure than that of those who have few or no familiar faces around. Additional insight may come from looking at attachment status of immigrant groups who typically have a larger or more clearly defined community than the Dutch immigrants in the United States. Research focusing on more clearly delineated and larger immigrant groups such as Mexican, Guatemalan, Chinese, Filipino or Irish immigrants in the US may produce additional information about the mechanisms of attachment and immigration status. If attachment, according to Bowlby, is formed not only to a person but also to place, then the security of the environment theoretically would affect the individual. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological approach to development posits that development is inseparable from the environmental context, and that four systems affect one another: the micro system or the relation of parent to child, the mesosystem or interconnected microsystems of home, school, and work, the exosystem of social settings such as work environment that affect the microsystems of, for example, home life, and the macrosystem or cultural, national forces that affect, for example, work security, and in turn the relation between individuals (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1989; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006). These individuals who form a microsystem could have important attachment relationships with each other such as an immigrant and extended family back home, and the environment or exosystem could be split up between two different countries. This suggests that research should look into whether

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immigrating to a country that is different, in the sense of, for example, being less securely structured such as the US, might be related to more insecure attachment than immigrating to a place that is more securely structured such as the Netherlands. A recent study (Hofstra, van Oudenhoven, & Buunk, 2005) showed links between host country members’ attitudes toward immigrants and attachment style. Secure attachment style was linked to favoring integration, dismissing attachment style to favoring separation, and preoccupied attachment style to favoring assimilation. Follow up studies (Van Oudenhoven & Hofstra, 2006) with Chinese, Surinamese and Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands underscored that a dismissing attachment style was also related to the immigrant favoring one’s own culture and to choosing separation from the host culture. Increases in patriotism, argue Depuiset and Butera (Depuiset & Butera, 2005) may predispose host country members to have a negative attitude towards immigrants. In general, when a nation is threatened or at war, expressions of patriotism do seem to increase as was the case in the United States after the September 11, 2001. A nation, that one might say consists of individuals with attachment systems, may respond to national threat with national attachment system activation. This in turn, applying Hofstra et al’s findings, may then increase extremes in host countries’ policies. Instead of focusing on integration, they might begin to favor either assimilation or separation. Immigrants, in turn, might experience a response to this increased extremism if it is flaring up when they first arrive, which one might argue is presumably a time of great vulnerability in the attachment system. However more research is needed to examine the relationship between host country conditions, host country natives ’ attachment status, attachment style and the attachment status of immigrant groups from different countries. Researchers have explored Dutch immigrants in Australia (Kraus, 1969; Putnin & Taft, 1976; Taft, 1961), New Zealand (Wentholt, 1956), the US (Hofmeijer, 1970; van Ecke et al., 2005), Canada , while Bakker, van Oudenhoven and van der Zee’s study (2004) included emigrants to Canada, the U.S., European countries, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It would be useful to compare attachment of Dutch emigrants in various countries to ascertain if the attachment status correlates with particular characteristics of countries, times of emigration or other factors.

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The second study reported in Chapter Four examined the finding of unresolved attachment among the immigrant sample in further detail, finding that the immigrant group did not differ from the native group in how well they were able resolve danger. Analysis of variance indicated that, rather than immigrant status, being unresolved with regard to attachment was linked to greater perception of danger in general and to a lower ability to resolve danger once perceived, when compared to being resolved with respect to attachment. Analysis of the resolution of danger in story responses to the images in the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP:George & West, 2003; George, West, & Pettem, 1999) showed that the immigrant group was most troubled by images of saying goodbye and those of isolation, but natives were most disturbed by images of illness (van Ecke, in press-b). Further research may substantiate whether the individual with unresolved attachment who experiences the currently reported increased sensitivity to attachment dangers does so in response to all attachment stimuli, or whether this increase is limited to those specific situations that resemble what may be the original attachment trauma(s). Another avenue of inquiry relates to the here reported difficulty in resolving attachment danger once perceived. Is this difficulty there in general, once an individual has unresolved attachment, or does this difficulty remain specific with respect to certain attachment experiences? Given that researchers report a link between immigration and reduced mental health among adult immigrants (Angel, Buckley, & Sakamoto, 2001), but also a link between reduced mental health and lack of a partner or other attachment figures (Aroian & Norris, 2003), which among second generation immigrants is linked to alienation from culture and family (Abouguendia & Noels, 2001), it would appear that attachment difficulties play a role in worsening mental health. However, it is unclear if clinicians should target relations with specific attachment figures, or an individual’s general attachment responses. Knowledge about the specific vs. general decrease in the ability to resolve attachment threat can be useful for clinicians who might then begin to target specific attachment issues in therapeutic settings. The third research study examined the relationship between personality aspects as measured with the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1991) and on the one hand attachment status as measured with the AAP, as well as attachment style as measured with the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-

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R; Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000)on the other. The study participants came from a group of Dutch and Belgian immigrants with a high proportion of unresolved attachment status in another study (van Ecke et al., 2005). The results of this third research study, however, failed to show expected correlations between unresolved attachment status and the Neuroticism aspect of personality. Attachment style anxiety showed a significant positive correlation with Neuroticism while both attachment anxiety and avoidance showed significant negative correlation with Conscientiousness. The positive correlation between Conscientiousness and secure attachment style was also found by other researchers looking into personality, attachment style and job changes (van Vianen, Feij, Krausz, & Taris, 2003). The secure attachment style of low anxiety and low avoidance corresponded with higher Conscientiousness scores. The latter is linked with self discipline and goal setting that tends to favor career success and at the extremes, workaholic tendencies (Costa & McCrae, 1991). Although some links between attachment style and personality facets seem more consistently apparent, i.e., anxiety to Neuroticism, and security to Conscientiousness, attachment style did not show the moderately positive relationship to Extraversion and Agreeableness found by Carver (1997). Magai (1999, p. 789) has argued that personality theory needs to take into account the effect of emotional bonds, attachment, on psychological development but concludes that “there is little in the five-factor model that relates to developmental theory or interpersonal process.” In the trait vs. situation debate about personality theory, personality is on the one hand viewed as made up of consistent traits, but on the other hand it is assumed that situations can greatly influence which aspects of personality are expressed or repressed (Mischel, 1990). Attachment status measures have as an underlying assumption that the state of mind with respect to attachment is stable and have shown good reliability over time, whereas the attachment style instruments seem to allow more influence of the situation on the attachment style (Davila, Dorli, & Hammen, 1997). Attachment and personality may influence one another in ways more subtle than what researchers’ assessment instruments are able to capture. Perhaps looking at the extremes provides more information. A case in point might be unresolved attachment status and Neuroticism facet of personality. The research study under discussion did not capture any relation between unresolved attachment and

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Neuroticism but that does not mean there is no relation. One reason may be that attachment status that is unresolved with respect to loss has not been linked to clinical status, whereas attachment that is unresolved for abuse has been linked to clinical status. The participants in the studies reported in this dissertation were thought to be unresolved with respect to loss and separation (van Ecke, in pressb) which may not show a relationship with the personality aspect of Neuroticism which in the high scores is linked with clinical status via “maladaptive action patterns,” “displacement,” “regression,” “defensiveness and guardedness” (Costa & McCrae, 1991, p. 52). Further research that delineates severity and etiology (loss vs. abuse) of unresolved attachment may be helpful in learning more about how unresolved attachment is linked to problems on a spectrum from dysthymia to depression to suicidality for example. Ongoing research into the links between attachment status and personality measures may benefit from knowing whether the individual is unresolved for abuse, loss, isolation or grief, in other words, the situation that influences the attachment status. The final research study (van Ecke, in press-a) in this dissertation ( Chapter six) examines the relationship between attachment style measured by Experiences in Close Relationships – Revised (ECR-R), and dysfunctional career thoughts measured by the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI; Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1994). Two hypotheses related to attachment and dysfunctional career thoughts were tested with 46 adult immigrants. Results showed both attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly related to general scores on the CTI, while increased attachment avoidance also significantly correlated with the subscales of decision-making confusion and external conflict. Implications of attachment style on the career counseling process include the benefits of knowing how the client may respond to counseling in general,. The avoidant client is more likely to suppress affect (Kerr, Melley, Travea, & Pole, 2003), especially negative affect (Pereg & Mikulincer, 2004), experience somatic complaints , erupt in sudden contempt or hostility (Magai, 1999), but otherwise engage in avoidance of especially traumatic event memories (Mikulincer, Florian, & Weller, 1993) and also decrease support seeking behaviors when feeling threatened (Hart, Shaver, & Goldenberg, 2005). The anxiously attached client is more likely to exhibit excessive reassurance seeking (Shaver, Schachner, & Mikulincer, 2005; Vogel

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& Wei, 2005) in the counseling process, whereas the avoidant client may have more problems with regard to work. One of the reasons may be that work is so important for the person with avoidant attachment as first documented by Hazan and Shaver (1990). Counseling may focus on helping the avoidant client re-focus their needs onto personal relationships and away from work, which may reduce external conflict, as well. Counseling can help the anxiously attached client to create boundaries between personal issues and professional ones. The implications for further research are to compare counseling for attachment issues across cultural and nationalities, and also with a focus on different counseling modalities for attachment issues. Van Ecke, Chope and Emmelkamp (2006) have proposed Bowen intergenerational family systems counseling, which incorporates the client’s family or system, allows inclusion of generations in the counseling process, and uses a cognitive/emotional coaching technique. Larson and Wilson (1998) examined the ability of Bowenian family systems theory (M. Bowen, 1978) to explain career decision problems in 1,006 college students (aged 17-23 yrs). Bowenian theory asserts that anxiety is the mediator of dysfunctional family dynamics and career decision problems. The mechanisms are exemplified by fusion, triangulation, cut off, reactivity and dysfunctional relationships. Support for the Bowen theory and counseling approach was reported by Skowron and Dendy(Skowron & Dendy, 2004)who found significant associations associations between attachment avoidance and emotional cutoff (r = -.78) and attachment anxiety and reactivity (r = -.60). The analyses of Larson and Wilson supported the mediating role of especially anxiety but further empirical data are needed to assess the efficacy of this Bowenian approach to counseling those with attachment problems. Four studies reported here have focused on attachment and immigrants. The first assessed in general the attachment status and its relation to various factors in the immigrants’ lives, such as reason for emigrating, having a partner, and socioeconomic factors. Second, there was examining unresolved attachment and relating it to AAP images of saying goodbye and those of isolation. Immigrants were found to have the same ability as natives to resolve attachment danger. The third study showed that insecure attachment style was related to a certain extent to the personality facet of Neuroticism or emotional negativity and instability, and that the secure style corresponded with

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Conscientiousness or dependability and trustworthiness. The fourth study reported that the insecure attachment style was found related to dysfunctional career thoughts, and that especially avoidant attachment related to decision making confusion and external conflict, meaning inability to balance one’s own perceptions with those of significant others. These studies were done with a small group of Dutch and Belgian immigrants in California. Further research exploring the etiology of unresolved attachment among immigrants, as well as cross-cultural aspects of attachment among various immigrant populations is indicated. Secondly, there is a need for continued research that clarifies the relationships between attachment, personality, and work, as well as the efficacy of therapies on attachment difficulties for different groups of individuals.

References Abouguendia, M., & Noels, K. A. (2001). General and acculturationrelated daily hassles and psychological adjustment in first- and second-generation South Asian immigrants to Canada. International Journal of Psychology, 36(3), 163-173. American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (Fourth ed.). Wasington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Angel, J. L., Buckley, C. J., & Sakamoto, A. (2001). Duration or disadvantage? Exploring nativity, ethnicity, and health in midlife. Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 56B(5), 275-284. Aroian, K. J., & Norris, A. E. (2003). Depression trajectories in relatively recent immigrants. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 44(5), 420-427. Bakker, W., Van Oudenhoven, J. P., & Van Der Zee, K. I. (2004). Attachment styles, personality, and Dutch emigrants' intercultural adjustment. European Journal of Personality, 18(5), 387-404. Bowlby, J. (1969/1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. I. Attachment. New York,: Basic Books. Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss Vol. II: Separation anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books, Inc. Publishers. Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss Vol. III: Loss sadness and depression. New York: Basic Books.

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Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base : Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Routledge. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). Contexts of child rearing: Problems and prospects. American Psychologist, 34, 844-850. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1989). Ecological systems theory. In R. Vasta (Ed.), Annals of child development: Volume 6. Theories of child development: Revised formulations and current issues. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. (2006). The ecology of developmental processes. In W. Damon & L. R.M (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (6th ed.). New York: Wiley. Carver, C. S. (1997). Adult attachment and personality: Converging evidence and a new measure. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(8), 865-883. Caviglia, G., Fiocco, B., & Dazzi, N. (2004). La Trasmissione Intergenerazionale del Trauma della Sho?: Uno Studio Condotto Con L'Adult Attachment Interview. [Intergenerational Transmission of the Trauma of Sho?: A Study Conducted by the Adult Attachment Interview.]. Ricerca in Psicoterapia, 7(1), 67-83. Costa, P. T. J., & McCrae, R. R. (1991). Professional manual: Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PR-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Davila, J., Dorli, B., & Hammen, C. (1997). Why does Attachment Style Change? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(4), 826(813). den Velde, W. O., Hovens, J. E., Bramsen, I., McFarlane, A. C., Aarts, P. G. H., Falger, P. R. J., et al. (2000). A cross-national study of posttraumatic stress disorder in Dutch-Australian immigrants. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34(6), 919-928. Depuiset, M. A., & Butera, F. (2005). On the relevance of studying patriotism and normative conflict in changing attitudes towards immigrants. Psicolog?a Pol?tica, No 30, 71-84. Doherty, N. A., & Feeney, J. A. (2004). The composition of attachment networks throughout the adult years. Personal Relationships, 11(4), 469-488. Fonagy, P., Steele, M., Steele, H., Higgitt, A., & et al. (1994). The Emanuel Miller Memorial Lecture 1992: The theory and

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practice of resilience. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines, 35(2), 231-257. Fraley, R. C., Waller, N. G., & Brennan, K. A. (2000). An itemresponse theory analysis of self-report measures of adult attachment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(2), 350-365. George, C., & West, M. L. (2003). The Adult Attachment Projective: Measuring individual differences in attachment security using projective methodology. In M. Hilsenroth & D. Segal (Eds.), Objective and projective assessment of personality and psychopathology (Vol. 2. Personality Asessment. In M. Hersen (Ed.-in-Chief), Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment). New York: John Wiley & Sons. George, C., West, M. L., & Pettem, O. (1999). The Adult Attachment Projective. Disorganization of adult attachment at the level of representation. In J. Solomon & C. George (Eds.), Attachment disorganization. New York: The Guilford Press. Hart, J., Shaver, P. R., & Goldenberg, J. L. (2005). Attachment, SelfEsteem, Worldviews, and Terror Management: Evidence for a Tripartite Security System. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(6), 999-1013. Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1990). Love and work: An attachmenttheoretical perspective. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 59(2), 270-280. Hofmeijer, D. H. (1970). [Enticing distances.]. Mens en Onderneming, . 24(3), 176-193. Hofstra, J., van Oudenhoven, J. P., & Buunk, B. P. (2005). Attachment styles and majority members' attitudes towards adaptation strategies of immigrants. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(5), 601-619. Kerr, S. L., Melley, A. M., Travea, L., & Pole, M. (2003). The Relationship of Emotional Expression and Experience to Adult Attachment Style. Individual Differences Research, 1(2), 108123. Klein Velderman, M., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Juffer, F., & van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (2006). Effects of Attachment-Based Interventions on Maternal Sensitivity and Infant Attachment: Differential Susceptibility of Highly Reactive Infants. Journal of Family Psychology, 20(2), 266-274.

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Kraus, J. (1969). Some social factors and the rates of psychiatric hospital admissions of immigrants in New South Wales. Medical Journal of Australia, 2(1), 17-19. Larson, J. H., & Wilson, S. M. (1998). Family of origin influences on young adult career decision problems: A test of Bowenian Theory., American Journal of Family Therapy (Vol. 26, pp. 39-53). United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, United Kingdom, http:\\www.tandf.co.uk. Lyons-Ruth, K., Yellin, C., Melnick, S., & Atwood, G. (2003). Childhood experiences of trauma and loss have different relations to maternal unresolved and Hostile-Helpless states of mind on the AAI. Attachment & Human Development, 5(4), 330-352. Macfie, J., McElwain, N. L., Houts, R. M., & Cox, M. J. (2005). Intergenerational transmission of role reversal between parent and child: Dyadic and family systems internal working models. Attachment & Human Development, 7(1), 51-65. Magai, C. (1999). Affect, imagery and attachment. Working models of interpersonal affect and the socialization of emotion. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment (pp. 78-802). New York: Guilford. Main, M., & Hesse, E. (1990). Parents' unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status: Is frightened and/or frightening parental behavior the linking mechanism? In M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention. (pp. 161-182). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Mikulincer, M., Florian, V., & Weller, A. (1993). Attachment styles, coping strategies, and posttraumatic psychological distress: The impact of the Gulf War in Israel. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 64(5), 817-826. Mischel, W. (1990). Personality dispositions revisited and revised: A view after three decades. In L. A. Pervin (Ed.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research. New York: Guilford Press. Modarres, A., & Aleman, E. (2003, retrieved 3/22/05). State of Immigration. from www.patbrowninstitute.org Pereg, D., & Mikulincer, M. (2004). Attachment style and the regulation of negative affect: Exploring individual differences in mood congruency effects on memory and judgment. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 30(1), 67-80.

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Putnin, A. L., & Taft, R. (1976). The Australianism scale re-visited: A review of recent data. Australian Psychologist, 11(2), 147-151. Ringel, S. (2005). Through The Camera's Eye: The Intergenerational Transmission of Loss. Clinical Social Work Journal, 33(4), 433-443. Sampson, J. P. J., Peterson, G. W., Lenz, J. G., Reardon, R. C., & Saunders, D. E. (1994). Career Thoughts Inventory. Lutz, Fl.: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Schuengel, C., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., & Blom, M. (1998). Frightening maternal behaviour, unresolved loss, and disorganized infant attachment: A pilot-study. Journal of Reproductive & Infant Psychology, 16(4), 277-283. Shaver, P. R., Schachner, D. A., & Mikulincer, M. (2005). Attachment Style, Excessive Reassurance Seeking, Relationship Processes, and Depression. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 31(3), 343-359. Skowron, E. A., & Dendy, A. K. (2004). Differentiation of self and attachment in adulthood: Relational correlates of effortful control. Contemporary Family Therapy, 26(3), 337-357. Taft, R. (1961). The assimilation of Dutch male immigrants in a Western Australian community. Human Relations, 14(3), 265281. van Ecke, Y. (in press-a). Attachment style and career thoughts dysfunction: Implications for career counseling. Career Development Quarterly. van Ecke, Y. (in press-b). Unresolved attachment among immigrants: an examination of unresolved attachment among Western European immigrants using the Adult Attachment Projective. The Journal of Genetic Psychology. van Ecke, Y., Chope, R., & Emmelkamp, P. (2005). Attachment and immigrants. Social Behavior and Personality, 33(7), 657-674. van Ecke, Y., Chope, R., & Emmelkamp, P. (2006). Bowlby and Bowen: Attachment theory and family therapy. Counseling and Clinical Psychology Journal, 3(2), 81-108. Van Oudenhoven, J. P., & Hofstra, J. (2006). Personal reactions to 'strange' situations: Attachment styles and acculturation attitudes of immigrants and majority members. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 30(6), 783-798. van Vianen, A. E. M., Feij, J. A., Krausz, M., & Taris, R. (2003). Personality Factors and Adult Attachment Affecting Job

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Mobility. International Journal of Selection & Assessment, 11(4), 253-264. Vogel, D. L., & Wei, M. (2005). Adult Attachment and Help-Seeking Intent: The Mediating Roles of Psychological Distress and Perceived Social Support. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(3), 347-357. Wentholt, R. (1956). Personality readjustment among immigrants; a theoretical model. Victoria University College Publications in Psychology, No. 7, 54. Zegers, M. A. M., Schuengel, C., van Ijzendoorn, M. H., & Janssens, J. M. A. M. (2006). Attachment Representations of Institutionalized Adolescents and Their Professional Caregivers: Predicting the Development of Therapeutic Relationships. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(3), 325-334.

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CHAPTER 8

SAMENVATTING/DUTCH SUMMARY

De Britse psychiater John Bowlby onderscheidde drie soorten representaties, oftewel hechtingsstatussen: veilig, onveilig afwijzend, en onveilig bezorgd. Later onderzoek bracht een vierde hechtingstatus aan het licht, onopgeloste hechting, die duidde op een traumatische ervaring zoals verlies van de verzorger, zich bedreigd voelen door gedrag van de verzorger die zelf te maken had met onopgelost verlies van een hechtingsfiguur, of gebrekkige verzorging door misbruik. Bowlby beschouwde onopgeloste hechting als een fase in het verwerken van verlies. Het eerste instrument om de hechtingsstatus van volwassenen te meten, de Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) werd ontwikkeld in 1984, gevolgd door de Adult Attachment Projective (AAP). Beide instrumenten meten de mentale houding met betrekking tot hechting, en gebruiken de termen veilig versus onveilig, en drie soorten onveilige hechting: afwijzend, bezorgd en onopgeloste hechting. Daarnaast werden vragenlijsten ontwikkeld voor het meten van hechtingsstijl.. Een voorbeeld daarvan is de Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R), welke angst en afwijzingstendensen ten opzichte van hechtingsspanning meet. Lage angst en afwijzingstendensen duiden op veilige hechting. Onopgeloste hechting wordt niet gemeten met de ECR-R. Onderzoek met volwassenen met de AAI en de AAP laat zien dat hechtingsstatus een invloed heeft op hoe gemakkelijk iemand met relaties omgaat : met vertrouwen en flexibiliteit (veilige hechting), met afwijzing, neerkijken op anderen (afwijzenden hechting), met overbezorgdheid en besluiteloosheid (bezorgde hechting), of met extreme drang naar controle afgewisseld met emotionele/mentale uitbarstingen (onopgeloste hechting). Afwijzende hechtingstijl is gerelateerd aan overmatige aandacht schenken aan werk, en een overmatige nadruk op succes en het behalen van eer. Bezorgde hechting, echter, is gerelateerd aan een langdurige vorm van depressie: dysthymie. Onopgeloste hechting heeft een duidelijkere relatie met

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psychopathologie dan de andere vormen van onveilige en veilige hechting. Onderzoek met betrekking tot immigranten vanuit culturele en/of sociale psychologie richt zich voornamelijk op het contact tussen de allochtone and autochtone groepen en steunt het idee van acculturatie. Onderzoek vanuit de klinische psychologie heeft zich voornamelijk gericht op depressie, angst, of relatie problemen gerelateerd aan de immigratie

Vraagstellingen en Resultaten in dit Proefschrift Sinds emigranten allen een verlies delen, n.l. dat van het moederland, van familie en vaak ook van cultuur en taal, richt het onderzoek in dit proefschrift zich op immigranten en hechting. De deelnemers aan deze studies waren 75 Nederlandse en Belgische immigranten in Californie, Verenigde Staten. Daarnaast vormden 30 participanten die geboren en getogen waren in de buurt van San Francisco en daar nog steeds woonden de controle groep. In hoofdstuk twee wordt een literatuuroverzicht gegeven van immigratie in de context van hechtingstheorie. Verschillende studies concluderen dat aanpassingsstress of acculturatie stress een van de belangrijkste factoren is voor depressie onder immigranten. Deze stress kan gezien worden als het verlies van de normale gang van zaken, geluiden en gezichten, die gepaard gaat met een gevoel dat men niet precies weet hoe zich aan te passen, hoe erbij te horen om het gevoel te hebben gesteund te worden. Van een hechtingstheorie perspectief kan acculturatie stress niet alleen gezien worden als een scheiding die gepaard gaat met hechtingsgedrag zoals toenadering zoeken, maar ook als een verlies van hechtingsrelaties gevolgd door protest en wanhoop. Immigranten kampen met verminderde functionaliteit van familie, een gevoel van isolatie, en meerdere gecompliceerde verliezen naarmate de tijd vertstrijkt. Deze faktoren zijn ook risicos voor onveilige hechting. Als men daarbij nog de lasten draagt van eerder ervaren trauma (zoals politieke onderdrukking, oorlog, hongersnood) en huidige lasten zoals taal problemen is het mogelijk dat de acctulturatie stress het effekt heeft van een hechtingstrauma.

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De eerste empirische studie (hoofdstuk drie) onderzocht of immigranten meer gekenmerkt werden door onveilige hechting dan niet-immigranten. De resultaten bevestigden de hypothese dat de immigranten groep gekenmerkt werd door een statistische significante, hogere proportie van onopgeloste hechting. Deze onopgeloste hechting was echter niet gerelateerd aan de lengte van tijd dat men in het land van immigratie woonde. Hechting bleek ook niet samen te hangen met het al dan niet hebben van een partner. De studie kon echter niet laten zien of mogelijk de immigranten groep al voor emigratie een grotere proportie van onopgeloste hechting had. De volgende studie (hoofdstuk vier) onderzocht de bevinding m.b.t.onopgeloste hechting in meer detail. Hiervoor werden reacties op de tekeningen van de AAP test geanalyseerd(www.attachmentprojective.com). De bevindingen waren dat onopgeloste hechting gerelateerd was aan zowel een grotere gevoeligheid voor hechtingsgevaar, alsook een geringere capaciteit om hechtingsgevaar op te lossen. Statistische analyses toonden aan dat dit niet samenhing met immigrant of niet-immigrant zijn, maar eerder met het ontwikkeld hebben van een onopgeloste hechtingsstatus. Verdere exploratie richtte zich op de aard van het hechtingsgevaar en het verschil tussen immigranten en autochtonen. Analyse van het aantal gevaarsignaleringen en opgeloste signalen liet vervolgens zien dat de immigranten groep het minst in staat was hechtingsgevaar op te lossen bij het zien van tekeningen die verlies, afscheid en isolatie uitbeeldden. Daartegenover hadden de niet-immigrantende grootste moeilijkheden bij het oplossen van hechtingsgevaar in tekeningen die ziekte en ambulances uitbeeldden. Deze bevindingen duiden op de mogelijkheid dat onopgeloste hechting in andere (traumatische) ervaringen zijn oorsprong heeft voor de groep immigranten dan voor de groep autochtonen. Hoofdstuk vijf onderzoekt in hoeverre hechtingstatus en hechtingsstijl onder de immigranten groep gerelateerd is aan persoonlijkheidsfacetten. In deze studie bleek geen verband te zijn tussen hechtingsstatus zoals gemeten met de AAP en persoonlijkheidsaspecten, zoals gemeten met de NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI): . Neurotisme, Extraversie, Openess, Conscientiousness en Agreeableness Naast hechtingsstatus werd ook hechtingsstijl getoetst met de ECR-R. . Voor hechtingsstijl werd wel een verband gevonden, in de zin dat veilige hechtingsstijl (lage

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hechtingsangst en hechtingsafwijzing) samenhing met Conscientiousness, terwijl hoge hechtingsangst significant samenhing met Neurotisme. In tegenstelling tot eerder onderzoek, waar gevonden werd dat mensen die willen emigreren bepaalde persoonlijkheidsaspecten gemeen hebben, zoals ambitie, en prestatiedrang, en het beschouwen van werk als belangrijker dan familie, bleek in de huidige studie de immigranten groep niet te verschillen van de autochtone groepen waar onderzoek naar de relatie tussen hechtingsstijl en persoonlijkheid op gebaseerd is. Hoewel de immigrantengroep gekenmerkt wordt door onopgeloste hechting, is deze qua persoonlijkheid en hechtingsstijl niet te onderscheiden van andere groepen. Hoofdstuk zes beschrijft een studie naar hechtingsstijl van immigranten in de context van gedachten over werk en beroep. Voor het meten van hechtingsstijl werd gebruik gemaakt van de Experiences in Close Relationship Revised (ECR-R) schaal, voor het meten van gedachten m.b.t. werk en beroep van de Career Thoughts Inventory. De studie beschreven in hoofdstuk drie had geen relatie gevonden tussen reden voor immigratie (werk, studie, tourisme, liefde, of noodzaak) en hechtingsstatus. In de huidige studie werd gekeken naar het mogelijke verband tussen hechtingsstijl en dysfunctionele gedachten over werk. De bevindingen waren dat inderdaad een onveilige hechting, zowel angst als afwijzing, significant gerelateerd zijn aan dysfunctionele gedachten over werk en beroep . Afwijzende hechtingsstijl bleek ook samen te hangen met moeilijkheden in het nemen van beslissingen, en conflict tussen werk en prive leven.

Conclusies en Suggesties voor verder Onderzoek Immigranten worden vaker gekenmerkt door onopgeloste hechting maar zijn niet te onderscheiden van diegenen die niet emigreren wat betreft persoonlijkheidstrekken, hechtingsstijl of gedachten over werk. Hechtingstrauma schijnt voor immigranten vaker gerelateerd te zijn aan aan ervaring m.b.t. verlies, afscheid en isolatie. Enige suggesties voor verder onderzoek werden besproken. Ten eerste, omdat de groep in deze studies goed geïntegreerd is in de maatschappij, zou het zinig kunnen zijn verder onderzoek te richten op die immigranten die door taal, ras, godsdienst of cultuur duidelijk verschillen van de gastcultuur, hetgeen verdere

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hechtingsmoeilijkheden kan veroorzaken door verhoogde isolatie en discriminatie. Daarnaast zou onderzoek zich kunnen richten op de tweede generatie immigranten. Eerder onderzoek heeft laten zien dat de hechtingsstatus van de ouder de hechting van het kind voorspelt. Als onder de tweede generatie immigranten een groot aantal personen gekenmerkt wordt door onopgeloste hechting, dan zou interventie zich kunnen richten op het coachen van de ouders, wat de hechtingsveiligheid van het kind van immigranten positief zou kunnen beïnvloeden. Stress bij ouders, samenhangend met immigratie, kan als gevolg hebben dat zij minder beschikbaar zijn voor hun kinderen, waardoor de kinderen meer kans lopen op onveilige hechting. Kinderen met onveilige, en op zijn ergst, onopgeloste hechting, hebben minder goede sociale contacten, vriendschappen, en meer psychologische problemen met agressie. Tot slot, naast onderzoek dat zich richt op minder bevoordeelde immigranten groepen ende tweede generatie zou toekomstig onderzoek zich ook kunnen richten opverschillen in hechting tussenimmigranten uit hetzelfde moederland, die zich in verschillende landen vestigen en factoren, die met eventuele verschillen samenhangen.

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DANKWOORD/ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dit proefschrift over hechting, emotionele banden, is een concreet voorbeeld van de stelling van John Bowlby, ontwerper van hechtingstheorie. Hij stelt dat één van de redenen dat wij, mensen, zo’n suksesvolle ontwikkeling meegemaakt hebben in de evolutie is het feit dat mensen om elkaar geven en samenwerken. Als ik met het research in dit proefschrift iets bijgedragen heb, is dit alleen door héel veel anderen mogelijk gemaakt. I want to mention some of the individuals who have made this posible. I especially thank professors Paul M.G. Emmelkamp and Robert C. Chope for their vital support with this research over the past seven years. I am privileged to have been mentored by two intellectually gifted and emotionally caring academicians and researchers, and I look forward to our continued collaboration. Ik ben Paul Emmelkamp dankbaar dat hij me aannam als promovenda en vertrouwen had in mijn capaciteiten. I am grateful to Robert Chope for helping me to clarify my thinking about the topics of the research and for the many meetings to analyze and revise as the process continued. I want to thank Carol George who, with Malcom West, trained me in the use of the Adult Attachment Projective and whose expert analysis of the AAP material was invaluable to the first two research articles. I want to thank Lorna Thompson for practical editorial support preparing articles for publication and Stephen Hearn for technical expertise with computerized statistical software application. I appreciate that the board members of The Netherlands America University League of Northern California, the Belgian Club of Northern California, and the East Bay Holland Club helped to recruit study participants from among their members. The Consulate of Netherlands in San Mateo, California wrote an open letter to the Dutch Community in California supporting this research project, and Joyce Wilke helped with mailing hundreds of letters. I want to thank the non-immigrant research participants who volunteered from banks, offices, and from among employees of the City and County of San Francisco, as well as community organizations in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Marty Patton-Volz helped recruit volunteers in the Santa Rosa area. I specifically also want to thank the immigrants who have volunteered as participants in this research for some of the

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most meaningful times I have spent with fellow immigrants. Ik ben mijn familie, en vrienden dankbaar voor hun steun en interesse in dit research projekt. Ik ben mijn ouders, Clemence van Pottelberghe en Piet van Ecke, dankbaar dat ze me geleerd hebben zowel te voelen als denken, en te dromen zowel als te doen. Ik weet dat ze trots geweest zouden zijn op dit werk. Writing this dissertation has demanded more persistence and faith than I thought I had. Part of the reason I completed the project is that my husband, Wesley Patton, had unwavering confidence in me and in this project, which restored my own many times and for that I am deeply grateful.

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Attachment and Immigrants : Emotional Security Among Dutch and Belgian Immigrants in California, U.S.A Ecke, Yolanda Herda Petrus van. Amsterdam University Press 9056294806 9789056294809 9789048504749 English Dutch--California, Belgians--California, Dutch Americans-California, Belgian Americans--California, Immigrants--Social conditions.--California , gtt--Gehechtheid, gtt--Immigranten, gtt--Nederlanders, gtt--Belgen, gtt--Acculturatie, gtt-Californië. 2007 JV6013.E25 2007eb 325.249209794 Dutch--California, Belgians--California, Dutch Americans-California, Belgian Americans--California, Immigrants--Social conditions.--California , gtt--Gehechtheid, gtt--Immigranten, gtt--Nederlanders, gtt--Belgen, gtt--Acculturatie, gtt-Californië.

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