The experiences in close relationships—Relationship Structures Questionnaire: A method for assessing attachment orientations across relationships.

TLDR

Adult attachment research has traditionally treated working models as trait‑like, yet recent studies indicate that individuals develop relationship‑specific attachment representations. The study introduces the Relationship Structures questionnaire (ECR‑RS) to assess attachment dimensions across multiple relational contexts. The authors developed the ECR‑RS, a questionnaire that captures attachment dimensions in various relational contexts. ECR‑RS scores are reliable and structurally comparable to other measures, and relationship‑specific attachment scores better predict intra‑ and interpersonal outcomes than broader measures, whereas broader scores better predict personality traits, with differentiation in working models unrelated to psychological outcomes beyond mean security levels.

Abstract

Most research on adult attachment is based on the assumption that working models are relatively general and trait-like. Recent research, however, suggests that people develop attachment representations that are relationship-specific, leading people to hold distinct working models in different relationships. The authors report a measure, the Relationship Structures questionnaire of the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-RS; R. C. Fraley, N. G. Waller, & K. A. Brennan, 2000), that is designed to assess attachment dimensions in multiple contexts. Based on a sample of over 21,000 individuals studied online, it is shown that ECR-RS scores are reliable and have a structure similar to those produced by other measures. In Study 2 (N = 388), it is shown that relationship-specific measures of attachment generally predict intra- and interpersonal outcomes better than broader attachment measures but that broader measures predict personality traits better than relationship-specific measures. Moreover, it is demonstrated that differentiation in working models is not related to psychological outcomes independently of mean levels of security.