Attachment Security and Marital Satisfaction: The Role of Positive Perceptions and Social Support

Abstract

The authors examined how positive perceptions about partners’ attachment security predicted supportive behavior and satisfaction in newlywed marriage. The authors tested a mediation model in which positive perceptions were associated with adaptive support behavior, which in turn predicted increases in marital satisfaction. The self-report measures of attachment security, perceptions of partner’s attachment security, and marital satisfaction within 6 months of marriage and again 1 year later were completed by 172 couples. Social support behavior was assessed by videotaped interactions at the initial session. Structural equation models indicated that positive perceptions served a relationship-enhancing function that was enacted, in part, through couples’ supportive interactions.