The paper aims at analyzing the impact of attachment style on the level of intimacy experienced in friendship (Grabill & Kerns, 2000). For this reason, the characteristics explaining intimacy such as responsiveness, self disclosure and the feeling of being valued and cared in a relationship were measured.
Since attachment style as put forward by the theory proposed by John Bowlby (1979), classifies all individuals as either being securely or insecurely attached, this study was directed to further expand the earlier researched topic of attachment. Therefore, in order to assess the impact of individual attachment style on intimacy in friendship, it was expected that as compared to the insecurely attached individuals, people with a secure attachment style would show more responsiveness to their partner’s disclosure and would be willing to disclose more along with reporting higher feelings of being valued and understood. The study also hypothesized that as compared to males, females would score high on the intimacy experienced in friendship (Grabill & Kerns, 2000).
Since a hypothesis is an essential part of a research as it directs the study towards a resolution, it can be classified as the null and the directional hypothesis. While null hypothesis states the statistically insignificant relationship between the variables, a directional hypothesis clarifies the association between the determinants under observation by making it easier to predict the positive/negative relationship between them. In this regard, the article titled ‘Attachment style and intimacy in friendship’ (Grabill & Kerns, 2000), tested the directional hypothesis through the method of correlation and ANOVA. The (positive) directional hypothesis is mentioned below:
- Ha1: As compared to the insecure individuals, securely attached would disclose more, show more responsiveness to the disclosure put forward by others, and would report higher feelings of being understood in a relationship.
Although not mentioned, the null hypothesis in this case would be:
- Ho1: As compared to the insecure individuals, securely attached would not show more disclosure, responsiveness to the disclosure by others and would not report higher feelings of being understood in a relationship (Grabill & Kerns, 2000).
Similarly, another example of a directional hypothesis of this study which predicts the relationship between variables is as follows:
- Ha2: As compared to the males, females would report higher level of intimacy in friendship (Grabill & Kerns, 2000).
Although not clearly stated, the null hypothesis would be:
- Ho2: As compared to the males, females would not report higher level of intimacy in friendship OR There is no difference in the level of intimacy in friendship experienced by males and females.
The results of the study showed that as hypothesized, secure individuals showed more intimacy as compared to the insecurely attached individuals as they scored high on the three characteristics defining intimacy. However, regardless of the expectation made earlier, the results of the research concluded that gender did not influence the level of intimacy in friends
REFERENCES
Bowlby, J. (1979). The making and breaking of affectional bonds. London: Tavistock Publications Limited.
Grabill, C. M., & Kerns, K. A. (2000). Attachment style and intimacy in friendship. Personal Relationships, 7, 363-378.
