Trent Relationship Scales Questionnaire, T-RSQ

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The model of the self and the model of the other as conceptualized by Bowlby can be combined to describe prototypic forms of adult attachment. If a person's abstract image of the self is dichotomized as positive or negative (the self as worthy of love and support or not) and if the person's abstracted image of the other is also dichotomized as positive or negative (other people are seen as trustworthy and available vs. unreliable and rejecting), then four combinations can be conceptualized. Figure shows the four attachment patterns that are derived from a combination of the two dimensions. Each cell represents a theoretical ideal, or prototype, that different people might approximate to different degrees.

• Cell I (Secure) indicates a sense of worthiness (lovability) plus an expectation that other people are generally accepting and responsive. This cell corresponds conceptually to categories that investigators call securely attached.

• Cell II (Preoccupued) indicates a sense of unworthiness (unlovability) combined with a positive evaluation of others. This combination of characteristics would lead the person to strive for self-acceptance by gaining the acceptance of valued others.

• Cell III (Fearful) indicates a sense of unworthiness (unlovability) combined with an expectation that others will be negatively disposed (untrustworthy and rejecting). By avoiding close involvement with others, this style enables people to protect themselves against anticipated rejection by others.

• Cell IV (Dismissing) indicates a sense of love-worthiness combined with a negative disposition toward other people. Such people protect themselves against disappointment by avoiding close relationships and maintaining a sense of independence and invulnerability. This style corresponds conceptually to the detached or dismissing of attachment attitude.

Dependency can vary from low (a positive self-regard is established internally and does not require external validation) to high (positive self-regard can only be maintained by others' ongoing acceptance). Avoidance of intimacy reflects the degree to which people avoid close contact with others as a result of their expectations of aversive consequences. The dismissing and fearful styles are alike in that both reflect the avoidance of intimacy; they differ, however, in the person's need for others' acceptance to maintain a positive self-regard. Similarly, the preoccupied and fearful groups are alike in that both exhibit strong dependency on others to maintain a positive self-regard, but they differ in their readiness to become involved in close relationships. Whereas the preoccupied cell implies a reaching out to others in an attempt to fulfill dependency needs, the fearful cell implies an avoidance of closeness to minimize eventual disappointment