Attachment anxiety and avoidance and perceptions of group climate: an actor-partner interdependence analysis

There is a lack of research examining group members' attachment styles and group climate perceptions in the context of the attachment styles and group climate perceptions of the other group members. In the current study, the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) was used to examine the relationships among (a) a group member's attachment pattern, (b) the aggregated attachment patterns of the other group members, (c) a group member's perceptions of the group's climate, and (d) the aggregated group climate perceptions of the other group members. One hundred ten Italian graduate students in six 10-session interpersonal growth groups were studied. Group members filled out the Attachment Style Questionnaire prior to group participation and the Group Climate Questionnaire after the 3rd group session. Contrary to the hypotheses, a group member's attachment pattern (anxiety and avoidance) was unrelated to her or his perceptions of group climate, and only group member attachment anxiety was positively related to the other group members' perceptions of conflict in the group's climate. There was, however, strong support for the hypotheses involving the aggregate attachment of the other group members and group climate perceptions. As hypothesized, aggregated perceptions of attachment anxiety and avoidance were positively related to a member's perception of group conflict and aggregated perceptions of attachment anxiety and avoidance were negatively related to a member's perception of group engagement. Both aggregated attachment anxiety and avoidance were related in the expected directions to aggregated perception of group climate. Finally, as hypothesized, a group member's perception of group climate was positively related to the aggregated climate perceptions of the other group members. The findings suggest that the APIM is a useful approach for examining group process variables in the group counseling context.