Influence of Personal Relationships on Perception of Idealized Romance: Impact of Attachment Figures and Romantic Figures on Romantic Beliefs in Adolescents in India

Abstract

Introduction: Research indicates that attachment figures and internal working models of attachment play a major role in the development of relationships. The present study aimed to assess whether self-perceived working models of attachment of adolescents with their mother, father, best friend and romantic partner influenced their romantic beliefs. The paper further explored which component of the internal working model and attachment figure contributed the most in development of idealized perceptions of love during adolescence. Method: The attachment framework used (Bartholomew, 1990) includes two components: a model of self and a model of other for each attachment figure. The sample consisted of 112 adolescents (80 female, 32 male) from India between the age of 13 to 18 years. The tools used for data collected included the Romantic Beliefs Scale (Sprecher and Metts, 1989) and the Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew and Horowitz, 1991). Data was analyzed through multiple hierarchical and stepwise regression. Results and conclusion: The results reflected that the model of other as a whole significantly predicted romantic beliefs and the model of other- best friend, model of other- romantic partner and the model of other- mother were significant predictors. These findings were discussed in the context of a collectivist society like India. The study also found that neither biological sex nor romantic experience were significant in the development of romantic beliefs.