Exploring the Associations between Adult Attachment Security and Self-actualization and Self-transcendence

Abstract

There are parallels between attachment needs (Bowlby, 1969/1982) and the love- and esteem-needs Maslow (1943) identified in his theory of self-actualization, which later included the other-oriented concept of self-transcendence (Koltko-Rivera, 2006). Our aim was to integrate these two theories of personality. A survey of undergraduates (N = 130) showed that attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety predicted low levels of self-actualization and actualization of potential. Attachment avoidance predicted low self-transcendence. Low self-liking partially mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and low self-actualization, and low self-liking and self-competence partially mediated the relationship between attachment avoidance and low self-actualization. Furthermore, self-competence mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and actualization of potential. Theoretical implications are discussed.