The Contributions of Attachment Styles, Irrational Beliefs and Psychological Symptoms to the Prediction of Cognitive Flexibility.

AbstractIn this research, the contributions of styles of attachment, irrational beliefs and psychological symptoms to the prediction of cognitive flexibility were analysed. The sample consists of 436 students studying in various departments and faculties in Mersin University. The Cognitive Flexibility Scale, Relationships Scale, Irrational Beliefs Scale and Short Symptom Inventory were applied. Multiple-regression analysis and stepwise regression analysis were used to analyse the data. According to the results of the research, it was found out that all of the independent variables explained approximately 41% per cent of the cognitive flexibility; according to the stepwise regression analysis, it was found out that the students' cognitive flexibility was predicted most by the variables of irrational beliefs, obsessive attachment and anxiety.Key WordsCognitive Flexibility, Styles of Attachment, Irrational Beliefs, Psychological Symptoms.The common emphasis of the research in which the psychological variables are analysed is the fact that the technological developments and the changes resulting from these developments both increase the quality of life and require the adaptability process. As Freud (1999) indicates, this dialectical process is one of the indicators of uneasy civilizations. It can be said that the people who can adjust and whose processes of intellectual adjustment are fast are healthier.The cognitive flexibility which is defined as adjusting to specific situations, the ability to pass from one idea to another idea or the capacity to consider various problems in terms of multi-dimensions (Stevens, 2009) means the fact that the individual is aware of his options, he can adjust to new situations and he feels competent for the new situations (Bilgin, 2009b; Martin, Anderson, & Thweatt, 1998; Martin & Rubin, 1995). The people whose cognitive flexibility is at satisfactory level can deal with new and difficult situations; they can produce alternative opinion and ideas (Altunkol, 2011; Stahl & Pry, 2005). The cognitive flexibility, which has positive effects on the potential for coping with internal and external stressors and positive effect on the adults' welfare in the family interaction environment (Koesten, Schrodt, & Ford, 2009) has a key role on the individuals' forming competency belief related to their developing healthy life style (Martin et al., 1998). The children who are not flexible enough repeat the same mistakes by behaving rigidly and have difficulties in adjusting to new situations (Anderson, 2002). The cognitive flexibility, which hinders children' automatic responses and which is seen as the capacity to manage the current situation independently (Ciairano, Bonino, & Miceli, 2006) is seen as the subdimension of a wider structure which is neuropsychologically called as executive function. Other subcategories of executive functions are intuition, choosing an aim, planning, restricting, self-organization, working memory, focusing, attention and feedback (Anderson; 2002; Blair, Zelazo, & Greenberg, 2005; Hughes, 2002; Rennie, Bull, & Diamond, 2004; Stevens, 2009). The executive functions start to develop from the first age. These developments continue developing during childhood and adolescence and they reduce in adulthood (Anderson, 2002; Stahl & Pry, 2005). The children and the old people have lower performance compared to young adults (Zelazo, Craik, & Booth, 2004). In this context, it can be said that the communication manners which the individuals form at the beginning of their lives influence executive functions, cognitive flexibility and psychological symptoms. The attachment types which start to develop at infanthood and whose bases depend on the mental structures related to themselves and others influence psychological health. According to Spann et al. (2012), the individuals whose executive functions are exposed to physical exploitation and negligence are influenced negatively and their cognitive flexibility declines. …