Attachment and first sexual experience

This investigation examined the relationship between first sexual experience and attachment tendencies. Subjects' first sexual experiences were examined as a function of Bartholomew's four attachment categories: secure, fearful, preoccupied, and dismissing (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). It was hypothesized that if a person's first sexual experience was negative, then he or she would score significantly lower on the secure attachment subscale. Results indicated (a) that college females who had a fearful attachment style were more likely to report that their first sexual partner pressured them into sex, b) that college females who were more dismissing in their attachment style were less likely to have pressured their first sexual partner into sex, and c) that college students who were more fearful in their attachment style were more likely to report having been manipulated into sex by their first sexual partners. The discussion focuses on discrepancies within the study and suggests considerations for future studies. All humans are born with the ability to form social attachments with another person. Most infants form attachments with their primary caretakers. As they grow and mature, children begin to form models drawn from these early attachments upon which they later base relationships outside the immediate family. It has been shown that if a child's first attachment with the primary caregiver is negative, then later negative attachment styles will develop; whereas, if the attachment is positive, later positive attachment styles will result (Ainsworth, 1989.) Building upon Bowlby's (1982) definition of attachment as a form of "affectional bond," Ainsworth goes on to describe affectional bonds as "relatively long-enduring ties in which the partner is important as a unique individual and is interchangeable with none other" (Ainsworth, 1989). Both attachments and affectional bonds are very similar in that they can be characterized by a person as pleasurable, when the person is with another, and distressful, when the person is apart from the other. There is one distinct difference: in affectional bonds, becoming close with another person results in security and comfort, while in an attachment bond, achieving closeness can result in different attachment styles (Ainsworth). Four attachment style measures developed by Bartholomew (1991) were used as a basis in this study: "secure" is characterized by being comfortable with intimacy, "preoccupied" is characterized by being preoccupied with the attachment pattern due to a need to be accepted, "fearful" is characterized by avoidance of close involvement with others for fear of rejection, and "dismissing" is characterized by a dismissing attitude for fear of disappointment and needing a sense of independence. Though relatively stable, attachment bonds consist of small portions of a larger schema that are continually adjusting according to a person's perceptions of the people they meet and the life experiences (including their first sexual experience) they undergo (Bartholomew & Scharfe, in press). A major life experience that occurs at some point in the life span is a person's first sexual experience. Previous views of the self (self-esteem, etc.) strongly tend to determine the outcome of a person's first sexual experience. For instance, if a person has a strong, positive feeling about him or herself, then he/she will tend to choose an appropriate time -and partner for the sexual experience to occur--making it pleasant. However, if the person has low self-esteem, he or she may not have the tools to appropriately choose such circumstances--leaving negative feelings. Though a person's ability to make appropriate choices for a first sexual 38 MODERN PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES