Study on Relationship Between Sense of Control and Attachment Styles among Young Adults

Human beings are social animals. Each individual is a thread inseparably woven into a larger social tapestry. Guiding this integration is the attachment style, the internal framework that defines characteristic ways in which individuals emotionally bond and relate to others in enclosed relationships. Fundamental to this internal framework is perceived control, which refers to an individual’s belief about how much influence they have over their life circumstances and environment. Attachment styles can be used to understand how individuals connect with others, whereas perceived control helps us understand how individuals view themselves in relation to their surroundings and how they manage and regulate their environment. The present study examined the relationship between attachment styles, specifically avoidant and anxious attachment, and perceived control using Adult Attachment scale (AAS) and Sense of Control Scale (SOC). It aimed to investigate how levels of perceived control are associated with variations in attachment style. The study was conducted on a sample of (N = 60) adults between 18 to 30 years of age. The findings indicated that avoidant attachment style was not significantly related to perceived sense of control among adults. However, anxious attachment style showed a significant negative relationship with perceived control, suggesting that higher relational anxiety is associated with lower perceived agency.