The relationship between family functioning and attachment styles on the social adjustment of male and female high school students in Bandar Abbas

Master's Thesis in the field: Psychology

Orientation: General

Abstract

The main purpose of the upcoming study is to examine the relationship between family functioning, attachment styles and social adjustment of high school girls in Bandar Abbas. The method used in this research is descriptive and correlational. The statistical population of this research includes all male and female high school students of Bandar Abbas city who were studying in the academic year 2011-2012. 376 people were selected as a statistical sample using Cochran's formula and stratified and multi-stage sampling methods. The tools used in this research are three standard questionnaires: Family Functioning Questionnaire (Fad), Simpson Attachment Styles Questionnaire (Sas) and Social Adaptation Questionnaire.  Analyzing the data showed that in general, subscales of performance (communication, emotional intercourse, role playing, general performance, emotional companionship and behavior control) can significantly predict the adjustment variable of students. In general, attachment styles (secure, ambivalent, insecure) can significantly predict students' adjustment, in general, the subscales of family functioning and attachment styles can predict students' adjustment. But when the regression equations were run separately between girls and boys, different results were obtained. In the girls' group, the subscales of communication, emotional education, role playing, general performance, emotional companionship and behavior control can predict the students' adjustment. In the boys' group, the subscales of family functioning including emotional education, role playing, general functioning, problem solving, emotional companionship, and behavior control can predict the students' adjustment. The attachment styles of all three styles (secure, ambivalent, insecure) in both groups of girls and boys are considered to be significant predictors for the adjustment of students separately for girls and boys. In the group of boys, the attachment styles of the subscales of family functioning were entered into the regression equation at once. It showed that general functioning, problem solving, emotional companionship and behavioral control and insecure attachment styles were predictors of social adjustment. When in the group of girls, the attachment styles of family functioning subscales were entered into the regression equation at once, it showed that the subscales of communication, emotional intercourse, general functioning, emotional companionship, and control in Family functioning and secure and ambivalent attachment styles were considered significant predictors for social adjustment. Keywords: social adjustment, family functioning, attachment styles, secondary school students. It is in such a situation that he must fulfill his needs and maintain his peace and balance, so man must adapt to the society. The dimensions of adaptation include: physical, psychological, social and moral adaptation, at the top of which is social adaptation. Social compatibility relies on the necessity that the needs and desires of the individual are coordinated and balanced with the interests and demands of the group in which they live, and to avoid as much as possible direct and severe collision with the interests and norms of the group (Mazhaheri et al., 2016). Having a healthy society requires having healthy people, and the higher the level of social adaptation of people, the higher the health of the society. The effort and effort of the education workers of the countries is for the all-round development of people, the foundation of which is children and teenagers (Mazhari et al., 2016). In addition to education professionals who play an important role in the growth and increase of social adaptation of individuals and especially students, the family and family functioning can also have a positive or negative effect on the social adaptation of students.

Family functions are criteria for a healthy family. These functions include: providing the economic needs of the family and meeting the financial, psychological and emotional needs of the members. It is clear that in our society the father first and the mother second provide the economic needs of the family. But meeting the financial, psychological and emotional needs of the members is the function of the whole family system.One of the next functions of the family is to support the members against the crises and pressures of life. While trying to achieve its functions, a healthy family is also flexible and easily adapts to changes (Hosseinizadeh Mahdavi, 2016). Another one of the factors of families and parents that can be effective in people's adaptation to changes and social adaptation is attachment style.

Attachment style is one of the effective factors in interpersonal interactions, which is formed as a result of a person's relationships with attachment figures (parents, peers, and spouse) and significantly affects a person's performance and relationships (Bowlby [1], 1969). Friendly relationships, communication patterns, and the feeling of satisfaction from the relationship are topics that are focused on interpersonal behaviors both from the social and psychological aspects and are the main topics that start from childhood (Kotler et al. [2], 2009).

This research is conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between family functioning and attachment styles with the social adjustment of male and female high school students in Bandar Abbas city.

1-2- Statement of the problem

One of the concepts that is formed from the heart of the family is the concept of attachment[3]. Saroff, Egeland, Carlson, and Collins [4] (2005) define attachment as follows: Attachment in general means a safe haven of comfort, security to explore and search, and a source of reassurance for the child when he is in distress. Balbi [5] conceptualized attachment in the form of a grand theory. According to Balbi (1973, 1969 and 1980; quoted by Goodwin [6], 2003), attachment relationships are always present and active throughout the life cycle, so attachment bonds are established in adult life and affect important activities of adulthood. Attachment in adolescence and adulthood is defined as two-way relationships in which being close to a special person is preferred and leads to achieving or maintaining a sense of safety. The results of many researches confirm the continuity of attachment style in the life cycle (Frailly [7], 2002, Maine, Kaplan and Cassidy [8], Naftel and Shaver [9], 2006).

Based on Aintworth's experiments (1987, Levy, Blatt and Shaver, 1998), parent-child relationships in three secure [10], avoidant [11] and anxious groups It was classified as ambivalent [12]. The children who were classified in the safe group, after being disturbed, quickly returned to their mother to calm down, they calmed down faster, and they resumed their activities faster and more fully. The children who were categorized in the two anxiety bias group had mixed reactions to the mother's presence, they did not get relief from the mother's presence and stopped their activities. Finally, the group with avoidant attachment ignored their mother, isolated and withdrawn, and started doing activities to get away from the distress (Roles and Simpson [13], 2004).

Belsky and Cassidy (1994, cited in Levy, Belt and Shaver, 1998) showed that the triad groups obtained in the laboratory environment by Aintworth (1978) in the environment There are also natural ones. Heenen, Sunderman and Sprenger[14] (2009) supported the idea that early relationships and experiences in the form of attachment affect later life experiences. They found that 90 percent of women's childhood memories correlated with their attachment style in adulthood, which predicted overall life satisfaction. These researchers found that individuals with insecure attachment styles reported high levels of parental rejection, low levels of family support, and low levels of family harmony and warmth, while individuals with secure attachment styles reported low levels of dissatisfaction with self, relationships, and life. Attachment styles are not only related to overall life satisfaction, but also to depression and anxiety. Freud was the first person to state that the child's emotional bond with the mother is the basis of all subsequent relationships (Burke [15], 2016). Following Balbi's line of research, Aintworth [16], Water and Wall [17] (1987) described three attachment styles: secure, anxious/ambivalent and anxious/avoidant. Hazan and Shiver [18] (1987) researched the role of these attachment styles in adult relationships. Attachment plays a significant role in helping children deal with social challenges and social adaptation. So that unhealthy attachment patterns during childhood cause behavioral problems and delinquent acts and social inconsistencies in adolescence. (Shaliza [19], 2001; Leibel [20], 2007; Cassady and Shaver [21], 2007).