Attachment Style in University Students and Its Importance for Their Professional Work

The purpose of the study was to explore the attachment styles in university students, future primary school teachers, preschool teachers and social pedagogues. The study sample consisted of 619 students from the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana. The Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) was used to analyze the attachment styles: secure, preoccupied, fearful and dismissing. Results showed a relatively high level of secure attachment style among primary education and social pedagogy students, whereas in preschool education students the level was moderate and significantly lower. Cluster analysis confirmed two configurations of attachment styles: predominantly secure (including 71.7% primary education, 66.1% social pedagogy and 59.3% preschool education students), and a cluster of predominantly fearful-preoccupied attachments. Detailed analysis of insecure attachment indicated that about one half of the students in each group reported at least one “risky” attachment style.