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The relationship between young people's life values in russia and their attachment styles to parents and romantic partners
The contemporary world, characterized by dramatic events, exacerbates the problem of life values, particularly among the younger generation. Values instilled during early childhood determine an individual's attitude toward the world, others, and oneself; subsequent life circumstances facilitate a reevaluation of these values. Depending on their perception of the importance and achievability of various values, individuals develop their interactions with others. The concept of attachment also reflects perceptions of the significance and approachability of fundamental human needs – security and affiliation. We believe that examining the young people’s values in relation to their attachment styles will help clarify the mechanisms underlying the development of their value systems and the strategies used to achieve them.
The study involved 124 people aged 18 to 35 years, all of whom had been in romantic relationships lasting more than one year at the time of the study.
The main research methods: «The Values Importance – Approachability Ratio…» by E.Fantalova, ECR by K. Brennan et all, MIMARA by K. Brennan & F. Shaver, and the Attachment to Parents Scale of IPPA by G. Armsden & M. Greenberg.
Findings revealed that the majority of young people in contemporary Russia lack harmony in their value sphere, 70% demonstrated a high or moderate discrepancy between their evaluations of the importance and achievability of different life values. The most highly prioritized values among young people are love, a happy family life, and health. However, value conflicts are observed in the domains of family and health: while individuals aspire to build happy family relationships and maintain psychological and physical health, they currently consider these goalsdifficult to achieve.
Values are more closely associated with adult attachment styles than with parental attachment. Secure attachment correlates with the realization of core values such as cognition, family and love. For individuals with anxious attachment, material values tend to be more important, whereas those with avoidant attachment, prioritize self-confidence and assign less significance to love. Disintegration within the value sphere is strongly associated with attachment.
Regression analysis indicate that while values are reliable predictors, they are not the primary determinants of overall adult attachment style. Anxious attachment is largely determined by relationships with parents, particularly the mother, whereas avoidant attachment is shaped by romantic relationships and values, as well as— to a lesser extent— relationships with the father.
These findings provide insights that can refine approaches to psychotherapeutic work with different attachment disorders in couples.