The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating effects of basic psychological needs satisfaction and experiential avoidance on relations between adult attachment and social unrest. For that purpose, a survey was taken with 361 college stud...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating effects of basic psychological needs satisfaction and experiential avoidance on relations between adult attachment and social unrest. For that purpose, a survey was taken with 361 college students in Seoul, Gyeonggi, Chungnam, and Busan. Collected data were analyzed with the structural equation model. As a result, the measuring model turned out to fit the data. The research model that set a path among all the variables showed better fitness than the alternative model. The research findings were as follows: first, adult attachment had significant correlations with basic psychological needs satisfaction, experiential avoidance, and social unrest. Attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance, two domains of adult attachment, had significant negative correlations with basic psychological needs satisfaction and significant positive correlations with experiential avoidance and social unrest. Second, as for the effects of adult attachment on social unrest, attachment anxiety had no direct effects on social unrest, but attachment avoidance had direct effects on it. Third, basic psychological needs satisfaction had no significant mediating effects on relations between adult attachment and social unrest. Fourth, experiential avoidance had significant mediating effects on relations between adult attachment and social unrest. Specifically, it had complete mediating effects on relations between attachment anxiety and social unrest and partial mediating effects on relations between attachment avoidance and social unrest. Fifth, basic psychological needs satisfaction and experiential avoidance had significant dual mediating effects on relations between adult attachment and social unrest. Based on those findings, the study discussed their implications for counseling practice and suggestions for follow-up study.
Keywords: adult attachment, basic psychological needs satisfaction, experiential avoidance, social anxiety