Attachment and Need for Certainty and Discovery: The Development of Information Orientations

Recent attempts have been made to link research in individual differences in information orientation and psychological attachment. To examine the relationship between information approach styles and attachment working models the present study employed the newly developed Need for Certainty and Discovery Scales and both dimensional and categorical self-report measures of attachment. Differential predictions were made for the relationship between the information approach dimensions (Need for Certainty and Need for Discovery) and attachment dimensions and styles. A cross-sectional survey of 704 older adolescents and young adults indicated only a weak relationship between attachment dimensions and information approach styles. Using the categorical attachment measures, Secure and Dismissing styles showed higher Need for Discovery compared to Fearful and Preoccupied styles. Dismissing styles were the only group to indicate a low Need for Certainty. The results indicate that high attachment anxiety may inhibit exploratory behaviour in adults.