Abstract
This study examined the relationship between present interpersonal frameworks and quality of past interpersonal relations, by analyzing the free responses of 97 female college students. Interpersonal frameworks were assessed by a questionnaire about students' Internal Working Models, and the quality of relationships with their mothers and friends was assessed based on students' descriptions of their life histories from the viewpoint of security/insecurity of attachment. It was first notable that current secure and avoidant frameworks were related to descriptions of past relationships with mothers and friends, whereas ambivalent frameworks were not. In addition, descriptions of the past showed both commonalities and differences in comparing students' relationships with mothers vs. friends. Finally, the link between present framework and past descriptions was stronger in the insecure group, and the avoidant group revealed many serious problems in descriptions of the past. These findings were discussed in relation to theories of attachment and autobiographical memory.
