Situations Providing Adolescents with Psychological Growth, Resulting Emotions and Behaviors Leading to Growth : Their Relationship to Attachment Styles

Abstract

Relationships among situations that provided adolescents with opportunities for psychological growth, resulting emotions and behaviors leading to growth, as well as their relationship to attachment styles were investigated. The main results indicated the following. (1) Improvements in interpersonal relationships were the most common, whereas interpersonal failures were the second most common opportunity for psychological growth. (2) Two processes of psychological growth were identified, a process of having daily conversations after experiencing positive emotions resulting from improvements in interpersonal relationships and disclosing after experiencing emotional distress or self-disgust resulting from a negative event. (3) Adolescents with a fearful attachment style tended to experience emotional distress when faced with an opportunity for psychological growth.