Insecure attachment, professional self-concept and mentalizing in prospective teacher candidates

The aim of this study was to explore the associations between attachment representations and vocational self-concepts among prospective special teachers. Further, it was investigated whether this link was medi-ated by the preservice teachers’ mentalizing – the capacity to perceive and consider one's own and others' behavior based on intentional mental states. Data of this cross-sectional study were collected from 202 student teachers. The hypotheses were tested via structural equation modelling. Results indicate a direct negative path from attachment-related avoidance to professional self-concepts as well as a partial media-tion through impairments in mentalizing. In contrast, the link between anxious attachment and professional self-concept was mediated fully by mentalizing. These results offer initial insights into the importance of prospective teachers' attachment biographies in shaping their vocational self-concepts, indicating that ex-ploring one's own attachment biography could be a valuable aspect of teacher training programs.