Attachment Dimensions and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Gottman (1993 Gottman , J. M. ( 1993 ). A theory of marital dissolution and stability . Journal of Family Psychology , 7 , 57 – 75 .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 1994a, 1994b) identified 4 types of conflict behaviors (criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling) that are so relationally destructive that he labeled them “the four horsemen of the apocalypse.” This study argues that it is important to identify antecedents of these kinds of communication behaviors, and assesses the degree to which attachment orientations are useful predictors of them. Data from 170 individuals in established romantic relationships were used to test proposed associations between attachment orientations (anxiety and avoidance) and questionnaire measures of criticalness, defensiveness, contemptuousness, and stonewalling. Attachment orientations predicted an average of 22% of the variance in the criterion variables above and beyond the variance explained by relational satisfaction, with attachment anxiety being an especially potent predictor. The findings suggest that individuals whose attachment orientations reflect fears of abandonment and rejection may tend to enact conflict behaviors that increase the chances of their concerns becoming reality.