Attachment Security and Adolescents’ Ability to Manage Role Conflict

Aragon Highschool, San Mateo, CA 94402, United States

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Abstract

The issues of role conflict have gained increased present-day popularity. Meanwhile, attachment security is a well-known concept in the field of psychological studies that use it as a primary factor influencing the quality of interpersonal relationships in adolescents and their psychological adaptation. However, recent studies have not paid significant focus to the role attachment security plays in the process of role conflict management among adolescents, which is self-regulation. The paper will explore the effect of attachment security on the way adolescents handle role conflict. Referring to the attachment theory and studies on the adolescent development, this research has a conceptual literature review method, which incorporates the discovery of the researches about the types of attachments, role conflict, and cognitive-emotional self-regulation. The literature review demonstrates that the attachment security is connected to more effective emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and beneficial conflict engaging in the interpersonal relations. Such self-regulatory abilities assist the adolescents to cope better with conflicting social expectations with regards to role expectations and counter the harmful psychological consequences of role conflict. On the contrary, individuals who have insecure forms of attachment will react excessively emotionally or be cold, a fact that predisposes them to experiencing stress in the conflict.