Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between emotional reactions to Rorschach cards and attachment. For this purpose, undergraduate and graduate students(N = 69) took the Revised Experience of Close Relationship scale(ECR-R), during which their facial expression valence for the pleasure-displeasure dimension of emotional reaction to Rorschach cards, heart rates for activation dimension, and self-reported preference scale for conscious level were measured. The results showed that attachment anxiety levels and valence at Cards I, II, III, IV, VI, VII, VIII and X showed a significant negative correlation. After controlling for the effects of valence score at baseline, a significant relationship with valence score at Cards I, II, III, VI, VII, VIII and X was found. Second, attachment anxiety and measured heart rate showed no significant relationships for any card. The same results were obtained when conducting a hierarchical regression analysis that controlled the heart rate of steady states. In addition, there were no statistically significant relationships between anxiety attachment and self-reported preferences for all cards, while there was a significant negative relationships between the avoidance attachment level and the valence score at presentation of Cards III and VII. Moreover, there was no significant relationship between attachment avoidance and heart rate for all cards. However, there was a significant negative relationships for the card I and VII after controlling for the effects of the baseline. Lastly, a significant relationship was shown between the avoidance attachment level and preference for Card VIII. Based on these findings, implications and the suggestions for further studies are discussed.