The Relation of Attachment Styles and Relational Aggression: The Mediation of Shame and Guilt

this study aimed to investigate the mediating role of shame and guilt in the relationship between attachment styles and covert relational aggression among married men. The sample consisted of 350 married men from Birjand, Iran. The participants were elementary school students’ fathers who participated in the study voluntarily. The participants completed the Attachment Styles Scale (Collins & Read, 1990), the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (shame and guilt) (Tangney, Wagner & Gomez, 1989), and the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (Nelson & Carroll, 2006). The data were analyzed by Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicated the anxious and secure attachment styles related significantly to love withdrawal through shame. The anxious and secure attachment styles related significantly to social sabotage through shame and guilt. The findings suggested that shame plays a role between anxious and secure attachment styles and covert relational aggression in men.