Predicting unwanted pursuit: Attachment, relationship satisfaction, relationship alternatives, and break-up distress

• Published in: Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
• Main Authors: Dutton, Leila B., Winstead, Barbara A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2006
• Subjects: Spitzberg
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0265407506065984; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0265407506065984

We examined attachment and relationship variables as predictors of unwanted pursuit behavior (UPB) as reported by targets of pursuit and by pursuers. Factor analyses revealed two dimensions, Pursuit and Aggression, on Spitzberg and Cupach’s measures of UPB for targets and pursuers. Results indicated no sex differences in reports of UPB by either targets or pursuers for Pursuit or Aggression, although female pursuers reported engaging in more ‘monitoring’ and ‘physically hurting’ their targets than male pursuers. For pursuers, anxious attachment and distress at break-up were the most robust predictors of both Pursuit and Aggression. Targets reported more instances of UPB than did pursuers. Among targets, none of the variables predicted Pursuit, but anxious attachment and relationship dissatisfaction predicted Aggression.