Structural Modeling of the Relationship Between Attachment Styles and Expectations of Marriage: The Mediating Role of Gender-Role Orientations Among University Students Approaching Marriage
Keywords:
Attachment Styles, Expectations of Marriage, Gender-Role OrientationAbstract
Objective: The present study aimed to develop and test a structural model of the relationships between secure, avoidant, and anxious attachment styles and realistic, pessimistic, and idealistic expectations of marriage, considering masculine and feminine gender-role orientations as mediating variables among university students approaching marriage.
Methods and Materials: This applied study used a descriptive-correlational design based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population consisted of university students approaching marriage at the Science and Research, Central Tehran, and North Tehran branches of Islamic Azad University during the 2025–2026 academic year. Using convenience sampling, 322 students were selected. Data were collected using the Revised Adult Attachment Scale, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, and the Marriage Expectation Scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS version 26 through correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and bootstrap assessment of indirect effects.
Findings: The proposed structural model showed acceptable fit (χ²/df = 2.25, CFI = .969, TLI = .954, RMSEA = .062, SRMR = .039). Secure attachment positively predicted realistic (β = .29, p < .001) and idealistic expectations (β = .18, p = .001) and negatively predicted pessimistic expectations (β = −.27, p < .001). Avoidant and anxious attachment negatively predicted realistic and idealistic expectations and positively predicted pessimistic expectations (p < .05). Secure attachment positively predicted masculine and feminine orientations, whereas avoidant and anxious attachment negatively predicted both. Masculine and feminine orientations positively predicted realistic and idealistic expectations and negatively predicted pessimistic expectations. Bootstrap analyses indicated significant indirect effects of all attachment styles on each marriage-expectation dimension through both gender-role orientations, supporting partial mediation.
Conclusion: Attachment styles were directly and indirectly associated with distinct expectations of marriage, and masculine and feminine gender-role orientations partially explained these relationships, highlighting the combined contribution of interpersonal attachment patterns and gender-related self-orientations to premarital expectations.
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