Attachment, ego-identity development and exploratory interest in university students

We investigated the relationships between attachment security, ego-identity development and exploratory interest in 161 university students who completed categorical and dimensional scales of attachment style, an ego-identity development scale based on Erikson's theory, and an exploratory interest scale. Factor analysis yielded three interpretable dimensions of exploratory interest: intellect, escape and activity. High ego development was associated with attachment security. Exploratory interest was weakly associated with attachment security, but more strongly associated with high ego-identity development. Further analyses revealed that ego-identity development predicts escape only for those with a negative model of self (i.e. preoccupied and fearful attachment styles), and ego-identity development predicts activity only for those with a positive model of self (i.e. secure and dismissing attachment styles).