A quantitative study: examining the relationship between attachment styles and self-efficacy with implications in the workplace

Rachel Hope Dawson

doi:10.17918/00001561

As organizational leadership continues to focus on personalized approaches, organizations' need for understanding employees on an individualized level heightens. Within organizational research, intrapersonal skills have demonstrated connections to employees' performance; concurrently, they have also been empirically linked to attachment styles, which emphasize the role and impacts of childhood-formed schemas in adult life, outside of organizational contexts. Although attachment styles and their impacts on interpersonal relationships have been examined in organizational contexts, their application to intrapersonal skills is empirically limited. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between attachment styles and employees' self-efficacy, as it relates to novel tasks in the workplace. It was guided by the following research questions: 1.) Are there significant patterns of self-efficacy present when employees encounter and engage in novel work tasks? 2.) Is there a significant relationship between attachment style and employees' self-efficacy, as it pertains to novel work tasks? 3.) Does attachment style significantly impact employees' self-efficacy, when they encounter and engage in novel work tasks? By studying the role of attachment styles and their influence on self-efficacy within organizational contexts, this researcher aimed to provide insights and recommendations for leaders in their pursuits of employee developmental, organizational change, and personalized leadership practices. Full-time staff and faculty members from a school within a four-year higher education institution were invited to complete an anonymous questionnaire, combining two instruments that assess attachment and creative self-efficacy. The quantitative design utilized various forms of analysis of variance, as well as t-tests, as the primary statistical measures to examine differences and potential relationships within data. Only one significant finding was found, contradicting existing research and suggesting that mediating factors and influencing aspects of the study's design may have affected the data. Recommendations for practice are based on these potential mediators, as well as in existing research, and include further learning of attachment theory, examining the frequency of employees' exposure to novel tasks, and evaluating the perceived and actual support given to employees. Additionally, expanding the target population, replacing the self-efficacy instrument, and isolating organizational culture as a mediating factor are suggested for future research directions.

A quantitative study: examining the relationship between attachment styles and self-efficacy with implications in the workplace

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A quantitative study: examining the relationship between attachment styles and self-efficacy with implications in the workplace

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