Examination of the relationship between attachment styles, emotional schemas, and expressing emotions in adults

The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of adults' attachment styles and emotional schemas with their ability to express emotions. In addition, examining the variables of the research in terms of gender, relationship status, educational status, age demographic variables is another aim of the research. In the study, expressing emotions has been examined as the dependent variable, attachment styles and emotional schemas has been examined as independent variables. 374 adults aged between 18-58 has participated in the study. 286 (76.5%) of the participants were female and 88 (23.5%) were male. The sample of the study has been selected by convenient sampling method from non- random sampling types. Personal Information Form, Emotional Expression Scale, Three- Dimensional Attachment Styles Scale and the Leahy Emotional Schemas Scale has ben used as data collection tools. Data analysis has been done with IBM SPSS 25.0 package program. As data analysis techniques; Pearson product- moment correlation coefficient, multiple regression analysis, ANOVA and independent groups t- test has been used. According to the findings obtained from the research, the multiple regression model consisting of attachment styles and emotional schemas is significant in explaining the level of expressing emotions. According to this finding, attachment styles and emotional schemas significantly predict the level of expressing emotions and explain 22% of the variance in expressing emotions. While there is a positive relationship between the total score obtained from the expressing emotions scale and secure attachment, no significant relationship has been found between it and other attachment styles.There is a positive significant relationship between positive, negative and closeness feelings and the sub- dimensions of secure attachment; There is a negative significant relationship between expressing feelings of intimacy and anxious indecisive Slapping style. It has been determined that there are significant relationships between the attachment styles, the total score obtained from the scale of expressing emotions, and the score obtained from the sub- dimensions of the scale and the emotional schemas. It has been concluded that expression of emotions and its sub- dimensions did not differ according to gender, but differed according to relationship status, education level and age variables. It has been found that the level of expressing positive emotions of those who have a relationship, and the level of expressing their negative and closeness feelings of those who have a relationship is higher than those who have not got a relationship. Expression of emotions average scores showed a significant difference among high school and graduate graduates in favor of graduate graduates, according to educational status. It has been found that the level of expressing emotions of the participants in the age group of 26-30 is significantly higher than those of aged 31 and above.Moreover it has been determined that there are significant differences in the independent variables of the research according to the demographic variables.