Experience in Close Relationship Scale – Short Form (ECR-S)

Abstract

The Experience in Close Relationship Scale – Short Form (ECR-S) is a concise, 12-item self-report instrument designed to measure adult attachment orientation in the context of romantic relationships. Developed as a condensed version of the original ECR (Brennan et al., 1998), the ECR-S is grounded in Attachment Theory, stemming from the work of researchers like Ainsworth and Bowlby. The scale primarily assesses two independent dimensions of insecure attachment: Attachment Anxiety and Attachment Avoidance. It is intended to capture a stable, general “trait” pattern of how individuals approach and experience close relationships, making it a valuable tool for research and clinical conceptualization.

Keywords

Adult Attachment, Attachment Anxiety, Attachment Avoidance, Close Relationships, ECR-S, Psychological Scale, Psychometrics, Romantic Relationships, Self-Report.

Authors

Wei, M., Russell, D. W., Mallinckrodt, B., & Vogel, D. L.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the ECR-S is to provide an efficient and reliable measure of the two fundamental dimensions underlying adult attachment styles. By focusing on Anxiety and Avoidance, the scale allows researchers and clinicians to quickly identify an individual’s orientation toward intimacy and interdependence within romantic relationships.

The instrument is specifically designed to assess these attachment patterns as enduring traits, minimizing the influence of transient relationship circumstances. This trait assessment is crucial for conceptualizing how clients generally navigate intimacy, manage distress, and seek or reject closeness in their long-term partnerships.

Construct

The ECR-S measures the construct of Adult Attachment Orientation, defined dimensionally rather than categorically. This orientation is broken down into two orthogonal factors: Attachment Avoidance and Attachment Anxiety.

• Attachment Avoidance: This dimension reflects a fear of dependence and interpersonal intimacy. Individuals scoring high on avoidance exhibit an excessive need for self-reliance, discomfort with closeness, and reluctance to self-disclose to their partner.
• Attachment Anxiety: This dimension is characterized by a fear of interpersonal rejection or abandonment. High anxiety scores indicate an excessive need for approval, hypervigilance regarding the partner’s availability, and significant distress when the partner is unresponsive or unavailable.

Individuals scoring low on both dimensions are classified as having a secure adult attachment orientation, while high scores on either or both dimensions indicate an insecure adult attachment orientation.

Validity

The construct validity of the ECR-S has been well-supported, consistent with predictions derived from Attachment Theory. Wei et al. (2007) demonstrated that attachment anxiety was positively associated with general emotional reactivity, while attachment avoidance was positively associated with emotional cutoff, reflecting theoretical differences in coping mechanisms.

Convergent validity was established through correlation analyses with related psychological measures (Wei et al., 2007). Specifically, excessive reassurance seeking was found to be significantly associated with attachment anxiety but not with attachment avoidance. Furthermore, clinically significant outcomes such as depression, general anxiety, interpersonal distress, and loneliness were all positively and significantly related to higher scores on both the anxiety and avoidance subscales, confirming the scale’s ability to measure maladaptive relational patterns.

Reliability

The ECR-S demonstrates acceptable levels of internal consistency across its two distinct factors. Building on the robust reliability of the original long version of the ECR (Brennan et al., 1998, with coefficient alphas of .91 for Anxiety and .94 for Avoidance in undergraduates), the short form maintains strong psychometric properties.

In the validation sample (N=851) reported by Wei et al. (2007), the internal consistency for the ECR-S was confirmed via coefficient alpha values: the Anxiety subscale achieved an alpha of .78, and the Avoidance subscale achieved an alpha of .84. This indicates that the 12 items reliably measure their intended underlying constructs. The ECR-S also possesses acceptable test-retest reliability, further supporting its use as a measure of enduring trait attachment.

Factor Analysis

Factor analysis confirmed that the ECR-S possesses a stable, two-factor structure corresponding precisely to the theoretical dimensions of Attachment Anxiety and Attachment Avoidance. This structure mirrors the conceptual organization of the original ECR scale.

Crucially, the correlation between the Anxiety and Avoidance subscales was low (r = .19, as reported by Wei et al., 2007). This low correlation is vital, as it confirms that the two factors are largely distinct dimensions of attachment, rather than being two sides of the same measure, thereby supporting the bidimensional model of adult attachment.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale/questionnaire.

Format: 12 items rated on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (7), with some items reverse-scored.

Language Available: English (Original research). Translations may exist in subsequent studies.

Population Group: Adults currently involved in romantic relationships.

Age Group: Adult (Validated primarily on undergraduate student samples initially, but applicable to general adult populations).

Population Details: Validation sample (N=851) used by Wei et al. (2007) to confirm the short form structure.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate their level of agreement with statements concerning their feelings and behaviors within their close romantic relationship. Scoring yields two separate scores (Anxiety and Avoidance), with minimum scores of 7 and maximum scores of 42 for each subscale. Scores are often interpreted using percentile ranks derived from normative undergraduate samples, where higher scores indicate greater attachment insecurity.

Keywords

Attachment Style, Insecure Attachment, Secure Attachment, Emotional Avoidance, Emotional Reactivity, Interpersonal Intimacy, Construct Validity, Internal Consistency, Questionnaire.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: Correspondence for M. Wei can be directed via his institutional webpage: http://wei.public.iastate.edu/

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year (Short Form Publication): 2007.

Permissions and Fee: The ECR-S is widely used in academic and clinical research. Standard academic citation (Wei et al., 2007) is required. Specific licensing or fee requirements must be confirmed directly with the developers or the publishing journal (Journal of Personality Assessment).

Reference’s

Brennan, K. A., Clark, C. L., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46–76). New York: Guilford.

Wei, M., Russell, D. W., Mallinckrodt, B., & Vogel, D. L. (2007). The experiences in Close Relationship Scale (ECR)-Short Form: Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 88, 187-204. The developer’s institutional webpage is available here: http://wei.public.iastate.edu/

Items of the Experience in Close Relationship Scale – Short Form (ECR-S)

Instructions: The following statements concern how you feel in romantic relationships. Please respond to each statement by indicating how much you agree or disagree.