Does Secure Attachment Predict Altruism: A Causal Study

The present study was carried out to examine the relationship of altruism with attachment security among youngsters. Altruism was measured by two methods, viz. a self report measure of altruism (Kool & Sen, 1987) and Peer ratings on altruism. The Kerns Security Scale (Kerns, 1996) was used as a measure of attachment security. The sample consisted of 350 students (175 males and 175 females) within the age group of 17-21 years drawn from various colleges in Chandigarh. The obtained data were subjected to statistical analyses and Product-Moment correlations were calculated between altruism and attachment scores. Multiple regression analyses were also carried out separately with both the measures of Altruism as dependent variables, and Attachment Security scores as the Independent variables. Overall results indicate a significant positive relation between altruism and attachment security.