Learning styles and the relationship to attachment styles and psychological symptoms in college women

College Student Journal, Sept, 2009 by Lisa M. Vaughn, Julie V. Battle, Trisha Taylor, Laura Dearman

This study examined relationships between specific learning styles, attachment styles and psychological symptoms in a sample of female college students (N=246). The participants in this study were assessed on the above variables through completion of several self-report instruments measuring these variables. Significant relationships between specific learning styles, attachment styles, and psychological symptoms were found. In particular, there were significant relationships between attachment related anxiety and the Avoidant and Competitive learning styles and significant relationships between overall psychological symptoms and a variety of the psychological symptom subscales for the Avoidant, Competitive, and Participant learning style scores. Significant results were not found for the Collaborative, Dependent, and Independent learning style scores on overall score or any of the psychological symptom subscales. This study is intended to be foundational research developed with the intention of future in-depth study. Implications and future directions for research are suggested.

Learning Styles.

This study explores the relationships between learning styles, attachment styles, and psychological symptoms in college women. Learning styles are based on specific preferences that individuals have about how they learn (Sims & Sims, 1995). Grasha (1996) specifies six major learning styles related to interactions between a learner and his or her peers and instructors: Avoidant, Collaborative, Competitive, Dependent, Independent, and Participative. We selected Grasha's Learning Style Theory to identify the different learning styles because of Grasha's emphasis on social interactions, which relate well to the concepts of attachment and psychological symptoms and because of the reliable and user-friendly Grasha-Reichmann Student Learning Style Inventory (Grasha, 1996; Reichmann & Grasha, 1974).

Avoidant learners tend to be uninterested and/or overwhelmed by the learning situation. They are not enthusiastic and do not participate in the learning process. Collaborative learners enjoy working with peers and teachers, and they believe they can learn by sharing ideas and talents. Competitive learners compete with their peers for grades and like to be the center of attention receiving recognition for their accomplishments. Dependent learners show little intellectual curiosity and learn only what is required. They look to authority figures, teachers, and peers for specific guidelines on structure, support, and what to do. Independent learners prefer to think for themselves and are confident about their learning abilities. They prefer to work alone, learning content that they think is important. Participant learners are the "good citizens." They are eager to please and will do as much as is required to meet requirements. They enjoy most learning activities and are likely to participate actively in the learning process.

In various studies, Grasha (1996) examined the distribution of learning styles among college students. Overall, his results indicated that there are no significant differences with regard to learning styles and students' academic major, and learning style profiles tend to be similar for undergraduate and graduate students. As compared to learners in four-year institutions, learners in 2-year institutions, tend to use more Competitive, Dependent, and Participant styles. Regarding gender, female learners tend to have higher scores on the Collaborative learning style as compared to males overall. Students over 25 years of age scored higher on Independent and Participant learning styles as compared to younger college students. Younger college students were more likely to have higher levels of the Avoidant, Competitive, and Participant learning styles in the classroom. Finally, with regard to grades and learning styles, it is no surprise that students with an Avoidant learning style tend to get lower grades as compared to students with other learning styles (Grasha, 1996).

Attachment Styles.

In this study, we examine the relationship between learning styles and various constructs, including attachment. Attachment styles are based on the theory that individuals view relationships by means of mental models, or "internal working models" that are developed from childhood relationship experiences (Berson, Dan, & Yammarino, 2006, p. 168). Attachment is divided into the two broad categories of anxiety and avoidance (Evans & Wertheim, 2005). These two categories of attachment are now successfully measured through standardized assessment scales and have been found to be theoretically reliable means of predicting relationship quality and adjustment (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2005).

Attachment styles influence the ability of individuals to function in various environments, including their relationship environments. In general, more secure attachment styles are associated with positive behaviors and perspectives, whereas insecure attachment styles are associated with more negative behaviors and self-views. Kafestios and Nezlek (2002) examined attachment styles in everyday social interactions among 42 first year British university students. Most who identified as having more secure attachment styles reported to have more positive and intimate relationships than those who had more insecure attachment styles.