A pilot study on the relationships between language, personality and attachment styles: A linguistic analysis of descriptive speech

Abstract

The present exploratory study investigated possible relationships between language and personality, attachment styles, and mindfulness disposition. Sixty-three participants were assessed through the Big-Five inventory questionnaire, the Attachment Style Questionnaire, and the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale, and then they were asked to look at a picture story and describe it. Narrations were analyzed through a multilevel approach: the number of verbal units and information units reported were counted; the Type/Token Ratio, disfluencies and errors of cohesion were also calculated. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that mindfulness and Extraversion were positively related to the number of information units reported about the story. Two dimensions of anxious attachment style presented opposite patterns of association with language expression: individuals high in Need for Approval tended to be more descriptive, while participants high in Preoccupation with Relationships reported less information. Results suggest that individuals’ personality, relational histories, and self-awareness may significantly influence their verbal production.

Keywords:

• Adult attachment
• discourse analysis
• dispositional mindfulness
• personality traits

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Anastasia Fabbro

Anastasia Fabbro graduated in Primary Teacher Education at the University of Udine (Italy). At present she is a PhD student in Psychology and Social Neuroscience (La Sapienza University, Rome). She is particularly interested in the study of character and personality.

Cristiano Crescentini

Cristiano Crescentini is a neuroscientist with an interest in cognitive neuroscience, clinical psychology and mindfulness meditation; he is assistant professor at the Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society of the University of Udine, Italy.

Fabio D’Antoni

Fabio D'Antoni is a psychotherapist and at present he is a PhD student in Psychology and Social Neuroscience (La Sapienza University, Rome). He has an interest in attachment theory and in psychotraumatology.

Franco Fabbro

Franco Fabbro is a neurologist with an interest in neuropsychology; he is a full professor of child neuropsychiatry in the Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society of the University of Udine.