Relationship between Attachment Style and Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Cognitive Flexibility o

The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between attachment styles (secure, insecure) and psychological well-being, mediated by the role of cognitive flexibility. This research was a correlational study. A total of 272 participants were selected by means of multistage cluster sampling among Shiraz university undergraduate students. The data were gathered by using 3 measures: Adult Attachment Scale (Collins & Reid,1996), Scale Psychological Well-Being (Ryff, 1989) and Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (Dennis & Vander Wal, 2010). Using Pearson's correlation coefficient and path analysis with software, SPSS 20 and Amos 22, the data were analyzed. The results of path analysis indicated that the model had a good fit to the data. The secure attachment styles had a significant positive direct effect on psychological well-being. And insecure (avoidance, ambivalence) attachment style had a significant negative direct effect on psychological well-being. Also attachment style had predicted psychological well-being stronger by mediating cognitive flexibility. The results of the prediction showed that, when people with a secure attachment style have more cognitive flexibility, they experience a higher psychological well-being.