Attachment and interpersonal impact perceptions of group members: A social relations model analysis of transference

Graduate students (N = 76) in 12 training groups reported, at pretest, memories of emotional bonds with parents and adult attachment avoidance and anxiety. At the midpoint and termination phases, they provided Impact Message Inventory ratings of fellow group members. Social relations model (SRM) analyses were used to partition variance in these round-robin data into perceiver and target variance. Thus, aggregate ratings of fellow group members provided a standard against which discrepant perceptions of a given member could be assessed. These discrepancies, in the form of SRM perceiver variance, were interpreted as indicators of transference and were significantly associated with negative memories of parents and attachment avoidance. Target variance showed consensus in group members' ratings of dominance or affiliation for a given member and was significantly associated with negative memories of parents and attachment anxiety.