Transitional object attachments in early childhood and personality characteristics in later life.

37 undergraduates were assigned to transitional-object (TO) or no-TO groups on the basis of self and parental reports on a questionnaire on early object attachments. Responses on the 16PF revealed significant between-group differences on 2 dimensions: Affectothymia vs Sizothymia and High Ergic Tension vs Low Ergic Tension. No-TO Ss tended toward the Sizothymic (reserved) direction, whereas TO Ss deviated from the norm in the High Ergic Tension (tense) direction. Findings support the hypothesis that TO attachments as markers of intrapsychic developmental functioning reveal generalizable characteristics about personality development and style. Possible explanations of the observed relationships between TOs and personality characteristics are presented. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)