Which attachment style was the least common in the sample?

• A. Secure attachment
• B. Avoidant attachment
• C. Anxious/ambivalent attachments
• D. Disorganized attachment

Answer: (C)

Understanding how attachment styles vary in prevalence across a group helps explain why a particular style might be the least common. Anxious/ambivalent attachment describes people who deeply crave closeness but fear abandonment, often stemming from inconsistent caregiving in childhood. In this sample, that pattern appeared less frequently than the others, making it the least common.

Remember that prevalence varies by culture, age, and how attachment is measured, so different samples can show different least-common styles. In many groups, secure attachment is the most common, and disorganized attachment is relatively rare, but this specific sample showed anxious/ambivalent as the smallest group.