Relations between Perceived Social Support, Attachment and Kindness in High School Students

The aim of this study is to reveal the relationships between perceived social support, secure attachment to parents and peers, and the character strength of kindness in high school students. In this context, the study group consisted of a total of 676 high school students, 499 females (74%) and 177 males (26%), studying in Bursa, Turkey in the 2020-2021 academic year. As a result of the correlation analysis, positive and significant relationships were found between high school students’ perceived social support levels from their families, friends and teachers, their secure attachment to parents and peers, and their character strength of kindness. As a result of the path analysis, it was observed that the best model was the model in which high school students’ secure attachment to parents and peers predicted perceived social support from friends, family, and teachers, either directly or partially through kindness. It was observed that indirect predictive relationships were also significant after the bootstrapping process. The findings are discussed in the context of the relevant literature.