Parental Attachment, Adult-Child Romantic Attachment, and Marital Satisfaction: An Examination of Cultural Context in Taiwanese and Thai Heterosexual Couples

Ching-Yu Huang, Skultip Sirikantraporn, Nipat Bock Pichayayothin and Julie M. Turner-Cobb
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Ching-Yu Huang: School of Psychology, Keele University, Newcastle-Under-Lyme ST5 5BG, UK
Skultip Sirikantraporn: California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, San Diego, CA 92131, USA
Nipat Bock Pichayayothin: The Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Rama 1 Rd, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Julie M. Turner-Cobb: Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole BH12 5BB, UK

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: Relationship dynamics between married couples can differ considerably, with varying impacts on relationship satisfaction. However, very limited research attention has been paid to how intergenerational attachment, relating to an individual’s perception of his/her own and that of his/her parents’ attachment, can affect marital dynamics within different cultural contexts. The current study examined associations between married heterosexual couples’ romantic attachment, perception of parental attachment, and marital satisfaction in 100 Thai couples ( M age = 45.59 years, SD = 10.86) and 73 Taiwanese couples ( M age = 39.55 years, SD = 9.13). Results revealed that romantic attachment anxiety was negatively associated with marital satisfaction in the Taiwanese couples; in the Thai couples, neither romantic attachment anxiety nor avoidance was associated with marital satisfaction. Husbands reported higher romantic attachment anxiety than their wives in Taiwan, but this was not observed in the Thai couples. Taiwanese wives reported higher scores on their perceived parental attachment avoidance than did their husbands; whereas the reverse trend was observed in the Thai couples. These findings highlight the need to consider intergenerational aspects of attachment in cultural contexts, and they have important implications for practitioners working with couples from Asian cultural backgrounds.

Keywords: romantic attachment; parental attachment; marital satisfaction; intergenerational; gender; cultural differences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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