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Gender difference of insecure attachment: Universal or culture-specific?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

Nanxin Li ,
Jibo He  and
Tonggui Li
Nanxin Li
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520nanxin.li@yale.eduhttp://pantheon.yale.edu/~nl238/
Jibo He
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820jibohe2@uiuc.eduhttp://www.psych.uiuc.edu/people/showprofile.php?id=798
Tonggui Li
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China. litg@pku.edu.cnhttp://www.psy.pku.edu.cn/en/litonggui.html
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Abstract

Our research in China does not show gender differences in insecure attachment patterns. We believe that cultural differences between Chinese and Western societies may help to explain this phenomenon. Mating and parenting circumstances in China do not allow males to adopt a zero-investment strategy. In addition, attachment styles are transmitted across generations and last for the whole lifespan. Here, we argue that the influence of mating and parenting on the well-developed attachment patterns in childhood is relatively small.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , February 2009 , pp. 36 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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