Functionality of insecure attachment in cultural context as an early alarm and escape system

Download

index.pdf

Date

2016

Author

Sakman, Ezgi

Metadata

Show full item record

Item Usage Stats

178
views

82
downloads

The immense literature on attachment is dominated by an abundance of findings highlighting the benefits of secure attachment and the adverse outcomes associated with insecure attachment, yet nearly half of the population is consistently found to be insecurely attached. One explanation to this conundrum argues that insecure attachment may have adaptive advantages at the group level under conditions of imminent threat (Social Defense Theory; Ein-Dor, Mikulincer, Doron, & Shaver, 2010). The present dissertation aims to extend the investigation of functionality of insecure attachment by introducing the role of cultural context to explore possible adaptive advantages of different forms of insecure attachment in different cultural settings. The first study looked at cultural values and attachment orientations, and found significant relationships between attachment avoidance and an individualist/independent mindset, and attachment anxiety and a collectivist/relational mindset in both collectivist (Turkish, N = 368) and individualist (American, N = 350) cultural settings. The second study tested the functionality of attachment insecurity in different cultural contexts within an experimental setting with undergraduate participants (N = 164). The results provided support to the hypotheses in showing that insecure attachment behaviors are evaluated as more functional by the members of a culture as long as they are compatible with the prevalent attachment orientation-cultural values relationship within that particular cultural context. The findings were discussed in light of previous work and cultural implications.

Subject Keywords

Emotions., Affect (Psychology)., Attachment behavior., Affect (Psychology)., Escape (Psychology)., Security (Psychology)., Personality and culture., Developmental psychology., Psychology Phd thesis

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12620393/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/26153

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

Help seeking and its relations to self-stigma, attachment models and gender Dalak, Hatice; Erdur Baker, Özgür; Department of Educational Sciences (2015) This study examined the relationship between help-seeking behavior and gender, self-stigma of seeking psychological help and internal working models of attachment. Sample was selected among university students and 307 of them responded to the study survey. There were three self-reported measures: Self-Stigma of Seeking Psychological Help Scale, Relationships Questionnaire, and Demographic Form. Logistic regression analysis has been implemented to examine the research question. According to the results, self...
Perceived parental rearing behaviors, responsibility attitudes and life events as predictors of obsessive compulsive symptomatology: test of a cognitive model Hacıömeroğlu, A. Bikem; Karancı, Ayşe Nuray; Department of Psychology (2008) The main objective of this study was to examine the vulnerability factors of Obsessive Compulsive Symptomatology (OCS) in a non-clinical sample. On the basis of Salkovskis’ cognitive model of OCD, the present study aimed to investigate the role of perceived parental rearing behaviors, responsibility attitudes, and life events in predicting OCS. Furthermore, the mediator role of responsibility attitudes in the relationship between perceived parental rearing behaviors and OCS was examined. Finally, the specif...
Perceived social support as a moderator of the relationship between caregiver well-being indicators and psychological symptoms Demirtepe-Saygili, Dilek; Bozo Özen, Özlem (SAGE Publications, 2011-10-01) The present study examined the moderating role of perceived social support in caregiver well-being indicators - psychological symptoms relationship. The data obtained from 100 caregivers of children with leukaemia revealed that the caregivers who were more able to satisfy their basic needs, and perform their daily activities, reported lower levels of psychological symptoms if they perceived higher levels of social support. However, perceived social support did not alleviate the level of psychological sympto...
Vulnerability Factors in OCD Symptoms: Cross-Cultural Comparisons between Turkish and Canadian Samples Yorulmaz, Orcun; Gençöz, Tülin; Woody, Sheila (Wiley, 2010-03-01) Recent findings have suggested some potential psychological vulnerability factors for development of obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms, including cognitive factors of appraisal and thought control, religiosity, self-esteem and personality characteristics such as neuroticism. Studies demonstrating these associations usually come from Western cultures, but there may be cultural differences relevant to these vulnerability factors and OC symptoms. The present study examined the relationship between putative vu...
The Effects of early maladaptive schemas on partners’ marital satisfaction: the mediating roles of schema coping styles and perceived partner responsiveness Akkol, Selin; Karancı, Ayşe Nuray; Department of Psychology (2017) The aims of the current study are to examine (1) the possible effects of early maladaptive schemas, schema coping styles, and perceived partner responsiveness on marital satisfaction; (2) the mediating role of avoidance coping style; (3) the mediating role of compensation schema coping style; and (4) the mediating role of perceived partner responsiveness in the relationship between schema domains (i.e. Impaired Autonomy, Disconnection, Unrelenting Standards, Impaired Limits, and Other Directedness) and mari...

Citation Formats

E. Sakman, “Functionality of insecure attachment in cultural context as an early alarm and escape system,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2016.