Patterns and Universals of Adult Romantic Attachment Across 62 Cultural Regions: Are Models of Self and of Other Pancultural Constructs?

David P. Schmitt (Corresponding Author), Lidia Alcalay, Melissa Allensworth, Jüri Allik, Lara Ault, Ivars Austers, Kevin L. Bennett, Gabriel Bianchi, Fredrick Boholst, Mary Ann Borg Cunen, Johan Braeckman, Edwin G. Brainerd, Leo Gerard A. Caral, Gabrielle Caron, Maria Martina Casullo, Michael Cunningham, Ikuo Daibo, Charlotte De Backer, Eros De Souza, Rolando Diaz-LovingGlÁUcia Diniz, Kevin Durkin, Marcela Echegaray, Ekin Eremsoy, Harald A. Euler, Ruth Falzon, Maryanne L. Fisher, Dolores Foley, Robert Fowler, Douglas P. Fry, Sirpa Fry, M. Arif Ghayur, Vijai N. Giri, Debra L. Golden, Karl Grammer, Liria Grimaldi, Jamin Halberstadt, Shamsul Haque, Dora Herrera, Janine Hertel, Amanda Hitchell, Heather Hoffmann, Danica Hooper, Zuzana Hradilekova, Jasna Hudek-Kene-Evi, Allen Huffcutt, Jas Jaafar, Margarita Jankauskaite, Heidi Kabangu-Stahel, Igor Kardum, Brigitte Khoury, Hayrran Kwon, Kaia Laidra, Anton-Rupert Laireiter, Dustin Lakerveld, Ada Lampert, Maryanne Lauri, Marguerite LavallÉe, Suk-Jae Lee, Luk Chung Leung, Kenneth D. Locke, Vance Locke, Ivan Luksik, Ishmael Magaisa, Dalia Marcinkeviciene, AndrÉ Mata, Rui Mata, Barry Mccarthy, Michael E. Mills, Nhlanhla J. Mkhize, JoÃO Moreira, SÉRgio Moreira, Miguel Moya, M. Munyae, Patricia Noller, Hmoud Olimat, Adrian Opre, Alexia Panayiotou, Nebojsa Petrovic, Karolien Poels, Miroslav Popper, Maria Poulimenou, Volodymyr P'Yatokha, Michel Raymond, Ulf-Dietrich Reips, Susan E. Reneau, Sofia Rivera-Aragon, Wade C. Rowatt, Willibald Ruch, Velko S. Rus, Marilyn P. Safir, Sonia Salas, Fabio Sambataro, Kenneth N. Sandnabba, Rachel Schleeter, Marion K. Schulmeyer, Astrid SchÜTz, Tullio Scrimali, Todd K. Shackelford, Mithila B. Sharan, Phillip R. Shaver, Francis Sichona, Franco Simonetti, Tilahun Sineshaw, R. Sookdew, Tom Speelman, Spyros Spyrou, H. Canan Sümer, Nebi Sümer, Marianna Supekova, Tomasz Szlendak, Robin Taylor, Bert Timmermans, William Tooke, Ioannis Tsaousis, F. S.K. Tungaraza, Ashley Turner, Griet Vandermassen, Tim Vanhoomissen, Frank Van Overwalle, Ine Vanwesenbeeck, Paul L. Vasey, JoÃO Verissimo, Martin Voracek, Wendy W.N. Wan, Ta-Wei Wang, Peter Weiss, Andik Wijaya, Liesbeth Woertman, Gahyun Youn, Agata ZupanÈiÈ

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

251 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, a total of 17,804 participants from 62 cultural regions completed the Relationship Questionnaire(RQ), a self-report measure of adult romantic attachment. Correlational analyses within each culture suggested that the Model of Self and the Model of Other scales of the RQ were psychometrically valid within most cultures. Contrary to expectations, the Model of Self and Model of Other dimensions of the RQ did not underlie the four-category model of attachment in the same way across all cultures. Analyses of specific attachment styles revealed that secure romantic attachment was normative in 79% of cultures and that preoccupied romantic attachment was particularly prevalent in East Asian cultures. Finally, the romantic attachment profiles of individual nations were correlated with sociocultural indicators in ways that supported evolutionary theories of romantic attachment and basic human mating strategies.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)367-402
Number of pages36
JournalJournal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Volume35
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2004

Bibliographical note

The authors would like to thank Del Paulhus (Canada-English), Susan Sprecher (USA-Midwest), Glenn D. Wilson (England), Qazi Rahman (England), Alois Angleitner (Germany), Angelika Hofhansl (Austria), Tamio Imagawa (Japan), Minoru Wada (Japan), Junichi Taniguchi (Japan), and Yuji Kanemasa (Japan) for helping with data collection and contributing significantly to the samples used in this study. Except for the first author, all authors contributed equally to this article and were listed alphabetically.

Keywords

  • romantic attachment
  • culture
  • internal working models
  • human mating strategies

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