Are avoidant wives and anxious husbands unhappy in a collectivist context? Dyadic associations in established marriages

Abstract

We examined culturally relevant gender differences in the attachment dimensions and their dyadic associations with relationship functioning using a large sample (N = 1228). Considering that attachment avoidance is culturally incongruent with Turkish culture and there exist a sharp gender role difference in marriage, we anticipated that avoidance for women and anxiety for men would be strong dyadic predictors of satisfaction and conflict among married couples. Dyadic analyses revealed that attachment dimensions which are incongruent with cultural characteristics and gender roles predicted marital conflict and satisfaction. Avoidance, but not anxiety, had both actor and partner effects on marital satisfaction. Attachment anxiety of husbands, but not wives, was linked with marital conflict. Attachment avoidance seems to be a primary risk factor for satisfaction and attachment anxiety for conflict in the Turkish cultural context.

Keywords:

• attachment avoidance
• attachment anxiety
• marital quality
• dyadic analyses
• Turkey