Reading Response to Giudice (2008)

Reading Response to Giudice (2008)

Abstract

Our lab’s 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.

Full Text

In section 6 of the target article, Giudice (2008) reported a significant gender difference in insecure attachment: Whereas females were more likely to be ambivalent, males were more likely to be avoidant. However, gender differences have rarely been reported in prior studies (Crittenden 2000; Schmitt 2003). We believe a cross-cultural perspective may help to reconcile this apparent contradiction. In particular, attachment studies in Asian cultural samples, such as China, should be taken into account for a more comprehensive analysis.

Our recent studies in China suggest that there are no gender difference in insecure attachment styles (Li 2005; Li & Du 2005; Li & Kato 2006; Li et al 2006a; b; c; 2007; in press; Wang & Li in press). Table 1 summarizes our results across a variety of demographic groups (middle school students, undergraduates, company employees, inpatients and mothers). Pearson Chi-square tests showed that neither sample had significantly different attachment patterns between males and females. We also note that in the mother sample, there were more avoidant females than anxious/ambivalent ones.

Giudice argues that males and females strive to maximize their reproduction of genes. Gender differences in mating, reproduction and parenting efforts lead to diverse attachment styles: insecure females tend to be anxious/ ambivalent, while insecure males tend to be avoidant (sect 6.3.1, para 5). However, reproductive investment alone does not account for the total cost of reproduction and parenting. Females have the privilege to select the most suitable male who help child-rearing (Clutton-Brock 1991). Transitional China since the 1980’s is one such example where parental investment is significantly higher than that in Western nations (Wang & Ollendick 2001). During the 1980’s, the Chinese government began to implement family planning (“one child”) policy to control population growth, which profoundly changed the demographic as well as cultural values in Chinese society (Arnold & Liu 1986; Xu et al. 2007). First, this policy does not allow males to have multiple children, which requires males to invest in the quality of offspring, rather than quantity (Wang & Ollendick 2001). This greatly reduces the likelihood of males taking a zero-parenting strategy. Secondly, the traditional son preference was even exaggerated and the “one child” policy often became a “one son” policy, creating an unbalanced gender ratio (Chan et al 2006). In this case, males have to compete for limited number of females. Finally, the woman’s rights movement has been widespread since the communist liberation in the early 1950s when the socio-economic status of women improved considerably. Recent studies have shown that during family purchase decisions, females now play an equal- status role as males (Dong & Li 2007). Thus, for contemporary Chinese females, although they cannot shift the balance between parenting and mating effort as easily as men, they do not need to develop an anxious/ambivalent attachment strategy to invite paternal investment (Archer & Mehdikhani, 2000).

A gender difference in insecure attachment could also be explained from the perspective of intergeneration transmission. According to Bowlby (1980), people develop their mental representations of the environment and significant others based on their experience with parents or other caregivers. Bowlby labeled this mental representation as an Internal Working Model (IWM). Once formed, IWMs tend to remain stable for the whole lifespan (Hu & Meng 2003). The stability of IWM produces similar attachment patterns from childhood to adulthood. This argument is supported by cross-sectional and longitudinal studies (Durrett et al. 1984; Brennan et al. 1998; Fraley & Spieker 2003; Hu & Meng 2003; Nakao & Kato 2003; Li & Kato 2006). Li (2006) summarized the distribution of attachment styles in infants and adults in Chinese and American samples. He found that the proportion of each attachment style was similar for both infants and adults. This result suggests that the attachment style may remain relatively stable across the lifespan. Longitudinal studies on attachment development also support the stability of attachment styles within generations (Shemmings 2006; Emery et al. 2008). The stability of attachment from infancy to adulthood suggests that the influence of mate selection and sex competition in early adulthood on attachment patterns is trivial. This may well explain the lack of gender difference in insecure attachment in Chinese samples.

Acknowledgement

This study is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. ). We thank Adam Pearson and Mark Sheskin for useful comments and suggestions.

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