Relationship satisfaction among Turkish and British adults

Tilburg University

Relationship satisfaction among Turkish and British adults

Celenk, O.; van de Vijver, F.J.R.; Goodwin, R.

Published in:

International Journal of Intercultural Relations

Publication date:

2011

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Link to publication in Tilburg University Research Portal

Citation for published version (APA):

Celenk, O., van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Goodwin, R. (2011). Relationship satisfaction among Turkish and British

adults. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35, 628-640.

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ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirect

International

Journal

of

Intercultural

Relations

jo u r n al h om ep a ge : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / i j i n t r e l

Relationship

satisfaction

among

Turkish

and

British

adults

Ozgur

Celenk

,

Fons

J.R.

van

de

Vijver

,

Robin

Goodwin

a_{TilburgUniversity,TheNetherlands} b_{North-WestUniversity,SouthAfrica} c_{BrunelUniversity,UnitedKingdom}

a

r

t

i

c

l

e

i

n

f

o

a

b

s

t

r

a

c

t

Wetestedthreetheories(adultattachment,autonomy/relatedness,andgenderroles)to understandrelationshipsatisfactionamong150Britishand170Turkishadults,allinvolved inromanticrelationships.Avoidance,relatedness,autonomy–relatedness,and masculin-ity mediatedtherelationship betweencultureand romanticrelationshipsatisfaction. Additionally,asanticipated,Turkishparticipantsscoredloweronrelationshipsatisfaction andautonomywhereasBritishparticipantsscoredloweronavoidanceandrelatedness. Contrarytoexpectation,genderroledifferences(differencesbetweenmasculinity and femininity)intheUnitedKingdomwerenotsignificantlysmallerthaninTurkey.Itis con-cludedthatadultattachmentprovidesausefulframeworkforunderstandingcountry-level differences.

© 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

1.1. Relationshipsatisfactionandculture

Relationshipsatisfactionreferstothe“positiveversusnegativeaffectexperiencedinarelationshipandisinfluencedby theextenttowhichapartnerfulfilstheindividual’smostimportantneeds”(Rusbult,Martz,&Agnew,1998,p.359).There hasbeenaconsiderableamountofresearchshowingthatromanticrelationshipshavevariouscorrelates.Thus,couples withmorestableandsatisfyingrelationshipsappeartoenjoybetterhealthandwell-being(Baumeister&Leary,1995),and thecapacitytoformromanticrelationshipsisakeyaspectofsocialadaptationinyoungadulthood(Dresner&Grolnick, 1996).Numerousstudieshaveaddressedthedeterminantsofsatisfactionincludinglovestyles(Contreras,Hendrick,& Hendrick,1996),socialsupport(Xu&Burleson,2001),expressiveandinstrumentalbehaviorsorbeliefs(Kamo,1993),and self-disclosure(Adonu,2005);yet,littleisknownaboutwhichdeterminantsaremediatorsofrelationshipsatisfactionfrom across-culturalperspective.Thepresentstudyexaminescross-culturalsimilaritiesanddifferencesinthesefactors.

Thepresentstudyteststhreetheories,namelyadultattachment,autonomous/relatedself-construal,andgenderroles tostudyrelationshipsatisfaction.Morespecifically,thepresent studysetouttoidentifytowhatextentcross-cultural differencesinrelationshipsatisfactionamongBritishandTurkishadultscanbemediatedbyfactorsderivedfromthese threetheories,andtowhatextentcross-culturaldifferencesoccurinadultattachment,autonomousrelatedself-construal, genderroles,andrelationshipsatisfaction.Inthenextsection,wediscusstherelevanceofeachofthethreetheoretical frameworks(attachment,autonomousrelatedself-construal,andgenderroles,respectively)forrelationshipsatisfaction andtheparticularroleofculture,followedbyanoverviewofrelevantstudiesinTurkeyandtheUnitedKingdom.

∗ Correspondingauthorat:DepartmentofCross-CulturalPsychology,TilburgUniversity,5000LETilburg,TheNetherlands.Tel.:+31134664025. E-mailaddress:O.Celenk@uvt.nl(O.Celenk).

0147-1767/$–seefrontmatter © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fig.1. Attachmentdimensionsandcategories.

FraleyandShaver(2000,p.145).

1.2. Attachmentdimensionsandrelationshipsatisfaction 1.2.1. Attachmentinadulthood

Attachmentisdefinedas“awayofconceptualizingthepropensityofhumanbeingstomakestrongaffectionalbonds toparticularothers”(Bowlby,1977,p.201).Bycomparingdifferentadultattachmenttypologiesandcategories,Brennan, Clark,andShaver(1998)demonstratedthatadultattachmentcanbemeasuredontwodimensions(anxietyandavoidance), capturingfourcategories(secure,dismissing,preoccupied,andfearful)(seeFig.1).Theanxietydimension,relatedtothe modeloftheselfinarelationship(Sumer,2006),referstoattachmentanxietyduetothefearofabandonmentinclose relationships,whereastheavoidancedimension,relatedtothemodeloftheother,referstodiscomfortwithclosenessand dependency.Theimportanceofclosenessisemphasizedmorebyanxiousindividuals,whereasself-relianceandemotional distanceareemphasizedmorebyavoidantindividuals(Lavy,Mikulincer,&Shaver,2010).Itisthusbelievedthathigher anxietyandavoidanceresultinhigherinsecurity.

1.2.2. Adultattachmentdimensions,relationshipsatisfaction,andculture

Attachmentisshapedthroughthequalityofinteractionwithparentsinearlychildhoodandcontinuestoaffect expec-tations,beliefs,needs,andsocialbehaviorsincloserelationshipslaterinlife(Ainsworth,Blehar,&Wall,1978;Bowlby, 1973;Hazan&Shaver,1994).Relationshipsatisfactionofsecurelyattachedindividuals(lowonanxietyandavoidance)is thehighestandsatisfactionofanxiouslyattachedindividualsisthelowest(seethereviewbyMikulincer,Florian,Cowan, &Cowan,2002).Forinstance,Simpson(1990)foundthatunlikeinsecureattachment,secureattachmentisstronglyand positivelyrelatedtorelationshipinterdependence,commitment,trust,andsatisfaction.Furthermore,ithasbeenarguedthat differencesinattachmentstylesleadtodifferencesinrelationshipstability.Inaccordance,KirkpatrickandHazan(1994), examiningcouples’relationshipsoverafour-yearperiod,foundthatsecureparticipantsreportedfewerbreakupsduring thisperiodcomparedtoinsecureparticipants.

Despitethefactthatsecureattachment(lowonbothanxietyandavoidancedimensions)isfoundtobemorecommonthan otherattachmentstylesinmostcultures,certaincross-culturaldifferenceshavebeenfoundinadultattachmentdimensions (Rothbaum,Weisz,Pott,Miyake,&Morelli,2000;VanIJzendoorn&Bakermans-Kranenburg,1996).Forinstance,Germansare foundtobehigheronavoidancewhereasJapaneseandIsraelisarefoundtobehigherontheanxious/ambivalentdimension (Harwood,Miller,&Irizarry,1995).Furthermore,Koreansscorehigheronpreoccupiedattachment,havelowerintimacy, andholdlowerexpectationsabouttheirrelationshipsincomparisonwithCaucasianAmericans(You&Malley-Morrison, 2000).Sprecheretal.(1994)foundthatAmericanswerehigheronsecureattachmentandloweronavoidancecomparedto JapaneseandRussians.

abandonment).Membersofcollectivisticculturesaremoreattachedtotheirgroupmembersthanmembersofindividualistic cultures;therefore,membersofcollectivisticculturesmaybemoreanxioustobeabandonedcomparedtothemembersof individualisticcultures(Fujimoto&Härtel,2006;Yao,Fang,Zhu,&Zuroff,2009).

1.3. Theautonomousandrelatedselfandrelationshipsatisfaction 1.3.1. Theautonomous-relatedself

Kagitcibasi(2005),buildingonpreviousworkonself-construalsinindividualisticandcollectivisticcultures(Markus& Kitayama,1991),proposedamodelwhichpositionsthefamilyasasystemwithintheculturalandsocialsetting.Inhermodel, differentfamilymodelsandchild-rearingpatternsareconnectedtodifferentformsofself-construalalongtheunderlying dimensionsofagency(autonomy–heteronomy)andinterpersonaldistance(relatedness–separateness).Thecombinationof thetwodimensionsleadstotheemergenceoffourdifferenttypesofselves.Thefirsttypeofself,theautonomous–separate self,ishighonautonomyandlowonrelatedness.Sucha selfdevelopsin an‘independent’family,wherechildren are broughtuptobeself-sufficientandself-reliant.Thesecondtype,theheteronomous–separateself,emergeswhereparents areneglectfulorindifferent.Insuchasetting,thechildrenareexpectedtoobeytherulesandhierarchicalstructureofthe family.Thethirdtype,theheteronomous-relatedself,ishighonrelatednessandlowonautonomy;thisdevelopsinafamily which stressestotal interdependenceandobedience. Thefinaltype, theautonomous-relatedself,ishighonautonomy aswellasrelatedness.Thisemergesinafamilywherepsychologicalinterdependenceiscoupledwithbothcontroland autonomy(Kagitcibasi,2005,p.412).Herechildrencombinepsychologicalinterdependencewithmaterialindependence. Theautonomous-relatedselfcanbeseenasacombinationofbothindependentandinterdependentself-construals. 1.3.2. Theautonomous-relatedself,relationshipsatisfaction,andculture

Boththedegreeofautonomyandperceivedrelatednessinspousesinfluencerelationshipsatisfactioninthesensethat autonomyandrelatednessexisttogetherandbotharepositivelycorrelatedwithrelationshipsatisfaction(Rankin-Esquer, Burnett,Baucom,&Epstein,1997).Additionally,marriedindividualswhoemphasizebothautonomyandconnectedness havethehighestlevelsofself-validation(Harteretal.,1997).Atpresent,therearefewcross-culturalstudiesthatfocuson theroleofautonomyandrelatednessininterpersonalrelationships,withtheavailableevidencesuggestingthatdespite theimportanceofautonomyandrelatednessinromanticrelationships,thesedimensionshavedifferentialimpactson relationshipsacrosscultures(Hahn&Oishi,2006).Forinstance,althoughSheldon,Elliot,Kim,andKasser(2001)found thatself-esteem,autonomy,andrelatednesswereimportantforrelationshipsatisfactionforbothAmericanandKorean relationships,aneedforself-esteemwasthestrongestpredictorforpositiveaffectforAmericanswhereastheneedfor relatednesswasthestrongestpredictorforKoreans.Inaddition,WongandGoodwin(2009)examinedmaritalsatisfaction intheUnitedKingdom,HongKong,andChinaandconcludedthatthefrequencyofautonomybetweenthespousesvaried acrossthreeculturalgroups,withonlyparticipantsfromtheUnitedKingdomandHongKongemphasizingautonomy.

Similartoadultattachmentdimensions,differencesinautonomyandrelatednessacrossculturesmaybeunderstoodin termsofdifferencesinindividualismandcollectivism.Individualism–collectivisminfluencesthedegreeaculturemotivates theneeds,wishes,desires,andvaluesofanautonomousanduniqueselfinsteadofagroup(Matsumoto,Weissman,Preston, Brown,&Kupperbusch,1997).Membersofindividualisticculturesarebelievedtobemoreautonomousandindependent andtovaluetheindividualmorethanindividualsfromcollectivisticcultureswhoaremorestronglyrelatedanddependent totheirin-group(Triandis,1995).

1.4. Genderrolesandrelationshipsatisfaction 1.4.1. Genderroles

Genderrolescanbedefinedastherules andexpectationsassociatedwithfemaleandmaleidentitieswhichdirect attitudesandbehaviors(Eagly&Wood,1999).Menandwomendifferintheirbehaviorsasaresultofthesedifferentgender rolesandtheirsocializationexperiences(Wood&Eagly,2002).Masculinityhasbeenoftenassociatedwithaninstrumental orientation(e.g.,dominance,aggression,andachievement),andfemininitywithanexpressiveorientation(e.g.,deference, nurturance,andaffiliation)(Bem,1974;Williams&Best,1982).Itisarguedthatgenderroleideologyvariesalongacontinuum oftraditionaltomodern,withmoremaledominanceintraditionalsocietiesandmoregenderegalitarianisminmodern societies(Williams&Best,1991).

1.4.2. Genderroles,relationshipsatisfaction,andculture

closerelationshipsasopposedtosalientcharacteristicsofmasculinitysuchasbeingaggressiveanddominant,which proba-blydiminishsatisfaction(Lueken,2005).Despitethefactthatbothmasculinityandfemininityareimportantinrelationship satisfaction,theybotharehighlyrelatedtosocioeconomicdevelopment,religion,andurbanization(Williams&Best,1982, 1990).Thedifferencesbetweenmenandwomen’sgenderrolesaresmallerinnontraditionalcountriesthanintraditional countries.Chinesemenandwomenwerefoundtoholdmoretraditionalexpectationsofmalerolescomparedto individu-alsfromtheUnitedStates(Levant,Wu,&Fischer,1996).Furthermore,countriesincludingtheNetherlands,Germany,and FinlandweremoreegalitarianthanmoretraditionalcountriessuchasNigeria,India,andPakistan(Williams&Best,1991). Thesedifferencesmaybeexplainedintermsofincreasingpublicrightsoffemalesinpost-industrialsocieties(Inglehart& Norris,2003).Inmodernsocietiesinwhichwomenhavepoliticalandeconomicrights,thesimilaritybetweentherolesin societyofmalesandfemalesincreaseswhichresultsinmoregenderroleequality.Incontrast,intraditionalsocieties,males andfemalesinhabitmoreseparateworlds,andfemalesaremoreinvolvedinthehouseholdtasksandprivatedomain,while malesareassumedtobethebreadwinnersandmorevisibleinthepublicdomain.

1.5. TurkeyandtheUnitedKingdom

AnumberofsignificantculturaldifferencesbetweenTurkeyandtheUnitedKingdomhavebeenfoundthatmayhavea bearingonrelationshipsatisfaction(Hofstede,1980;Schwartz,2004).AccordingtoTriandis(1995),individualisminvolves givingprioritytotheneeds,beliefs,feelings,valuesofaperson,withindividualisticpeopleseeingthemselvesasindependent fromothers.Hofstede(1994)reportshigherindividualismintheUnitedKingdomthaninTurkey.Additionally,theUnited KingdomscoreshigheringenderempowermentcomparedtoTurkey;theUnitedKingdomischaracterizedbymoreequality betweenmalesandfemalesinpoliticalparticipation,economicparticipation,andpowerovereconomicresources(Human developmentReport,2008).TheUnitedKingdomscoresloweringendergapindex(ranked15thoutof134countries) comparedtoTurkey(ranked126thoutof134countries),afindingwhichcanbeunderstoodintermsofhighergenderrole equalityineconomicparticipationandopportunity,educationalattainmentandpoliticalempowermentintheformer coun-try(Hausmann,Tyson,&Zahidi,2010).Turkeyisfoundtobeabovethemeanforharmony(fittingin,andvaluingpeace)and embeddedness(membersareseenasanembeddedpartofthegroup,thegroupsaremoreimportant)andbelowthemeanfor affectiveautonomy(membersfollowtheirownfeelingsandmotivations).Incontrast,theUnitedKingdomisbelowthemean forharmonyandembeddednessandabovethemeanforaffectiveautonomy(Schwartz,1994,2004).Finally,itisarguedthat globallifesatisfactionmayalsoinfluence,andbeinfluencedby,relationshipsatisfaction(Froh,Miller,&Snyder,2007;Myers, 1992,1999).TurkeyscoreslowerongloballifesatisfactioncomparedtotheUnitedKingdom(WorldValuesSurvey,2007). Regardingattachmentdimensions,TurkeyandtheUnitedKingdomarelikelytodifferbothinavoidanceandanxiety. Schmittetal.(2004)analyzedadultattachmentacross62countries,includingTurkeyandtheUnitedKingdom(Englandand NorthernIreland).Themodeloftheself(degreeofanxietyanddependencyexperiencedincloserelationships)andother (tendencytoseekoutoravoidclosenessinrelationships)werepositivelycorrelatedinTurkeybutwerenotcorrelatedin England.Moreover,whilethemodelofselfwaspositivelycorrelatedwithself-esteeminbothcultures,themodelofthe otherwasonlypositivelycorrelatedwithself-esteemandagreeablenessinTurkey.SumerandGungor(1999)compared thefourcategoriesofadultattachment(secure,preoccupied,dismissing,andfearful)amongTurkishuniversitystudents andtheUS.Theyfoundthatwhilestudentsfrombothculturesscoredhighestonsecureattachment,Americanuniversity studentswerecomparativelyhigheronsecure,dismissing,andfearfulattachmentcomparedwiththeTurkishuniversity students,wherethelatterwerehigheronpreoccupiedattachment.Wethinkthattheseresultsarealsorelevantforour studythatinvolvedTurkeyandtheUnitedKingdom.TheUSshowsimportantsimilaritiesinculturaldimensionswiththe UnitedKingdominthesensethatbothgroupsarerelativelyhighinindividualism(Hofstede,1994),andaffectiveautonomy (Schwartz,1994)andrelativelylowinharmony,embeddedness(Schwartz,1994)andgendergap(Hausmannetal.,2010). Fromtheperspectiveofautonomyandrelatedness,theTurkishculturehasrepeatedlybeendescribedasa“cultureof relatedness”(Kagitcibasi,1996)andtheBritishcultureasa“cultureofautonomy”wherethefamilyisnuclearratherthan extendedandtieswithinthefamilyandwidertiesofkinshipareweak(Razi,1993).GenderrolesalsovarybetweenTurkey andtheUnitedKingdom.TheUnitedKingdomhasbeenfoundtohaveahighlevelofgenderegalitarianismwhichemphasizes theequalityofmenandwomenwhereasTurkeyhasbeenfoundtohavehigherlevelsofinequalitybetweenmenandwomen (Emrich,Denmark,&DenHartog,2004;Williams&Best,1990).KagitcibasiandSunar(1992)alsosuggestthatthegender stereotypesinTurkeyaremoretraditionalthaninWesternsocieties(Ozkan&Lajunen,2005).Asaconsequence,Turkish womentendtoagreewiththestereotypethatmenoughttobeassertiveinromanticrelationships,whileTurkishmenare morelikelythanmeninWesternsocietiestoacceptstereotypesaboutbothmen’sdominanceandwomen’scomplianceof inromanticrelationships(Sakalli&Curun,2001).

1.6. Hypotheses

Wetestedthefollowinghypothesisaboutmediatorsoftheassociationbetweencultureandrelationshipsatisfaction:

Hypothesis1. (a)Avoidanceofintimacyandexperiencinganxietynegativelymediatetheassociationbetweencultureand

relationshipsatisfaction.

Hypothesis2. (a)Autonomy–relatednesspositivelymediatestheassociationbetweencultureandrelationshipsatisfaction. (b)Femininitypositivelymediatestheassociationbetweencultureandrelationshipsatisfaction.

Inaddition,wetestedthefollowinghypothesesaboutcountrydifferencesinmeanscores:

Hypothesis3. (a)BritishparticipantswillhavehigherdegreesofrelationshipsatisfactionthanTurkishparticipants.

(b)BritishparticipantswillhavehigherdegreesofautonomythanTurkishparticipants. (c)GenderroledifferenceswillbesmallerforBritishparticipantsthanTurkishparticipants.

Hypothesis4. (a)TurkishparticipantswillscorehigheronavoidanceandanxietythanBritishparticipants.

(b)TurkishparticipantswillscorehigheronrelatednessthanBritishparticipants.

2. Method

2.1. Participants

Participantsinthestudywere320individualsfromTurkey(N=170)andBritain(N=150),whovoluntarilytookpartin thestudy.Allparticipantswerecurrentlyinvolvedinaromanticrelationship.TheTurkishsampleconsistedof61malesand 109females,theBritishsampleof56malesand94females.TheageoftheTurkishparticipantsrangedfrom18to44years (M=25.44,SD=5.08)andfortheBritishparticipants,agerangedfrom20to51years(M=31.88,SD=6.99).FortheTurkish sample,thelengthofparticipants’currentrelationshiprangedfrom1monthto288months(M=25.04,SD=30.44).Forthe Britishsample,thelengthofparticipants’currentrelationshiprangedfrom3monthsto240months(M=61.54,SD=64.15). TheTurkishsamplewasdrawnfromthecityofIstanbulwhiletheBritishsampleinvolvedcitizensfromLondon.Inorder tocontrolfortheconfoundingeffectofbackgroundvariables,participantswerechosenfromsimilarbackgroundsinboth culturalgroups,withrespondentsmostlyurbanizedandhighlyeducated.Frequenciesandpercentageswerecalculatedfor thedemographicvariablesseparatelyforeachculture(seeTable1).Itcanbeseenfromthistablethatparticipantswere mainlyuniversitygraduates(93.0%and90.6%fortheTurkishandBritishsample,respectively)whowereunmarried(85.9% and64.7%fortheTurkishandBritishsample,respectively).TheTurkishsamplesweremostlylivingwiththeirparents(64.7%), whereastheBritishsamplewerelivingwiththeirpartners-spouses(39.3%)oralone(23.3%).Frequenciesandpercentages werecalculatedforethnicbackgroundsseparatelyforeachcultureandarepresentedinTable2.Ascanbeseenfromthe table,ethnicbackgroundsdifferedwithineachcountryandanalysesrevealedthatthosedifferencesweresignificantforthe targetvariables(adultattachment,genderroles,autonomy–relatedness,andrelationshipsatisfaction)fortheethnicgroups withintheUnitedKingdom,whichresultedininclusionofonlywhiteBritishparticipants(N=136)inthefurtheranalyses inthestudy.

2.2. Materials

2.2.1. Sociodemographicquestionnaire

Demographicquestionsincludedquestionsaboutparticipants’sex,age,nationality,ethnicbackground,maritalstatus, andeducation.Participantswerealsoaskedtoindicatethelengthoftheromanticrelationship.

Table1

Sampledescriptivespercountry.

Background Turkish British

N % N % Sex Male 61 35.9 51 35.9 Female 109 64.1 85 64.1 Maritalstatus Single 146 85.9 97 64.7 Married 17 10.0 39 26.0

Divorcedandseparated 7 4.1 11 7.3

Table2

Ethnicbackgroundspercountry.

Turkish British N % N % Turkish 160 94.1 Armenian 5 2.9 Kurdish 3 1.8 Other 2 1.2 WhiteBritish 136 90.7 AsianBritish 12 8.0 BlackBritish 2 1.3

2.2.2. Romanticrelationshipsatisfaction

TheRelationshipSatisfactionSubscale(RSS)oftheInvestmentModelScale(Rusbultetal.,1998)wasusedinorder tomeasurerelationshipsatisfaction.TheInvestmentModelScaleincludesfoursubscalesmeasuringcommitmentlevel, satisfactionlevel,qualityofalternatives,andinvestmentsize.In linewiththegoalofourstudy,onlytheRelationship SatisfactionSubscalewasusedwhichconsistedoftwoparts.Inthefirstpart,whichconsistedoffivestatements(e.g., “Mypartnerfulfilsmyneedsforintimacy”),respondentswereaskedtoratehowwelleachstatementdefinestheircurrent relationshipona4-pointLikertscalerangingfromDon’tagreeatall(1)toAgreecompletely(4).Thesecondpartwascomposed offivestatements(e.g.,“Ifeelsatisfiedwithourrelationship”);participantswereaskedtoratehowwelleachsentencedefines theircurrentrelationshipona9-pointLikertscalerangingfromDon’tagreeatall(1)toAgreecompletely(9).Thescalewas translatedintoTurkishbyBuyuksahin,Hasta,andHovardaoglu(2005).

2.2.3. Adultattachment

TheExperiencesinCloseRelationships(ECR)scalewasdevelopedbyBrennanetal.(1998;TurkishtranslationbySumer &Gungor,1999)inordertoassessadultattachmentdimensions.Thisself-reportscaleincludes36itemsforthedimensions ofattachmentanxietyandavoidance.Participantswereaskedtoindicatetheextenttowhicheachitemwasdescriptiveof theirfeelingsincloserelationshipsona7-pointLikertscalerangingfromdisagree(1)tostronglyagree(7).Eighteenofthe itemsmeasureattachmentanxiety(e.g.,“Iworryaboutbeingabandoned”),and18itemsmeasureattachmentavoidance (e.g.,“Igetuncomfortablewhenaromanticpartnerwantstobeveryclose”).Brennanetal.(1998)foundthatthetwoscales constitutetwoseparatefactorsinafactoranalysis.

2.2.4. Autonomous-relatedself-construal

TheAutonomy–RelatednessScale(ARS)wasdevelopedbyKagitcibasi(2007)inordertomeasuredifferenttypesof self-construals.TheARSisaself-reportmeasurewiththree9-itemsubscales:autonomy,relatedness,andautonomy–relatedness. Participantswereaskedtoindicatetheirdegreeofagreementona7-pointLikertscalerangingfromstronglydisagree(1) tostronglyagree(7).TheAutonomysubscaleincludesstatementssuchas“Peoplewhoareclosetomehavelittleinfluence onmydecisions”and“Ifeelindependentofthepeoplewhoareclosetome”.TheRelatednesssubscaleincludesstatements suchas“IneedthesupportofpersonstowhomIfeelverycloseto”and“Thosewhoareclosetomearemytoppriority” Finally,theautonomy–relatednesssubscaleincludesstatementssuchas“Itisimportanttohavebothcloserelationships andalsotobeautonomous”and“Apersoncanfeelbothindependentandconnectedtothosewhoareclosetohim/her”. 2.2.5. Genderroles

TheBemSexRoleInventory(BSRI)wasdevelopedbyBem(1974)tomeasuregenderroles.TheoriginalBSRIisa self-reportscalethatincludes60itemsforthedimensionsofmasculinity,femininity,andandrogyny.Thescalehas20items formasculinity,20itemsforfemininity,and20neutralitems.TheBSRIwasadaptedforTurkishcultureandtranslated intoTurkishbyKavuncu(1987).AshortversionoftheBSRIbasedonthecommonitemsbetweentheoriginalandTurkish adaptationwasused.Theshortversionincludes11itemsofthemasculinityscaleand15itemsofthefemininityscale. Themasculinityscaleinvolvesitemswithpresumedmalecharacteristics(e.g.,aggressive,ambitious,anddominant).The femininityscaleincludesitemswithpresumedfemalecharacteristics(e.g.,warm,loyal,andshy).Respondentswereasked toratehowwelleachofthe26personalitycharacteristicsdescribesthemselvesbyusinga7-pointscalerangingfromalmost alwaysfalse(1)toalmostalwaystrue(7).

2.3. Procedure

Table3

Reliabilityanalysisforeachculturalgroup.

Scale Turkey Britain

Relationshipsatisfaction .85 .87 Attachment Anxiety .86 .88 Avoidance .84 .91 Autonomy–relatedness Autonomy .78 .86 Relatedness .74 .87 Autonomy–relatedness .83 .79 Genderroles Femininity .70 .83 Masculinity .77 .78

variables(e.g.,adultattachmentdimensions,relationshipsatisfaction);therewerenosignificantdifferencesonthese vari-ablescoresbetweendataadministrations.Therefore,dataobtainedwiththetwomeasurementmethodswerecollated.In ordertocollecttheTurkishdata,back-translatedpaperquestionnairesweregiventoparticipantsandtheywererecruited throughsnowballsampling.

Foreachsubscaletheparticipants’scoreswerecalculatedbyaddinguptheirscoresforeachitem,whilereversingthe itemscoreswhererequired.Higherscorespointedtohigherlevelsofthetargetconstructforalltests;forexample,the highertheparticipantsscoredonanxiousattachment,themoretheyhadananxiousattachmentorientation.

3. Results

Resultsofthepresentstudyarepresentedintwoparts.Partoneexaminesthepsychometricpropertiesofthemeasures, includingtheirstructuralequivalence(theextenttowhichthescalesmeasurethesamepsychologicalconstructsinthetwo countries)andtheirreliabilities.Parttwoteststhehypotheses.

3.1. Psychometricproperties 3.1.1. Structuralequivalence

InordertoanalyzewhetherequivalentconstructsweremeasuredbytheinstrumentsusedinthestudyinTurkeyand theUnitedKingdom,structuralequivalenceofthemeasureswastestedusingexploratoryfactoranalysis(VandeVijver &Leung,1997).Firstly,factoranalyseswerecomputedwhichshowedthateachsubscalewasunifactorial.Secondly,the values ofTucker’sphi,anindexoffactorialagreementacrossthetwocountries,werecalculated.Valuesabove.90are takentoindicatestructuralequivalence(andhence,identityoftheunderlyingconstructs).ResultsindicatedthatTucker’s phivaluesforrelationshipsatisfaction,anxiety,avoidance,autonomy,relatedness,autonomy–relatedness,femininityand masculinitywere.99,.96,.97,1.00,.97,.97,.89,and.95,respectively.Hence,allscalesusedinthestudyarefoundtobe structurallyequivalentacrossculturalgroups,whichdemonstratesthattheymeasurethesameconstructbothinTurkey andtheUnitedKingdom.

3.1.2. Reliabilityanalysis

Theinternalconsistencyofthescaleswastestedseparatelyforeachsubscaleandeachculturalgroup.Ascanbeseen fromTable3,allsubscalesshowedsufficientlyhighinternalconsistencies(Cronbach’salphacoefficientswere.70andhigher, whichissufficientbycommonstandards,e.g.,Cicchetti,1994).

3.2. Hypothesistesting

3.2.1. Mediatorsoftheassociationbetweencultureandrelationshipsatisfaction

Table4

Mediatorsofassociationbetweencultureandromanticrelationshipsatisfaction.

Mediator Directeffects Indirecteffects

Coeff Coeff CI PC

Lower Upper Lower Upper

Anxiety −.252*** _{−.025 −.096 .041} Avoidance −.219*** _−.099* _{−.184 −.046} Autonomy −.001 .001 −.045 .047 Relatedness .176** _.075* _{.031 .141} Autonomy–relatedness .091 −.032* _{−.084 −.006} Femininity .132** _{.013 −.007 .052} Masculinity −.078 −.038* _{−.098 −.003} Anxiety–relatedness −.216 −.013 Avoidance–autonomy −.187 −.021 Avoidance–relatedness −.263 −.101 Autonomy–relatedness −.161 −.011 Relatedness–autonomy–relatedness .051 .171 Relatedness–masculinity .057 .199 Avoidance–femininity −.201 −.055 Relatedness–femininity .010 .131 Autonomy–relatedness–femininity −.107 −.009 Femininity–masculinity .003 .116

Note:Thepairwisecontraststhatarenotlistedinthetablewerenotsignificant.Coeff:regressioncoefficients.CI:confidenceintervals.PC:pairwisecontrasts.

*_p<.05. **_p<.01. ***_p<.001.

Inordertoexaminewhichmediatorswerestrongerinindirecteffects,pairwisecontrastsoftheindirecteffectswere computed(bootstrapforindirecteffects,confidenceintervals,andpairwisecontrastscanbeseeninTable4).Resultsindicated thattheindirecteffectofavoidancewassignificantlystrongerthanrelatedness(90%CI:_−.263to_−.101),relatednesswas significantlystrongerthanautonomy–relatedness(90%CI:.051to.171),andrelatednesswassignificantlystrongerthan masculinity(90%CI:.057to.199).AfinalaspectofTable4isacomparisonofdirectandindirecteffects.Thedirecteffects tendedtobestrongerthantheindirecteffects.

3.2.2. Hypothesesaboutdifferencesinmeanscoresofculturalgroups

Inordertotestthedifferencesonadultattachmentdimensions,autonomy,relatednessandrelationshipsatisfaction betweenTurkeyand theUnitedKingdom, a2 (culture:Turkish vs. British)×2 (sex:male vs.female) MANCOVA was conductedinwhichageandlengthoftherelationshipwerecovariates,andanxiety,avoidance,autonomy,relatedness, autonomy–relatedness,andrelationshipsatisfactionwerethedependentvariables.Ageandlengthoftherelationshipwere usedascovariatesintheanalysesasTurkishandBritishparticipantswerefoundtodifferonthosevariables.Themultivariate maineffectofculturewashighlysignificant,Wilks’lambda=.64,F(6,295)=27.640,p<.001,(partial)2_{=.360.Univariate}

testsrevealedthatparticipantsfromTurkeyandtheUnitedKingdomsignificantlydifferedonallvariablesexceptanxiety; means,standarddeviations,andeffectsizesforeachvariablesplitbyculturalgroupcanbefoundinTable5.Morespecifically, asignificanteffectofcultureonrelationshipsatisfactionwasobtained,F(1,300)=64.351,p<.001,2_{=.177;itcanbeseen}

inTable5thatBritishparticipantsreportedhigherlevelsofrelationshipsatisfactionthanTurkishparticipants(supporting Hypothesis3a).Moreover,theeffectofcultureonavoidancewassignificant(F(1,300)=7.939,p<.01,2_{=.026);consistent}

withtheexpectations,Turkishparticipantsscoredhigheronavoidance(discomfortwithclosenessanddependency).Yet,

Table5

Meansandstandarddeviationspersubscaleandcountryandeffectsizes.

Scale Turkish British Effectsize

therewasanon-significanteffectofcultureonanxiety,F(1,300)=1.851,p>.05,2_{=.006;theTurkishmeanwashigher}

thantheBritishmean(asexpected),butthedifferencewasnotsignificant.Therefore,Hypothesis4awasconfirmedonly foravoidance.Therewasasignificanteffectofcultureonautonomy,F(1,300)=33.714,p<.001,2_{=.101;British}

partici-pantshadhigherscoresonautonomythanTurkishparticipants,whichconfirmsHypothesis3b.Furthermore,therewasan expectedsignificanteffectofcultureonrelatedness,F(1,300)=31.437,p<.001,2_{=.095;Turkishparticipantsscoredhigher}

onrelatednesscomparedtoBritishparticipants(supportingHypothesis4b).

Hypothesis3cpredictedthatgenderroledifferenceswillbesmallerforBritishadultsthanTurkishadults.Wetested thisinatwostepprocedure.Firstly,differencesbetweenthemasculinityandfemininityscoreswerecomputedforeach participant.Secondly,aone-wayANCOVAwasconductedinwhichculturewastheindependentvariable,ageandlength oftherelationshipwerecovariates,andthedifferencebetweenthemasculinityandfemininityscorewasthedependent variable.Resultsshowedthattheeffectofculturewasnonsignificant,F(1,302)=1.227,p>.05,2_{=.004;thedifference}

betweenmasculinityandfemininityforTurkishadults(M=.51,SD=1.34)wasnotsignificantlylargerthanthedifference betweenmasculinityandfemininityforBritishadults(M=.47,SD=1.23).Thus,Hypothesis3cisrejected.

4. Discussion

Thepresentstudyexaminedthreedifferenttheoreticalframeworks– adultattachmentdimensions,autonomous-related self-construals,andgenderroles–inordertoidentifykeydeterminantsofrelationshipsatisfactionamongBritishand Turkishadults.Anxiety,avoidance,relatednessandfemininityhadsignificantdirecteffectsonrelationshipsatisfaction. Additionally,avoidance,relatedness,autonomy–relatedness,andmasculinitymediatedtherelationshipbetweenculture andrelationshipsatisfaction.Thestrongestmediatorwasadultattachment,morespecificallyavoidantattachment.Finally, analysesshowedsignificantdifferencesbetweenTurkeyandBritaininavoidance,autonomy,relatedness,andrelationship satisfaction.Thecurrentresultsareparticularlynoteworthyfortworeasons.Firstly,theysupportthedirecteffectofadult attachmentdimensions,autonomous,relatedself-construal(notablyrelatedness)andgenderroles(notablyfemininity)as wellasthemediatingroleofadultattachmentdimensions(notablyavoidance),autonomous,relatedself-construal(notably relatednessandautonomy–relatedness),andgenderroles(notablymasculinity)inexplainingdifferencesinrelationship satisfactionamongTurkishandBritishadults.Secondly,salientcross-culturaldifferencesintheadultattachment dimen-sions,self-construal,andrelationshipsatisfactionwereobtained.Inordertoexaminethesharedandculture-specificeffects ofthevariables,wefocusbelowoneachconstructseparately.

4.1. Relationshipsatisfaction

Inthecurrentstudy,thedirecteffectsofadultattachmentdimensionsonrelationshipsatisfaction,andtheindirecteffect ofavoidance,werethestrongestacrosstwogroups.Thesizeoftheseeffectsmaybeduetothedifferentialproximityof theinstrumentstoassesscloserelationships.Itemsmeasuringadultattachmentdimensionsweremoreproximalandmore directinthesensethatstatementsparticularlytargetedintimaterelationships(e.g.,comfortablebeingclosetoromantic partners),whereasitemsmeasuringautonomy/relatednessfocusedonrelationsingeneral(e.g.,preferringtokeepacertain distanceincloserelationships)anditemsmeasuringgenderroleswereleastspecificwithregardtoromanticrelations(e.g., actingasaleader).Itemsmoredirectlyinvolvingromanticrelationshipsmaybemorepowerfulmediators.Inaddition,we werealsointerestedintheexplanationofthecross-culturaldifferencesinrelationshipsatisfaction.Turkishparticipants werelesssatisfiedintheirromanticrelationshipsthanBritishparticipants.Thisdifferencecouldbepartiallyexplainedby combiningtheeffectsofadultattachmentdimensionsandautonomous-relatedself-construal.Britishparticipantsreported morecomfortwithcloseness,andtheywerehigheronautonomy–relatedness,bothofwhicharebelievedtoyieldmore satisfyingrelationships.

4.2. Adultattachmentdimensions

thesenations:inparticular,ageandrural/urbanlocationmayparticularlyimportantintheTurkishcontext(Kagitcibasi, 2007).Young,urbanized,andmoreeducatedTurkishindividualshavebeenfoundtobemoreindividualisticthanolder, lesseducated,andlessurbanizedTurkishindividuals(Goregenli,1997;Imamoglu&Karakitapoglu-Aygun,2004).Inthe presentstudy,theTurkishsamplewascomposedofhighlyeducated,youngandurbanizedadults,whichmayexplainthe nonsignificantanxietyscoresaswellasthehighavoidancescoresoftheTurkishparticipants.

4.3. Autonomous-relatedself-construal

Resultsofthepresentstudyindicatedthatrelatedness(bothasadirectandanindirecteffect)mattersmorethanautonomy forrelationshipsatisfactioninbothgroups.Ourresultsthereforesuggestthatinbothgroupstheinterpersonaldistance dimensionofKagitcibasi’smodelismorevitalforrelationshipsatisfactioninromanticrelationshipscomparedtotheagency dimension.Wefoundthatthecombinationofthetwodimensions,autonomyrelatedness,didnothavealarge(statistical) influenceonrelationshipsatisfaction.Therewasanalmostsignificantpositivedirecteffectandasmaller,yetsignificant indirectnegativeeffect.Itisprobablyfairtoconcludethatthenetinfluenceofautonomy–relatednessislimitedandnotin linewithourexpectationofapositiveassociation.Additionally,assuggestedabove,higherautonomyscoresoftheBritish participantsandhigherrelatednessscoreoftheTurkishparticipantsmayreflectdifferentfamilymodels,whichinturn encouragedifferentvaluesacrosscultures.Turkishsocietydisplaysmanycharacteristicsofcollectivism(Goregenli,1997), whichmayexplainthehighrelatednessscoresofTurkishparticipants.Nevertheless,thefamilymodelofindependence favorstheindependenceofthechildandseparationasanecessityforhealthychilddevelopmentasopposedtothefamily modelofinterdependenceorthefamilymodelofpsychologicalinterdependence,whichincludescontrolaswellasautonomy (Smith,Bond,&Kagitcibasi,2006).ThefamilymodelofindependenceismostlybelievedtobeacharacteristicofWestern societies,whichmayexplainthehighautonomyscoresofBritishparticipants.

4.4. Genderroles

Consistentwithourexpectationsandpreviousresearch(e.g.,Vonk&VanNobelen,1993),morefeminineandless mas-culineindividualsweremoresatisfiedintheirrelationshipacrossthetwoculturalgroups.Itcanbearguedthatequal relationshipsbetweenthecouplesleadtosharingtherolesanddecisionsaboutthehouseandthechildren,whichleads togreaterhappinessandrelationshipqualityaswellassatisfactioninbothculturalgroups(Gottman,1999;Gray-Little, Baucom,&Hamby,1996;Steil,1997;Whisman&Jacobson,1990).

Thenonsignificanceofdifferencesbetweenfemininityandmasculinityacrossthetwocultures mightbeduetothe relativelyhighlevelsofeducationofthesamplesinbothcountriesandtothecontextofculturalchangeinTurkey. Urban-ization,increasingworkandeducationalopportunitiesaswellasnewvalueshavesignificantlyaffectedthestructureof genderrolesinTurkey(Sunar,2002).Oursamplewasrelativelyhighlyeducatedandurbanized,whichmayhelpexplainthe nonsignificanceofgenderrolesinexplainingcross-culturaldifferencesinrelationshipsatisfaction.

4.5. Implicationsofthestudy

4.6. Limitationsofthestudy

Thecurrentstudyaimedtoexplainandtestcross-culturaldifferencesinrelationshipsatisfaction.Eventhoughthecurrent studyproducedanumber ofinterestingfindings,itisimportanttoconsideritslimitations.Oneofthemethodological limitationsinthisstudywastheuseofself-reportquestionnairesinordertoidentifyadultattachmentdimensions,gender roles,self-construalandrelationshipsatisfaction.Eventhoughself-reportquestionnairesareoftenusedinthistypeof psychologicalresearch,itwouldbeinterestingtocombinedifferentmethodsinordertotriangulatetheresults(Vande Vijver&Leung,1997).Inadditiontousingquantitativemethods(scales),qualitativemethodsincludinginterviewsandfocus groupsmayprovidebroaderunderstandingofthedifferencesacrosscultures.Furthermore,inbothgroupsthemajorityof theparticipantswerehighlyeducated.Thehigheducationleveloftheparticipantsmighthaveinfluencedtheirresponses andledtodifficultiesinmakinggeneralizations.Thedatawerecollectedfromtwocities;culturaldifferencesmaybebetter understoodbyalsocomparingruralandurbanpopulationswithinacultureaswellasacrosscultures.Previousresearch showedthatthereiswithin-cultureheterogeneityinTurkey:rural,olderandlesseducatedsectorsofthecountryhighly differfromurban,youngerandmoreeducatedpartsofthecountry(Imamo˘glu&Yasak,1997).

4.7. Suggestionsforfutureresearch

Futureresearchcanextendthefindingsofthecurrentstudybyfocusingondifferenceswithincountries,suchasregional differences(VandeVijver&Leung,2000).Futureworkcouldalsoconsidercommitmentalongsiderelationshipsatisfaction; suchworkshouldconsiderotherpossibledeterminantsofcommitment,suchasqualityofalternativesandinvestmentsize (Rusbultetal.,1998),aswellastheculturalconstraintsthatmaypreventrelationshipbreakdowninsomecultures(Goodwin, 2008).Finally,inthecurrentstudy,eventhoughtheparticipantswereinvolvedinaromanticrelationship,responseswere onlyobtainedfromonepartner.Futureworkcouldlookatbothpartners’perceptions,andtherelationshipbetweenthese perceptualdifferencesandthecultural-leveldatacollectedinthisstudy.

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