Study Links Insecure Attachment to More Children in 15,120-Person Cross-Cultural Survey
Updated
Updated · PsyPost · Jun 28
Study Links Insecure Attachment to More Children in 15,120-Person Cross-Cultural Survey
3 articles · Updated · PsyPost · Jun 28
Summary
15,120 respondents across Japan, Canada and the United States showed fearful and preoccupied attachment styles were associated with having more biological children in all three countries.
Secure attachment, often treated as the healthiest pattern, was tied to fewer children in Canada and the United States but showed no significant link to family size in Japan.
Japan showed the strongest fearful-attachment effect, which researchers said may reflect collectivist norms, economic pressure and delayed parenthood overriding individual relationship tendencies.
The study used self-reported online surveys and a brief four-item attachment measure, and its cross-sectional design means it identifies correlation rather than causation.
Researchers said the findings challenge the idea that secure attachment always confers reproductive advantage and want to test the pattern in non-WEIRD, natural-fertility populations.