| Attachment hierarchy is one's arrangement of a small set of significant others that functions as the resources of emotional support and the natural transmission of an individual from family-centered being into social being and from life situation to another. Having an attachment hierarchy, or a clear order of attachment preference, is a normative and healthy aspect of human development from infancy through adulthood. However, normative findings regarding attachment hierarchy are mainly derived from a western sample, especially Euro-Americans, and little research has focused on the effects of culture. Considering the significant role of collectivism, social norms, and policies playing within Chinese society, the current study hypothesizes that the attachment hierarchy of Chinese young adults may differ from their American counterparts. This study would demonstrate the significance of taking cultural variations account through inquiring into the contextual differences and propose the using of the Attachment Support Inventory, which examines the intensity of attachment behavior, to learn whether or not the attachment hierarchy is arranged differently between Chinese and American young adults, and how it is different. |
