Parental rejection and fear of intimacy in the United States and Guatemala: Context and culture matter
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Parental rejection and fear of intimacy in the United States and Guatemala: Context and culture matter Brien K. Ashdown 1
&
Carrie M. Brown 2 & Amanda N. Faherty 3
&
Abigail A. Camden 2
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The present study examined the relationship between perceived parental acceptance-rejection and fear of intimacy; explored psychological maladjustment and interpersonal relationship anxiety as mediators of this relationship; and examined whether the patterns of relations between perceived parental acceptance-rejection, psychological maladjustment, and fear of intimacy were similar across the cultural contexts of the U.S.A. and Guatemala. Participants (N = 196) were college students from Guatemala (n = 96; 77.6% female) and the U.S. (n = 100; 70% female). Results indicate that in both cultural contexts, perceived maternal rejection was associated with interpersonal relationship anxiety, and perceived paternal acceptance-rejection was associated with psychological maladjustment. However, only in the U.S.A. were both maternal and paternal rejection associated with fear of intimacy. Further, we found that perceived rejection from mothers and fathers was indirectly associated with greater fear of intimacy via greater psychological maladjustment in the U.S.A. sample. Findings suggest the importance of parent-child interactions on later outcomes, and the need to ensure that children feel warmth and acceptance for positive interpersonal relationships and adjustment later in life. Keywords IPARTheory . Parental acceptance-rejection . Fear of intimacy . Psychological adjustment . Relationship anxiety . Guatemala
Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory, or IPARTheory, highlights the important role of interpersonal acceptancerejection in human socioemotional development over the lifespan (Rohner 1986; Rohner 2016). IPARTheory traditionally focused exclusively on parental acceptance-rejection (and was referred to as Parental Acceptance-Rejection Theory, or PARTheory), but by 1999 the theory’s focus shifted to interpersonal acceptance-rejection, which now also includes peer, sibling, and teacher acceptance-rejection, as Carrie M. Brown is now in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Western Governors University. Amanda N. Faherty is now in the Department of Psychology at Ithaca College. Abigail A. Camden is now in the Department of Psychology at Auburn University. * Brien K. Ashdown [email protected] 1
Department of Psychological Science, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY 14456, USA
2
Department of Psychology, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA, USA
3
Francis L. Hiatt School of Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA
well as acceptance-rejection in intimate adult and other attachment relationships (Rohner 2016). Interpersonal acceptance-rejection lies on a continuum (referred to as the Warmth Dimension), with acceptance on one end and rejection on the other. Acceptance is shown by actions including comfort, care, and affection; rejection
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