Individualism and collectivism as moderators of the association between attachment insecurities, coping, and social support

In two studies, we examined the role of country and individualism and collectivism as moderators of associations between attachment insecurities (anxiety and avoidance) and coping and social support. Study 1 examined the ability of anxiety, avoidance, and country to predict coping and social support variables in Mexico and the US. Anxiety, avoidance, and country had significant effects on coping and social support variables, but there were no significant interactions between the attachment dimensions and country. Study 2 examined the same variables as in Study 1, but also included measures of individualism and collectivism. The results were similar and support the universality of attachment theory but also show that high individualism and low collectivism are associated with stronger relations between attachment dimensions, on one hand, and with diversion coping and perceived social support, perhaps because these variables are related to the most salient aspects of collectivism: duty to one's group and passive coping.