İlişki kalitesi, doyumu ve kaygının kültürlerarası incelemesi: Özbenlik algısı ve kök aile ile ilişkiler

The capacity to form committed romantic relationships is a key milestone in young adulthood (Rauer, Pettit, Lansford, Bates & Dodge, 2013). The goal of the present study is to explore how self-construals, formed either through culture or family-of-origin experiences, have an impact on young adults' romantic relationships and functioning. Self-construal is defined through two theories: Kağıtçıbaşı's Family Change Theory and Bowen's Family System Theory. The sample consisted of 18-25 year old urban college students recruited from the USA (n= 200), Turkey (n= 196), and Pakistan (n= 159), who had been in a romantic relationship for at least three months. Findings were mixed for how the types of self-construal influenced relationship experiences and anxiety across cultures. When tested independently, both differentiation of self (DoS) and autonomy positively predicted relationship satisfaction. However, when tested simultaneously with relatedness and autonomy, only the DoS emerged as a consistent predictor of relationship satisfaction in all countries; autonomy and relatedness had a significant (positive) effect only in the USA. Anxiety was negatively associated with DoS across countries, but was not related to autonomy or relatedness. The DoS seems to operate at a more micro and intrapersonal level, whereas autonomy and relatedness seem to operate at more relational and cultural levels. This study lends support for the idea of an integrative framework to study self-construal and romantic relationships in young adulthood from a cultural-systemic perspective. Keywords: romantic relationships, relationship quality, relationship satisfaction, autonomy, relatedness, culture, self-construal, family system theory, differentiation of self