초록 열기/닫기 버튼
The present study examined the relationships among attachment styles, perceived stress, and coping patterns. A total of 128 North American and Korean missionaries from several Christian mission organizations participated in the study. Attachment Styles Questionnaire (ASQ), Perceived Stress Scale, and Ways of Coping Questionnaire were used for this study. Due to English fluency and nationalities, 110 North Korean and Korean missionaries' responses were analyzed for descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and analyses of variance. The most salient findings of this study were that secure attachment was related to low perceived stress and that insecure attachment was related to high perceived stress. This general finding supports both the theory regarding the pervasive impact of early attachment styles, and previous research done primarily in the US. The problem-focused coping patterns showed a significant negative correlation only between stress and the avoidant attachment style as measured by the ASQ Discomfort with Closeness scale for North American missionaries. Notably, the results also indicated (a) a difference between correlation patterns of Korean missionaries and North American missionaries, and (b) a main effect of culture for dismissing and avoidant attachment styles and for emotion-focused and problem-focused coping. In each case, the Korean missionaries scored higher than the American missionaries did. The differences between cultural groups were discussed. The statistical differences between the two cultural groups indicate that expanded research on the differences and similarities between cultures will be an interesting and valuable subject for future research. Implications for missionary member care are also discussed.
