Attachment Representations of Korean-Immigrant Mothers in America

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the attachment representations of Korean immigrant mothers in America. The subjects were 25 first-generation Korean immigrant mothers who reside in Los Angeles. The Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985) was used for assessing their attachment representations. As a result, 36% of the mothers were classified as secure-autonomous (F), 52% as insecure-dismissing (Ds), and 12% as insecure-preoccupied (E). It was concluded that there were lower rates of the secure type among Korean immigrant mothers who had immigrated to the U.S. during the 70's and 80's and higher rates of the dismissing type compared to mothers in South Korea.