Gender Differences in the Intergenerational Transmission of Emotional Regulation:A Moderated Mediation Model of Attachment Styles

Abstract

Emotional regulation is a foundational psychological process shaped by early familial environments and relational dynamics. This study investigates gender differences in the intergenerational transmission of emotional regulation, examining the mediating role of attachment styles within a moderated mediation framework. Grounded in Attachment Theory (Bowlby, 1969), the Process Model of Emotion Regulation (Gross, 1998), and Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977), the study explores how parental emotional regulation and emotion coaching contribute to young adults' emotional functioning. A cross-sectional design was employed with 250 young adults (18–35 years; M = 24.6, SD = 4.2; 52% female) from Pakistan, recruited via convenience and snowball sampling. Culturally adapted measures assessed perceived parental emotional regulation, attachment styles, and emotional dysregulation. Data were analyzed using SPSS and Hayes' PROCESS macro (Model 7; Hayes, 2018). Results indicated that parental emotional regulation significantly predicted offspring emotional dysregulation through insecure attachment styles. Gender significantly moderated the indirect effect via attachment anxiety, with stronger transmission pathways observed among females. These findings highlight the culturally embedded nature of emotional development and underscore gendered pathways in emotional transmission within collectivistic contexts.