algorithmic problem solving for father daughter relationships analysis

Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang

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Xuan Juliana Wang’s debut collection of short stories, Home Remedies , brings the contemporary Chinese and Chinese American experience into profound, funny, and sometimes surreal focus. Organized into three sections—Family, Love, and Time and Space—the collection’s twelve stories span generations and class, but much attention is paid to China’s Strawberry Generation, a term coined for millennials who bruise easily, overprotected by parents during mainland China’s one-child policy, who escaped hardships faced during the turbulent years of China’s Cultural Revolution. As the parents’ difficult pasts loom quietly on these pages, the millennial generation’s levity stands out in sharp relief. 

Through lightness and humor, the millennial characters try to invent their own futures and identities while testing the boundaries of the real. In “The Strawberry Years,” Yang, a recent immigrant from Beijing, agrees to introduce a Chinese actress to New York as a favor to a colleague. With her numerous Livestream fans, the actress becomes even more popular in Yang’s Brooklyn apartment, reminiscent of the TV show Beijingers in New York . She slowly takes over his room and his friends, displacing Yang from his own life, as we wonder what will become of him. 

Maggie, the second-generation Chinese American narrator in “Future Cat,” owns a wine-aging machine that can mature not just wine but a snail, avocados, her cat, and eventually herself. As she shuttles toward age, she reflects on her family: “Her own parents had spent most of their lives trying to become citizens of this country. She knew there was always a price to be paid, higher than anyone ever anticipates.” Not wanting to revisit both her and her parents’ sacrifices, she states, “She just wants to live!” 

“Days of Being Mild” depicts bei piao , twentysomething drifters in post-Olympic Beijing who confess, “We are not good at math or saving money but we are very good at being young.” They make semipornographic music videos to shock Chinese viewers and earn fans in the West. They drift though life lonely and aimless, searching for consequence; as a coda, “Fuerdai  to the Max” reveals the consequences of too much aimless privilege among the fuerdai , the second-generation rich. 

Time expands and contracts in these stories, which offer glimpses across generations, too. In “Algorithmic Problem-Solving for Father-Daughter Relationships,” the first-generation Chinese father fears his second-generation daughter’s independence. His best means of understanding her requires parsing their relationship through algorithmic code. The parental relationship in “Mott Street in July” represents a “Chinese love,” one of sacrifice and suffering, yet when an oracle grandmother tells the mother her luck has changed, the parents abandon their children to join the story’s invented “Fish Generation,” America’s unwanted immigrants.

Xuan Juliana Wang’s innovative and magnetic voice offers new perspectives on immigration, on the complexities of culture and imagination, love and technology, and the surrealistic visions of the new Chinese generation—perspectives so different from past generations and underrepresented in contemporary literature. Through imagining the future and unburdening the past, Wang vividly captures the now.

Alison Wellford Cedar Crest College

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Xuan Juliana Wang

Xuan Juliana Wang was a 2011-2013 Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. She was born in Heilongjiang, China but after age seven, did most of her growing up in Los Angeles. She has lived and worked in Paris, New York, and Beijing.  www.xuanjulianawang.com

Articles By This Author:

• Algorithmic Problem Solving for Father-Daughter Relationships Fiction Summer 2015
• Days of Being Mild Fiction Winter 2012-2013

Friday, April 12, 2024

UCLA lecturer writes short story collection especially pertinent to young Asians

(Rachel Wong/Daily Bruin)

By Ethan Pak

June 24, 2019 9:41 a.m..

An introductory computer science textbook inspired a story about algorithmically approaching father-daughter relationships.

After numerous drafts, the short story became one of 12 in UCLA lecturer Xuan Juliana Wang’s book “Home Remedies: Stories,” which was published May 14. The collection is organized into three sections – family, love, and time and space – and explores experiences, such as feeling lost, pertinent to young Asians in both the United States and China.

Through her book, Wang said she hopes to demonstrate that young Chinese people have stories worth sharing in contemporary English literature.

“I don’t want to make immigrants or diaspora or this immigrant experience an ‘other’ experience – some racialized, politicized experience that should be studied for its historical implications,” Wang said. “I just want to show that these people are complicated and funny and interesting.”

Growing up watching TV, Wang said she particularly enjoyed pharmaceutical commercials, which eventually led her to create the title for her book. She was drawn to the gentle tone of the narrator’s voice and how they provided a simple solution in the form of a pill for a myriad of problems. She used a similar tone when writing the title story “Home Remedies for Non-Life-Threatening Ailments,” she said, using imperative sentences to tenderly guide the reader.

[RELATED: LA Times Festival of Books showcases live poetry readings, cooking demonstrations ]

Similar to how pharmaceutical commercials do not provide solutions to common problems, such as grief and self-doubt, Wang said she likewise will not include specific answers in her stories. However, she said the stories can potentially act as a starting point for readers to begin resolving issues.

“When you’re trying to untangle a necklace or headphone, when you pull really hard on both ends, it’s just never going to come apart. But there’s something about reading,” Wang said. “You’re massaging the knots and they loosen up. Maybe one day you’ll be able to untangle them.”

For the story “Algorithmic Problem Solving For Father-Daughter Relationships,” Wang said she was inspired by an undergraduate computer science course at Columbia University, which she took in the hopes of unlocking hidden potential as an engineer.

Despite not performing well in the class, Wang said she fell in love with her textbook, specifically how it broke down problems and tried to solve them algorithmically. When writing her book, she used pseudo-code and instructional sentences to explore the various people in her life that were emotionally unavailable to her, she said.

In her early 20s, Wang said she moved to Beijing for two-and-a-half years, which played a vital role in developing her imagination. As a result, her stories reflect a modern Beijing, said English professor King-Kok Cheung, especially in the story “Days of Being Mild.” She captures the lifestyle through an accurate portrayal of “young” music and current social issues, such as LGBTQ relationships in a homophobic China, Cheung said.

“(The story is) about contemporary Beijing, about the hip, young-people scene,” Cheung said. “These are the kinds of scene that writers like Ha Jin and Yiyun Lee, who had left China quite early, cannot capture.”

For another short story, Wang found inspiration while working as an interpreter for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she said. She uncovered a hidden story that led her to write “Vaulting the Sea,” which details a love story between two Chinese synchronized divers. Wang said she watched the two divers do an interview during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and though the interview was muted, she noticed the divers’ body language, indicating a potential romantic interest.

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Unlike older Chinese writers like Yiyun Lee, who have influenced Wang, Wang’s book contains plenty of humor, said Justin Torres, an English assistant professor and Wang’s colleague. For instance, in the titular story, the diseases are not fatal and range from depression to simply being stood up by a boyfriend, said Cheung. Regardless of the severity of the disease, there is still a home remedy for it, Cheung said.

Born in China and raised in the States, Wang wrote stories that take place in both China and the U.S., making her book especially relevant today, Torres said. The book captures what it’s like to live between two countries, he said. Cheung said students from both U.S. and China would find the book appealing as many scenes and themes are relatable to them.

“It’s about the U.S. and the Beijing they know. It’s not just about history; books about history are really important, but students would feel more attracted to places, to the scenes they know themselves,” Cheung said. “These are about young people.”

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Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang: Shifting cultures

Home Remedies begins with ‘Mott Street in July’ which sees three children of Chinese immigrants left to fend for themselves in the one-bedroom flat they’ve long outgrown, their eyes fixed on an American future. Its dreamlike quality is mirrored in the final story ‘The Art of Straying Off Course’, a whirlwind of snapshots which takes us through an architect’s life as her career progresses until she visits her ancestral home, neatly bookending the collection. One of my favourites, ‘Vaulting the Sea’, is about two seven-year-old boys, future Olympic hopefuls, who become the closest of friends but as they grow older one wants more from the other than he’s able to give. The titular ‘Home Remedies for Non-Life-Threatening Ailments’ is made up of a list of emotional ills with advice for remedying them, from dealing with a crush on an ageing professor to avoiding a father’s grief-stricken phone calls when his ancient dog dies. In ‘Algorithmic Problem-Solving for Father-Daughter Relationships’ a divorced computer scientist muses on the failure of his logical approach to his relationship with his daughter who has never known the hunger he endured and doesn’t appreciate the fact that he knows to the dollar how much it has cost to raise her. ‘The Strawberry Years’ has a photographer struggling to make ends meet and fed up with the multitude of requests to look after Chinese visitors, one of who seems intent on taking over his apartment with her burgeoning Livestream audience’s approval.

Told mostly from the perspective of young Chinese, these are poignant, sharply observed stories often undercut with a dark humour. Some explore intergenerational relationships and the gulf which exists between the expectations and experience of parents and children. They reveal the sheer pace of change for many Chinese, from the living memory of the Cultural Revolution to expectations of a future little different from those of wealthy Americans. Wang’s characters range from the spoilt second-generation rich boy, returning from the States after an act of cruelty for which his best friend may have to pay, to the young man who agrees to a marriage he knows will make him a rich man but at a high price. Her writing is plain yet striking:

His father was a coal miner, a thin, muscular man who looked permanently charred

The blue-eyed girl was still holding on to his hand and he was about to ask “Where is the party?” but the words came to him in Chinese. Then like a voice in an interrupted dream, they flew out of him in perfect English  

I liked the girl I married very much, but not the woman she became after we immigrated to America  

Not all the stories worked for me but it’s an interesting collection which explores a culture I’m ashamed to say I know far less about than I should.

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8 thoughts on “Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang: Shifting cultures”

Was it the Lauren Groff recommendation that brought this onto your reading radar? Or, were you simply aiming to fill that gap you’ve identified for yourself, wanting to peer into this cultural experience?

The Lauren Groff comparison was a clever bit of pitching by the publisher but I’m a sucker for fiction about the immigrant experience so I’d say it was a mixture of both.

I suppose it’s never really just one thing, is it. Now that I think about it! *laughs* Well, not when one’s stack/TBR is already unwieldy. (Leaving this partly to see if my comment gets booted back to the margin again!)

Not booted to my margin! Let’s hope this reply shows up your end.

This sounds really impressive for a debut. I really like the quote about the miner.

It’s a very striking description isn’t it. Summons up a vivid image and there are lots more like that.

Reading about the immigrant experience is always an eye-opener, no matter how many times one has already read about it!

Everyone’s experience is different, isn’t it, both from the point of view of the reasons for uprooting and the welcome, or otherwise, a new country offers.

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These 12 Inventive Stories Explore The Realities Of Being Young & Chinese

There are those short story collections that you can consume little by little, that you can pick up and put down at your leisure, enjoying just a small taste here and there. And then there are those short story collections that consume you, that worm their way into your bookish heart on the first page and, by the last, have spread through your entire being. Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang falls into the latter category.

Over the course of 12 stories, Wang explores a new generation of modern Chinese youth: A group of first-generation siblings left to figure out how to survive American life without their parents in New York’s Chinatown (in “Mott Street in July”); a spoiled teenager or “fuerdai,” a “second-generation rich” kid who will go to extreme lengths to preserve his privilege (in “ Fuerdai to the Max”); a struggling writer whose life is transformed when a mysterious gadget with the power to age whatever she puts into it arrives in the mail (in “Future Cat”); an Olympic-hopeful synchronized diver whose biggest challenge isn’t the high board but the complicated feelings he has for his partner (in “Vaulting the Sea”); and an immigrant father who understands computer science better than he does his second-generation Chinese-American daughter (in “Algorithm Problem Solving for Father-Daughter Relationships).

Although their stories only span a couple dozen pages at most, all of characters Wang writes into existence feel whole, complete, and fully developed. Their lives may be drastically different from one another — some live in Beijing’s most expensive high-rises while others struggle to survive on New York City’s streets — but their struggles are all echos of one another: They desire to belong to the present, they're afraid of letting go of the past, they long for love and acceptance, and they fear alienation from the culture they come from and the one they wish to be a part of.

“We are what the people call Bei Piao — a term coined to describe twentysomethings who drift aimlessly to the northern capital, a phenomenal tumble of new faces to Beijing,” the narrator of “Days of Being Mild” explains. “We are the generation who awoke to consciousness listening to rock and roll and who few ourselves milk, McDonald’s, and box sets of Friends . We are not our parents, with their loveless marriages and party-assigned jobs, and we are out to prove it.”

Whether it is young Chinese-American girl living in Paris whose life is transformed by a dead girl’s wardrobe or an old woman heading to a vacation in space, each individual to grace the pages of Home Remedies has their motivations, their desires, and more often, their fears on full display. It is with the help of Wang’s masterful manipulation of the surreal that they become amplified, tangible things.

Wang plays with different perspectives and experiences of Chinese youth throughout her collection, but her subjects aren’t the only things she changes story to story. The versatile author also experiments with form as well. As the title implies, “Algorithmic Problem-Solving for Father-Daughter Relationships” uses a set of rules and operations to investigate strained familial relations. Written as a catalogue, the book’s titular story “Home Remedies for Non-Life-Threatening Ailments,” explores things like boredom, longing, sadness, and self-doubt in list form. For discomfort from “seeing your mother kiss another man,” it suggests you “Stare at the bouquet of white lilies on the kitchen island with disdain; will them to die with your hatred.” For anxiety that stems from “unfulfilled potential,” it recommends you “Stop drinking coffee, start rolling cigarettes, bake cookies and share. Gain weight and fret.” These imaginative changes in structure help make Home Remedies more engaging, and encourage readers to not only frantically flip from page to page, but from story to story.

A carefully wrought collection filled with imagination and empathy, Home Remedies is a collection you won't put down until you've read every single page.

This article was originally published on June 4, 2019

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Daughter-to-Father Attachment Style and Emerging Adult Daughter's Psychological Well-Being: Mediating Role of Interpersonal Communication Motives

Sadia jilani.

Department of Humanities, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Park Road, Tarlai Kalan, Islamabad, Pakistan

Mubeen Akhtar

Fayyaz ahmad faize, shamyle rizwan khan, associated data.

Data can be made available when required.

Not applicable.

This study investigated insecure attachment of emerging adult daughters with their fathers and how it affects daughter's psychological well-being, with interpersonal communication motives taken as mediating variables. A sample of daughters ( N  = 243) ranging from 18 to 25 years was collected through purposive sampling from Islamabad and Rawalpindi. For this cross-sectional study, data were collected using psychometrically sound tools along with a demographic data sheet. Results revealed that anxiety and avoidance attachment style negatively correlate to young adult daughters' psychological well-being as hypothesized. Moreover, this relationship is partially mediated by interpersonal communication motives. Among communication motives, affection motive is a stronger predictor of psychological well-being scores ( β  = .31, p  < .01). Other motives, i.e., pleasure, relaxation, inclusion, escape, and control did not show significant results in mediation. These findings have practical implications for parents, mental health professionals, and family counselors.

Introduction

Pakistan is a patriarchal society where women are expected to do household chores while men are the main source of income for the family. This demarcation in gender roles restricts fathers' time and interaction with their children after returning home. However, some recent studies have reported diversity and flexibility in fathers' role in caring for young children in the rural part of the country, suggesting more collaborative parenting (Bhamani, 2012 ; Jeong et al., 2018 ). Nevertheless, there is a dearth of literature concerning fathers' involvement in the parenting and upbringing of children. Moreover, within the indigenous perspective, research has yet to explore the unique bond that father and daughter constitute, affecting the lives of both in one way or the other. Zia et al. ( 2015 ) documented that father and daughter relationship quality significantly impacts daughter’s self-esteem and academic achievement in a sample of adolescent girls. It is essential to study the father–daughter dyad since there are many phases of a daughter's life where a father generally has more influence than a mother, e.g., the father has a prominent effect on the capacity of the daughter to trust, appreciate, and relate well to the men in her life (Casiano, 2010 ; Erickson, 1998 ). It is imperative to mention that Pakistan is largely a Muslim society where only heterosexual romantic relationships are supported and accepted. A woman's fear of intimacy is greatly affected by the role her father played in her life. The level of fatherly approval affects the sexuality of his daughter and her propensity to become intimate with other people later in life (Scheffler & Naus, 1999 ).

Culture influences the roles that individuals play in their day-to-day life and hence their relationships as well. Cultures are primarily identified as either individualistic or collectivistic; however, these two are not the opposite ends of the same construct. Instead, they are independent dimensions within a cultural context and are defined by the culture's primary goal or value orientation (Niles, 1998 ). With this understanding, collectivist cultures, such as predominantly in Pakistan, have the goal orientation of maintaining an emphasis on interpersonal relationships, caring, respecting, and serving elders, family, and others within the community. In comparison, individualistic cultures emphasize personal happiness, wealth, and profession more than the value of interpersonal relationships. It is not that the collectivist culture does not value personal happiness; instead, it derives personal happiness primarily through interpersonal goals (Niles, 1998 ). Parenting approach and role are also factors influenced by the cultural goal orientation which the family unit adheres to (Kotchick & Forehand, 2002 ). The nature of each parent’s role in the upbringing and life of their child essentially impacts the parent–child attachment.

The dual primary attachment model proposed by Bowlby ( 1982 ) adds insights regarding the roles of both mother and father as primary attachment figures, as opposed to the notion that mother alone is the primary attachment figure, and attachment with father may be secondary owing to its secondary role and significance (Newland & Coyl, 2010 ). This model holds the premise that a father’s attachment cannot be assumed as secondary since he shares the role of a parent, indicating that a sensitive and appropriate involvement of a father would positively influence the child's development, and his absence would harm the child's emotional development. Both parents hold a different nature of attachment with the child and influence the child differently, though equally significantly. Attachment with the mother provides a secure foundation to which the child can be confident to retreat at any instance, and the father plays the role of a trusted companion in fulfilling the child's exciting need to explore the world and oneself (Newland & Coyl, 2010 ). In this dynamic, father and mother collectively provide a balanced context of secure exploration to the child, whereby they may develop autonomy, mastery, and other aspects of their well-being in the world by achieving tasks and forming fulfilling secondary attachments in relationships with other individuals (Bowlby, 1982 ).

By contrast, insecure attachment style can also be experienced by the individual towards the attachment figure. Bartholomew and Shaver ( 1998 ) proposed two dimensions of attachment, i.e., (i) anxious and (ii) avoidant. ‘Anxious' is characterized by an absence of security in the attachment with significant others, worry about the relationship, need to be associated with the attachment figure, and fear of rejection. ‘Avoidant' is defined as the absence of security concerning the emotional bonds; there is an inclination to distance from other people. Inflated or obsessive self-confidence is witnessed in this type of dimension. A secure attachment style ensures an experience of low anxiety and avoidance in the relationship with the attachment figure (Bartholomew & Shaver, 1998 ). Individuals with secure attachment style are considerably better in psychosocial functioning than individuals with an anxious-preoccupied attachment style or fearful avoidant or dismissing-avoidant attachment (Greenberg, 2014 ). In addition, individuals reporting secure attachment styles are identified as less emotionally distressed than individuals with insecure attachment styles (Leerkes & Siepak, 2006 ).

Research has shown that communication patterns play a significant role in attachment and relationship satisfaction (Punyanunt-Carter, 2008 ). Communication between parents and children contributes significantly to create effective relationships, understanding and mutual acceptance (Runcan et al., 2012 ). Communication is one of the key element in a daughter–father relationship and the quality of this relationship (Byrd-Craven et al., 2012 ). Communication motives explain what, how, and why people communicate with each other (Graham et al., 1993 ). Rubin et al. ( 1988 ) identified six distinct dimensions of communication motives: namely pleasure, affection, inclusion, escape, relaxation, and control. Buerkel-Rothfuss et al. ( 1995 ) noted that fathers communicated differently with their sons and daughters. Past research documented that communication motives have a significant impact on the perception of relationship satisfaction which is further linked with the psychological well-being of an individual (Punyanunt-Carter, 2005 ). In addition, the daughter's perceived level of communication and relational satisfaction with the father mediates between her interpersonal communication motives and psychological well-being (Heeman, 2008 ). Although the interpersonal communication motives are driven by sustaining attachments and fulfilling primary needs to ensure well-being, there is a dearth of empirical studies connecting the three factors in a single dynamic (Miller-Day 2004 , 2005 ; Vazsonyi et al., 2003 ). This study addresses the mentioned gaps by exploring the mediating effect of interpersonal communication motives in daughter–father attachment and the psychological well-being of emerging adult daughters.

Psychological well-being is viewed as a one-dimensional construct in the present study. It is the degree to which one identifies one's purpose and meaning in life, has warm and fulfilling relationships, an optimistic view of self, engagement in life activities, contribution to others, competence, optimism, and self-esteem. This view of psychological well-being is based on the eudaimonic idea of well-being first conceptualized by Aristotle. It suggests that a state of well-being is a balance between identifying personal talents and goals, pursuing them through fulfilling actions, and maintaining external prosperity in meaningful interpersonal relationships and social goals (Ryff & Singer, 2006 ). This idea ties with the secure primary attachment proposed by Bowlby, where a well-nurtured attachment with both parents brings about the balance of engaging in personal pleasures in the comfort of secure essential attachment (mother) and exploring new relationships and exciting social pursuits in the company of reliable companion (father) who will rescue them if need be. Secure primary attachments then optimize the chances of well-being in two distinct domains of functioning (Bowlby, 1969 ; Newland & Coyl, 2010 ). Moreover, primary attachments initiate a pattern for later attachment style the person is likely to follow as emerging adult (Arnett, 2000 , 2006 ; Miller‐Day, 2008 ; Padilla-Walker et al., 2008 ). Emerging adult women who are in a transition period between late adolescence and young adulthood are studied as being less prone to developing psychological and emotional concerns if they have maintained a close relationship with their fathers, as compared to their counterparts with absent or insecure attachment with their father (Amatο & Dοrius, 2010 ; Carlsοn, 2006 ; King & Sobοlewski, 2006 ).

Newland and Coyl ( 2010 ) identified that this model is based mainly on exploring attachment in the Western culture. Liu ( 2008 ) suggested studying model accuracy about the primary position of both mother and father attachments in collectivist cultures. Research in the recent past in the collectivist cultural context in Pakistan appears to confirm the primary influence of fathers' attachment on various aspects of relationship satisfaction and personal well-being (Jeong et al., 2018 ; Zia & Shahzad, 2019 ). Another study reported an inverse relationship between positive father–daughter attachment and a daughter’s interpersonal problems (Zia, & Ali, 2014 ). However, the evidence is not sufficient to hold as established knowledge and require further exploration.

Figure  1 shows the conceptual framework of the current study. Attachment style (independent variable) in our model consists of two dimensions, (i.e., attachment-related anxiety and attachment-related avoidance). Those scoring low on both dimensions constitute secure attachment with significant other, and those scoring high on both dimensions constitute insecure attachment. Psychological well-being is the dependent variable in our study. Interpersonal communication motives, (i.e., pleasure, affection, inclusion, relaxation, escape, control), are mediators in our model mediating between attachment style and psychological well-being. “Path c” is the direct effect of an independent variable on the dependent variable, whereas “path a” and “b” both constitute indirect effects (mediation) in the model.

Conceptual model of the study

The Rationale of the Study

Collectivistic culture regulates the dynamics and frequency of communication with the fathers. In a collectivistic culture, every important life decision, including choosing a major, pursuing a career, or selecting a life partner, is made with parents’ consent, particularly fathers. Moreover, being primarily a patriarchal society, daughters see their fathers as role models and look for their constant support and guidance, making them communicate regularly with their fathers. Moreover, the anxiety is generated by COVID-19 and the loss of friendship circle due to restricted movement (Faize & Husain, 2021 ), and social support within one’s family is also direly needed. This research is aimed to explore the communication motives that drive conversation between daughters and fathers in a collectivistic culture and whether these motives serve as mediators in the relationship between daughter–father attachment and daughters' psychological well-being. Some studies show signified attachment with fathers on regulating daughters' emotions in later adulthood (Pearce, 2009 ) and romantic partners (Bartholomew & Shaver, 1998 ). However, the research literature is scarce regarding the significance of daughter–father insecure attachment on daughters' psychological well-being in emerging adulthood within the indigenous perspective. Therefore, this study may help explore young adult daughter–father interaction and its role in the daughter's psychological well-being.

The findings of this study may be helpful for parents, mental health professionals, and family counselors by providing insights into the daughters' psychological well-being. In addition, it will have significant implications on daughters' married life and day-to-day living since fathers are the role models for their daughters, and the way daughters interact with their fathers would, in one way or the other and impact the relationship with her spouse. Based on the findings from the past research, it was hypothesized that daughter–father insecure attachment styles (attachment-related avoidance and attachment-related anxiety) are negatively correlated with the psychological well-being of emerging adult daughters in collectivistic patriarchal Muslim culture. Moreover, the relationship between daughter–father insecure attachment and the psychological well-being of emerging adult daughters is mediated by interpersonal communication motives within collectivistic patriarchal Muslim culture.

Research Design

This study used a correlational survey research design to understand and evaluate the relationship between insecure daughter–father attachment styles and the psychological well-being of emerging adult daughters. In addition, the study also explored the mediating role of interpersonal communication motives on the daughters' psychological well-being.

The sampling technique employed was purposive sampling. The sample included 243 emerging adult daughters. The inclusion criteria were all the daughters having both parents alive and between the ages of 18 and 25 (emerging adulthood). Also, all of them were single and had varying educational qualifications, including intermediate, undergraduate, and graduate education.

The participants fall in the age range of 18–25 years with a mean value of M  = 20.94 ( SD 1.88), and the majority were undergraduates ( n  = 170, 70%). Concerning the birth order, 33.7% were firstborn, 46.5% were middle born, and 19.8% were lastborn. Furthermore, 64.6% of the daughters have both male and female gender siblings, 17.3% of daughters had only brothers as their siblings, whereas 18.1% of the total sample have only sisters. The majority of the daughters lived with their fathers (81.5%). In comparison, 18.5% of the daughter's fathers resided in another town or city for work. Moreover, 74.1% of the daughters reported talking daily to their fathers, whereas 7.4% of daughters talked more than ten times per month, and 18.5% talked less than ten to their fathers during the last month.

Interpersonal Communication Motives (ICM) Scale

ICM is a 28-item scale developed by Rubin et al. ( 1988 ). It is used to measure young adult daughters' communication motives for talking with their fathers. Motives of communication are assessed on six dimensions which include pleasure (8 items), affection (5 items), inclusion (4 items), escape (4 items), relaxation (4 items), and control (3 items). The ‘pleasure' motive includes items like talking to others because they are exciting, stimulating, and enjoy social benefits. Affection motive point to one's need or want to offer help, tell others that one thinks about them, pay respects to other people, and show inspiration and concern. The motive of inclusion signifies the desire to be with others, talk to others, diminish loneliness, and gain reassurance, etc. The motive of escape is to express a need to procrastinate, fend off boredom, etc. Relaxation includes feeling more settled, lessen stress and tension, and feel the need to unwind oneself. Finally, control motive is about exerting power, getting someone's help, or gaining something important (Rubin et al., 1988 ).

The participants were asked the reason that make them communicate with their fathers. Items were rated based on how alike it was to their reason for talking to their fathers. Respondents rated themselves on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all like my reasons) to 5 (exactly like my reasons). All the items in the subscales were summed separately and averaged. The reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s alpha) for each of the six subscales reported in Rubin et al. ( 1988 ) are pleasure ( α  = .89), affection ( α  = .85), inclusion ( α  = .84), escape ( α  = .77), relaxation ( α  = .81), and control ( α  = .75). In this study, the ICM subscales have good Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients ranging from .77 (Control) to .92 (Pleasure). Iqbal ( 2013 ) also reported satisfactory reliability coefficients for ICM when used with a sample of young adults in Pakistan.

Flourishing Scale (FS)

Diener et al. ( 2009 ) developed the Flourishing Scale which was used to measure the psychological well-being of emerging adult daughters. It was previously known as the Psychological Well-being scale. This scale consists of 8 items: a self-report questionnaire measuring and focusing on individuals' self-perceived success in different areas of life, such as purpose and meaning in life, relationships, view of self, engagement in life activities, contribution to others, competence, optimism, and self-esteem. The scale provides a single psychological well-being score. Respondents rate themselves on each item on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). All the items are phrased in a positive direction. The responses on all the items are added to get a single score. The scores range from 8 (lowest possible psychological well-being) to 56 (highest possible psychological well-being). High scores indicate respondents' positive view of themselves in important areas of functioning. Items include, e.g., “I am competent and capable in the activities that are important to me.” The scale has already been used with the indigenous population and is reported to have good psychometric properties (Ahmad et al., 2020 ; Khadim & Shahid, 2017 ). The FS scale exhibited good reliability coefficient of .86 in the present study as well.

The Relationship Structures Questionnaire (ECR-RS)

Fraley et al. ( 2011 ) developed the Relationship Structures (ECR-RS) questionnaire to assess attachment styles in significant and in a variety of close relationships. The items were related to various interpersonal targets (not just focusing on romantic relationships) and various age groups. This instrument is a 9-item version of the 36-item “Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire-Revised (ECR-R)” (Fraley et al., 2000 ). Two scores, (i.e., attachment-related avoidance and attachment-related anxiety), are computed for fathers. Respondents rate each statement on a 7-point Likert scale with 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The avoidance score is computed by averaging items 1 to 6; items 1, 2, 3, and 4 are reverse scored. The anxiety score is computed by averaging items 7 to 9. Items include “I usually talk about my problems and my concerns with this person,” and “I am frequently concerned by the fact that this person does not care about me.” Total score can be computed by adding score on all the items. The questionnaire has high reliability, with Cronbach's alpha .85.

The range of scores for avoidance was 6 to 42, and for anxiety 3 to 21. The scoring is compared to the ECR/RS dimensions. Those scoring low on avoidance and anxiety possess a secure attachment style. Conversely, those scoring high on avoidance and anxiety are labeled as insecure, namely fearful avoidant. This study used the dimensional model instead of the categorical model since individual experiences are subjective and breaking them into categories is ambiguous. The predictive validity of the ECR-R was supported by theoretically plausible associations between the attachment dimensions and assessments of both depressive symptoms and strategies of emotion regulation (e.g., Wei et al., 2005 ). The reliability coefficient of ECR-RS was .83 for attachment-related avoidance, .78 for attachment-related anxiety, and .81 for the total scale in this study. Malik and Björkqvist ( 2019 ) also reported satisfactory reliability for a sample of university teachers from Pakistan. The current study used the total insecure attachment scale scores for all analyses.

The sample was taken from colleges and universities located in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The departmental ethics review committee approved the study protocols. Informed consent was taken from participants after briefing them about the purpose and significance of the study. Participation in the research was voluntary. The participants were assured of the confidentiality of the information provided by them. All the research tools were in the English language, which took approximately 15 to 20 min to complete. Concerning the cultural suitability of the scales, an expert opinion was taken from the subject specialists ( n  = 3) involved in Psychology teaching and research at the university level. They were requested to read the statements of the assessment tools carefully and identify any culturally inappropriate items. The experts found all the items to be culturally relevant and suitable.

Moreover, a small pilot test ( N  = 15) was conducted to check the feasibility of measures, identify any language-related difficulty, culturally inappropriate word/item, understandability of instructions, and the average amount of time required to complete the survey. The data were collected through a survey method by using self-report measures. The participants were asked to fill the instruments in person and return them to the researcher. Based on the feedback, no change was made in the scales.

Analysis Scheme

The SPSS software (version 26) was used to analyze the data. The Pearson correlation and mediation analysis were computed to test study hypotheses. Analysis was carried out at a .05 level of significance.

Correlations Among Study Variables

Table ​ Table1 1 demonstrates the correlations among study variables. Daughter–father insecure attachment has significant negative correlation with psychological well-being of emerging adult daughter ( r  =  − .41, p  < .01) as hypothesized. Low scores on the attachment scale (anxiety and avoidance dimensions) indicate a secure attachment style which is associated with a high score on psychological well-being. It was also found that daughter–father insecure attachment had significant negative associations with all interpersonal communication motives except for control which suggests that low score on the anxiety and avoidance dimensions for daughter–father attachment is linked with high scores on pleasure, affection, inclusion, and relaxation motives. Moreover, interpersonal communication motives of pleasure, affection, inclusion, and relaxation significantly correlated with psychological well-being in the positive direction.

Correlations between study variables ( N  = 243)

* p  < .05, **p  < .01

Mediation Analysis

Multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess each component of the proposed mediation model and to test formulated hypotheses. Results are presented in Table ​ Table2 2 showing standardized and unstandardized regression coefficients (also see Fig. ​ Fig.2 2 ).

Standardized and unstandardized regression coefficients from mediation analysis

IA insecure attachment (anxiety and avoidance dimension), PW Psychological well-being, ICM: interpersonal communication motives

The indirect effect of insecure attachment dimensions on psychological well-being through interpersonal communication motives

Total Effect

Results suggest that daughter–father insecure attachment is inversely associated with psychological well-being ( β  =  − .38, t  =  − 6.14 (241), p  = .000). Low scores on the attachment dimension (avoidance related and anxiety related) show a secure attachment, which predict a high score on psychological well-being of daughters.

Direct Effects

Significant direct effects were found between daughter–father attachment and communication motives. Results showed that low scores on daughter–father insecure attachment predict high scores on interpersonal communication motives including pleasure ( β  =  − .62, p  = .000), affection ( β  =  − .46, p  = .000), inclusion ( β  =  − .41, p  = .000), escape ( β  =  − .15, p  = .017), and relaxation ( β  =  − .64, p  = .000), except for control which did not display significant results. This indicates that low scores on daughter–father insecure attachment (i.e., secure attachment) are associated with an increased likelihood to use pleasure, affection, inclusion, escape, and relaxation motives for communication.

Findings also showed that communication motives are significantly correlated with psychological well-being. Pleasure ( β  = .21, p  = .024) and affection motive ( β  = .31, p  = .000) significantly and positively predicted psychological well-being while other communication motives including inclusion, escape, relaxation, and control did not display significant results.

Indirect Effect

There was a significant indirect effect of daughter–father attachment on psychological well-being of emerging adult daughter through interpersonal communication motives. The motive of affection positively predicted well-being ( β  = .28, p  = .001) along with attachment ( β  =  − .19, p  = .021). Approximately 22% variance in psychological well-being scores of daughters was accounted for by the predictors ( R 2  = .216). Control motive together with other motives excluding affection, however, was not a significant predictor of psychological well-being.

Testing Mediation Model with Bootstrapping

Since both the a-path and b-path were significant, mediation analysis was tested using the bootstrapping method with bias-corrected coefficient estimates (MacKinnon et al., 2004 ; Preacher & Hayes, 2004 ). In the present study, the 95% confidence interval of the indirect effects was obtained with 5000 bootstraps resamples (Preacher & Hayes, 2008 ). Results of the mediation analysis confirmed the mediating role of interpersonal communication motive (i.e., affection) in the relationship between daughter–father attachment dimensions and psychological well-being of daughter. In addition, results indicated that the direct effect of insecure attachment on psychological well-being is reduced ( B  =  − .19, t (235) = 2.33, p  = .021) when controlling for interpersonal communication motives, thus, suggesting partial mediation. Model fit indices showed all communication motives, except affection, have CIs that include zero and, therefore, are not significant (see Table ​ Table3 3 ).

Testing mediation model through bootstrapping

The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between daughter to father style of attachment and emerging adult daughters' psychological well-being. In addition, the mediating role of communication motives was explored in the relationship between attachment style and psychological well-being. Data of the study supported the hypothesis that daughter–father insecure attachment (attachment-related avoidance and attachment-related anxiety) is negatively correlated with the psychological well-being of emerging adult daughters in a collectivistic patriarchal Muslim culture. Low scores on attachment represent a secure daughter–father attachment style which corresponds to a high score on psychological well-being of daughter.

The most prominent contribution of the present study is identifying the significant role of affection as an interpersonal communication motive mediating the relationship between an emerging adult daughter's attachment with her father and her psychological well-being. This shows that communication with the father in a secure attachment fulfills the daughter's primary need for affection (Rubin & Martin, 1998), and her psychological well-being also increases. These findings corroborate the existing literature in individualistic cultures (Heeman, 2008 ; Katorski, 2003 ). Women communicate mostly to express affection, seek relaxation, pleasure, inclusion, and much less control (Liu, 1975 ; Rubin et al., 1988 ). Communication with a significant degree of affection motive also reveals that the daughters in the present study had the least communication apprehension and expressed themselves freely with father with least anxiety (Rubin & Martin, 1998 ).

The order of motive reported in this study from most used to least used are (a) affection, (b) pleasure, (c) relaxation, (d) inclusion, (e) control, and (f) escape. Although, none of the other motives were significant in their impact on the dynamic of the daughter's paternal attachment and her psychological well-being in the present collectivistic culture. This contrasts with the finding in an individualistic culture, where Punyanunt-Carter ( 2007 ) found that the more secure a daughter's perceived attachment is with her father (individualist culture), the more she operates on the motive of escape as compared to their anxious/avoidant counterparts. While escape is the least reported motive, affection is the most reported motive for communication for the present collectivistic finding. The order of communication motives shows escape motives serve secondary order needs to reduce stress; affection motive indicates that the communication is aimed to fulfill a primary need of safety and security (Rubin & Martin, 1998 ). This points to the goal orientation of collectivist cultures as gaining primary order personal well-being through a shared connection insecure attachment, while in an individualistic culture, the primary goals are individual-focused pursuits.

Punyanunt-Carter ( 2005 ) found that fathers and daughters share the communication motives of affection, pleasure, and relaxation and revealed that communication with these motives increased their relationship satisfaction (Rubin et al., 1988 ) which supports our findings in this study. One interesting result is that while affection is a primary order motive, both pleasure and relaxation are secondary order motives. This reinforces the validity of the dual primary attachment model in the collectivist culture, where the paternal attachment facilitates exploration and excitement-related pursuits by the child, relatively more than ensuring safety and security. Although further research is needed to establish this link, it is suggested that in the collectivist culture of Pakistan, daughters' relationships with fathers are significant primary attachments, where they seek to fulfill their primary needs from this attachment even as an emerging adult.

Implications

This study highlights the significance of father's active parental role in the primary relationship and attachment blueprints of their daughters. This is specifically noteworthy in the Pakistani culture, where the gender roles typically prescribe the mother as the primary caregiver, and the father is viewed only in a supportive capacity. This finding has implications in educating both parents on shared roles in their child-rearing approach. It also sheds light on the father's significance, making himself available for communication as his daughter grows into an adult and explores secondary attachments.

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research

The sample in this study belonged to an urban demographic sub-culture of educated emerging adult women studying at the university level. This represents a smaller section of only 8.86% of the urban population having intermediate-level education (Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2021 ). Therefore, it may be that this sub-cultural goal orientation differs from the larger cultural goal orientation of the region, which is not represented in this study.

The study measured the perceived attachment style of daughters towards fathers for which data were collected only from daughters. This has left room for exploration into the shared dynamic between daughters and fathers in the collectivist culture from father’s perspective. In addition, future research in this context could explore the influence of interpersonal communication motives with mothers on a daughter's psychological well-being compared to fathers.

The present study revealed that, among the interpersonal communication motives, affection motive mediated the relationship between attachment style and psychological well-being of emerging adult daughters. Securely attached daughters, who are low on anxiety and avoidance dimensions of attachment, would affectively talk with their fathers, showing care and concern. This would, in turn, positively impact their psychological well-being (Akhtar et al., 2019 ). She would feel accepted, have high self-esteem, and would be socially interactive. On the other hand, daughters with insecure attachment (high on both anxiety and avoidance dimension) would not talk with their fathers because of affection motive and will not express their feelings and concerns openly. Ultimately this would influence their psychological well-being negatively. Thus, active parental involvement from the father as a primary attachment figure would enable the daughter to fulfill her primary needs through this relationship and form healthier patterns of secondary attachment, contributing to her psychological well-being besides impacting other life areas.

T he research was not funded by any organization.

Data Availability

Code availability, declarations.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval for the study was taken from ethic review committee of the institution where the research was carried out. All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent was obtained from all the individual participants included in the study.

All the researchers agree to publish this work.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Algorithmic thinking, cooperativity, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving: exploring the relationship between computational thinking skills and academic performance

• Published: 11 August 2017
• Volume 4 , pages 355–369, ( 2017 )

Cite this article

• Tenzin Doleck 1 ,
• Paul Bazelais 1 ,
• David John Lemay 1 ,
• Anoop Saxena 1 &
• Ram B. Basnet 2  

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The continued call for twenty-first century skills renders computational thinking a topical subject of study, as it is increasingly recognized as a fundamental competency for the contemporary world. Yet its relationship to academic performance is poorly understood. In this paper, we explore the association between computational thinking and academic performance. We test a structural model—employing a partial least squares approach—to assess the relationship between computational thinking skills and academic performance. Surprisingly, we find no association between computational thinking skills and academic performance (except for a link between cooperativity and academic performance). These results are discussed respecting curricular mandated instruction in higher-order thinking skills and the importance of curricular alignment between instructional objectives and evaluation approaches for successfully teaching and learning twenty-first-century skills.

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A valid and reliable tool for examining computational thinking skills

Mustafa Yağcı

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Tenzin Doleck, Paul Bazelais, David John Lemay & Anoop Saxena

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Doleck, T., Bazelais, P., Lemay, D.J. et al. Algorithmic thinking, cooperativity, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving: exploring the relationship between computational thinking skills and academic performance. J. Comput. Educ. 4 , 355–369 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-017-0090-9

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Received : 27 May 2017

Revised : 10 July 2017

Accepted : 07 August 2017

Published : 11 August 2017

Issue Date : December 2017

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-017-0090-9

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1: Algorithmic Problem Solving

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• Page ID 46789

• Harrison Njoroge
• African Virtual University

Unit Objectives

Upon completion of this unit the learner should be able to:

• describe an algorithm
• explain the relationship between data and algorithm
• outline the characteristics of algorithms
• apply pseudo codes and flowcharts to represent algorithms

Unit Introduction

This unit introduces learners to data structures and algorithm course. The unit is on the different data structures and their algorithms that can help implement the different data structures in the computer. The application of the different data structures is presented by using examples of algorithms and which are not confined to a particular computer programming language.

• Data: the structural representation of logical relationships between elements of data
• Algorithm: finite sequence of steps for accomplishing some computational task
• Pseudo code: an informal high-level description of the operating principle of a computer program or other algorithm
• Flow chart: diagrammatic representation illustrates a solution model to a given problem.

Learning Activities

• 1.1: Activity 1 - Introduction to Algorithms and Problem Solving In this learning activity section, the learner will be introduced to algorithms and how to write algorithms to solve tasks faced by learners or everyday problems. Examples of the algorithm are also provided with a specific application to everyday problems that the learner is familiar with. The learners will particularly learn what is an algorithm, the process of developing a solution for a given task, and finally examples of application of the algorithms are given.
• 1.2: Activity 2 - The characteristics of an algorithm This section introduces the learners to the characteristics of algorithms. These characteristics make the learner become aware of what to ensure is basic, present and mandatory for any algorithm to qualify to be one. It also exposes the learner to what to expect from an algorithm to achieve or indicate. Key expectations are: the fact that an algorithm must be exact, terminate, effective, general among others.
• 1.3: Activity 3 - Using pseudo-codes and flowcharts to represent algorithms The student will learn how to design an algorithm using either a pseudo code or flowchart. Pseudo code is a mixture of English like statements, some mathematical notations and selected keywords from a programming language. It is one of the tools used to design and develop the solution to a task or problem. Pseudo codes have different ways of representing the same thing and emphasis is on the clarity and not style.
• 1.4: Unit Summary In this unit, you have seen what an algorithm is. Based on this knowledge, you should now be able to characterize an algorithm by stating its properties. We have explored the different ways of representing an algorithm such as using human language, pseudo codes and flow chart. You should now be able to present solutions to problems in form of an algorithm.