Ainsworth's 'Strange Situation' + Cultural variations in attachment Flashcards
Type A attachment outlined by Ainsworth?
Anxious avoidant:
-plays with stranger regardless of mother
-not distressed by mothers absence + can seek comfort from stranger
-no interest in mothers return
Type B attachment outlined by Ainsworth?
Secure:
-indifferent to stranger when mother present but ignores stranger when alone (stranger fear)
-distress when mothers absence
-happy when mother returns
Type C attachment outlined by Ainsworth?
Anxious resistant:
-fear of stranger, avoids when mother present and not present
-intense distress from mothers absence
-resists comfort despite desire for it upon mothers return
Ainsworth ‘The Strange Situation’ experiment: explanation
100 middle class US families observed in 8 different scenarios, observing their reaction to presence of stranger, seperation from mother and reunion with mother, to determine the quality of attachment.
- 3 main attachment styles found, 15% type a anxious avoidant
70% type b secure
15% type c anxious resistant.
- experiment suggests mothers’ behaviour towards infant predicts their attachment type.
Ainsworth ‘The Strange Situation’ experiment: Strength 1
As the research is highly operationalised, observers have a clear view of how a securely attached infant should behave, due to the 4 specific criteria that Ainsworth used. For this reason, the research should have high inter-observer reliability & it is also replicable so its reliability can be checked, and has temporal validity as still relevant in today’s society.
Ainsworth ‘The Strange Situation’ experiment: Strength 2
Waters assessed 50 infants at 12 and at 18 months of age using the SS procedure. Waters found clear evidence for stable individual differences using Ainsworth’s behavior category data. The greatest consistency was seen in reunion behaviours after brief separations. 48 of the 50 infants observed were independently rated as being classified in the same category at 18 months.
Ainsworth ‘The Strange Situation’ experiment: Limitation 1
A major criticism of Ainsworth’s research is that the sample was restricted to 100 middle class Americans & their infants, so it is unlikely that findings would be representative of the wider population, so lacks population validity, working class families might have infants raised by more than one primary caregiver such as grandparents or aunts and uncles, and room traditionally american in layout/toys.
Ainsworth ‘The Strange Situation’ experiment: Limitation 2
A further classification group (disorganised) was subsequently identified by Main & Cassidy (1988), which would suggest that infants do not all fit into the three categories introduced by Ainsworth, so theory is reductionist.
Cultural variations in attachment: Ijezendoorn & Kroonnenberg: explanation
32 samples from 8 countries- USA, Netherlands, Japan, Germany,Israel,Sweden, UK and China finding wheteher attachment styles are universal or culturally specific by using Aisnworth’s ‘The Strange Situation’ as a template.
-overall consistency in secure attachment types so may be universal characteristics that underpin infant caregiver interactions
-Collectivist countries e.g Japan had high levels of type c
-Individualistic countries e.g Germany had high levels of type a
- variation in attachment styles was greater within countrues than between countries.
Cultural variations in attachment: Ijezendoorn & Kroonnenberg: evaluatio: Strength 1
Comparison is aided by the standardised methodology. The use of the strange situation as a procedure means that a comparison can be made across cultures, and the reliability is therefore high
Cultural variations in attachment: Ijezendoorn & Kroonnenberg: evaluation: Limitation 1
not globally representative data from less Western-oriented cultures were required to establish a more global perspective attachment classifications, pointing out that Africa, South America, and Eastern European socialist countries were not represented.
Cultural variations in attachment: Ijezendoorn & Kroonnenberg: evaluation: Limitation 2
As a disproportionately high number of the studies reviewed were conducted in the USA (18/32), the overall findings would have been distorted by these. This means that the apparent consistency between cultures might not genuinely reflect how much attachment types vary between cultures.
Cultural variations in attachment: Ijezendoorn & Kroonnenberg:evalutaion: Limitation 3
Cross-cultural research using the Strange Situation judges and categorises infant behaviour according to behavioural categories that were developed following observations of middle-class American infants. This means that when researchers interpret non-American infant behaviour, it is being judged against an American standard. Eg. an infant exploring the playroom by themselves would be classed as avoidant based on American standards but is valued as reflecting independence in Germany
