attachment - cross cultural variations Flashcards
aim
to investigate cross cultural variations in attachment
sample
- 8 countries
- 2000 children
- 32 studies
method
meta-analysis
findings - AO1
- most common attachment type in all 8 countries = secure attachment
- overall - secure = 65%, insecure-avoidant = 21%, insecure-resistant 14%
- country with highest level of secure attachment = UK (75%)
- country with lowest level of secure attachment = China (50%)
findings (continued) - AO1
- considerable differences in insecure attachment types
- insecure-avoidant = most common in WESTERN cultures
- insecure-resistant = most common in NON-WESTERN cultures (exception of china equal numbers of insecure attachment types)
- one of the most significant findings = more than 150% difference between attachment types WITHIN cultures compared to BETWEEN cultures
e.g. one study in USA = 46% secure attachment and another found 90% secure attachment
strength - AO3
high population validity
P - strength
- high population validity
E - meta-analysis 8 countries
- 2000 infants
- 8 countries
- 32 studies
E - easy to generalise to target population
L - increasing external validity of research into cultural variations
criticism - AO3
culture bias
P - criticism
- culture bias
E - even though it was a meta-analysis
- more than half (18/32) carried out in US
- individualistic, western culture
E - only 5 carried out in collectivist/non-western cultures
L - cannot be generalised to real life attachment types in all cultures
criticism - AO3
lacks ecological validity
P - criticism
- lacks eco val
E - strange situation = controlled observation
- two way mirror
- difficult to generalise to real life attachment types
E - e.g. infant may be less willing to explore/more scared of strangers
- due to unfamiliar environment
L - weakens external validity of research into attachment types
