Attachment - Cultural variations Flashcards
What is a culture?
A culture is a set of norms, traditions, beliefs and values shared by a large group of people.
What are individualist cultures?
Typically Western, and emphasise independence, individuality, and autonomy at the expense of group goals, resulting in a strong sense of competition
What is are collectivist cultures?
Typically Eastern, and emphasise group membership, interdependence (relying on each other) and cooperation.
What is cultural variation?
The differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups, in attachment research, we are concerned with the differences in the proportion of children of different attachment types.
Who researched cultural variations in attachment?
Van Ijzendoorn and Kronenberg (1988)
What are the aims of the cultural variation research?
To investigate the types of attachment across cultures and to see how the three main attachment styles applied
To investigate if attachment styles (secure and insecure) are universal across cultures, or culturally specific
What was Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) procedure?
Used a meta analysis
The selected study had all:
- used all the strange situation
- Observed only mother-infant pairs (i.e not father or other carer-pairs)
- Classified infants into one the attachment types a (Avoidant), B(Secure), or C (Resistant)
What groups did the meta-analysis exclude?
Any identifying special groups of children , such as those with Down Syndrome, any countries less than 35 pairs and using children older than 2 years.
What did the total meta analysis include?
32 study samples from eight countries.
What were the findings of the cultural variation research?
It was found that secure attachment was the most common type of attachment in all cultures. The lowest percentage of secure attachments was shown in China, and the highest in GB.
What percentage of Germany was insecure avoidant attachment?
35% (most insecure avoidant)
What percentage of Japan and Israel was insecure resistant?
J: 27%
I: 29%
(most insecure resistant countries)
What percentage of China was a secure attachment?
50% - least secure attachment
What is the conclusion of Van Ijzendoorn and Krooneberg?
There is a globally preferred attachment style of secure attachment
Cultural differences in parenting styles –> high levels of insecure types in some cultures
German family values = independence, self-reliance, non clingy children
Japanese mothers spend a significant amount of time with their infants
