attachment- cultural variations

Question 1

who did a meta analysis on cultural variations?

Answer 1

van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)

Question 2

procedure for meta analysis of van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)

Answer 2

-looked at proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across range of countries
-also looked at differences within countries to get idea of variations within culture
-found 32 studies of attachment where strange situation had been used. in eight countries, 15 in the US
-studies yielded results for 1,990 children
-data was meta-analysed being combined and weighted for sample size

Question 3

findings of van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)

Answer 3

-secure most common in all countries but ranged from 50% in China to 75% in Britain
-individualist cultures rates of insecure- resistant attachment similar to Ainsworth’s original sample (all under 14%)
-but collectivist samples from China, Japan and Israel had rates above 25% (and where rates of insecure- avoidant attachment
were reduced).

Question 4

conclusion of van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)

Answer 4

suggests that there were cultural differences in the distribution of insecure attachment.

Question 5

findings of van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) for variation within a culture

Answer 5

-variations between results of studies within the same country were actually 150% greater than those between countries.
-in the US, one study found 46% securely attached compared to one sample as high as 90%.

Question 6

simonelli et al (2014) procedure

Answer 6

-assessed 76 babies aged 12 months in Italy using the Strange Situation to see whether the proportion of attachment types still matched previous studies in Italy.

Question 7

simonelli et al (2014) findings and conclusions

Answer 7

-found that 50% were secure, with 36% insecure-avoidant.
-lower rate of secure attachment may be because increasingly mothers work long hours and use more childcare
-shows that cultural changes can affect patterns of attachment.

Question 8

Jin et al. (2012) procedure

Answer 8

compared the attachment types of 87 Korean babies to proportions in other studies

Question 9

Jin et al. (2012) findings and conclusions

Answer 9

-found similar patterns of secure and insecure attachment to other studies
-however within insecure categories there were differences.
-only one baby was avoidant.
-pattern is similar to Japan and may be because they have similar child-rearing practices.

Question 10

who compared attachment types of Korean babies?

Answer 10

Jin et al. (2012)

Question 11

who assessed attachment types of babies in Italy?

Answer 11

Simonelli et al. (2014)

Question 12

ao3 of cultural variations: indigenous researchers

Answer 12

-those from the same cultural background as the p’s e.g. Grossman et al. (1981)- German working w/German p’s
-aids communication between researchers and p’s and helps prevent misunderstanding e.g. of instructions
-means theres an excellent chance researchers and p’s have communicated successfully, increasing validity of the study

Question 13

ao3 of cultural variations: confounding variables

Answer 13

-studies conducted in different countries may not be matched for sample characteristics e.g. may uses children of different ages, or social classes
-environmental variables may also differ e.g. using smaller rooms which may encourage exploring more
-means studies assessing attachment types carried out in different countries may tell us little ab cultural differences in attachment

Question 14

ao3 of cultural variations: imposed etic as designed for one culture

Answer 14

-using a test (strange situation) in different cultural context from one which it was designed for may be meaningless
-strange situation was designed in the us where lax of affection at reunion respresents insecure attachment. however in Germany may be seen as a sign of independence
-means it may be meaningless to compare attachment behaviours across countries