Attachment: Cultural variations

Question 1

Collectivist cultures

Answer 1

Stress the importance of the group who live and work together and are more dependent on one another

Question 2

Individualist cultures

Answer 2

Value independence and stress the importance of the individual

Question 3

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg findings

Answer 3

Secure attachment was the most common classification in all countries, but proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China
Insecure-resistant was the least common type but the percentage ranged from 3% in Britain to 30% in Israel
Variations between results of studies within the same country were 150% greater than those between countries

Question 4

Strengths of cultural variations

Answer 4

Large sample sizes mean results are more reliable and generalisable

Question 5

Weaknesses of cultural variations

Answer 5

Comparisons between countries may have little meaning unless the particular cultural characteristics and parenting style are specified
The strange situation may be biased towards western cultures
The strange situation is not a naturalistic experiment which means it may not be generalisable