Attachment - Cultural Variations in Attachment Flashcards
Culture
The shared beliefs and values of members of a particular society
What are present in Western society which are based on things such as class and race?
Subcultures
What may members of different cultures not share with members of other cultures?
The same norms and values
Individualistic culture
A culture which emphasises person independence and achievement at expense of group goals, resulting in stronger sense of competition
Collectivist culture
Culture which emphasises family and work goals above individual needs and desires. High sense of interdependence
Which study looked into cultural variations? (IMPORTANT)
Van Ijzendoorn’s (VI) study
What did Van Ijzdendoorn (VI) and Kroonenberg complete in 1988?
A meta-analysis 32 studies across 8 countries using Ainsworth’s Strange Situation. Almost 2000 babies studied
Where were attachment types studied?
Attachment types between and within cultures were studied
What was the most common attachment in all cultures according to Van Ijzendoorn (VI)?
Secure attachment
What country had the highest number of insecure-avoidant children according to Van Ijzendoorn (VI)?
West Germany
What country had a high proportion of insecure-resistant children, but very few insecure-avoidant children according to Van Ijzendoorn (VI)?
Japan
What suggests cultures have subcultures within them from Van Ijzendoorn (VI)’s study?
1.5x more variation of attachment types within cultures, than between cultures
Which country had the highest proportion of secure attachment according to Van Ijzendoorn (VI)?
Great Britain
Example of how differences were found within cultures
One Japanese study showed no insecure-avoidant babies, but the second found around 20% insecure-avoidant attachment babies
Positive evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn (VI)’s study: Sample size
Large sample size - increased validity
Positive evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn (VI)’s study: Conclusion
Secure attachments were the most common attachment type in all cultures studied
Positive evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn (VI)’s study: Meta-analysis
The sample can be considered as more representative as results in large analysis can’t generally be affected by anomalies
Negative evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn (VI)’s study: America
18/32 studied carried out in America (individualistic culture)
Negative evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn (VI)’s study: Class
Class of infants unknown and this may influence results
Negative evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn (VI)’s study: Strange situation
Designed for US so doesn’t necessarily fit norms and values of collectivist cultures
Negative evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn (VI)’s study: Biased
It could be argued that the method is biased and not a true representation of cultural variations as it could be sees as wrong to apply individualistic theories between cultures
Negative evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn (VI)’s study: Questioned comparisons
Studies compare countries instead of cultures
What could explain the avoidant behaviour on separation for infants in Great Britain and US?
Many children are used to being in daycare but aren’t used to strangers
How does Japanese culture explain why 68% of infants in Japanese studied had secure attachments?
- Individualistic culture
- Japanese children rarely left by their mother
- Distress shown when mother leaves is most likely due to shock, rather than an insecure attachment
- Distress shown when Japanese children are left alone with a stranger is probably due to absence of mother, rather than stranger anxiety
What does Grossman say about German parents?
They seek ‘independent, non-clingy infants, who do not make demands on parents’
