Attachment (cultural variations in attachment)

Question 1

Collectivist culture -

Answer 1

Value family, working together, interdependence

Question 2

Individualistic culture -

Answer 2

Rely on the independence of themselves and their won uniqueness

Question 3

1988 - Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - procedure

Answer 3

Conducted a meta-analysis of the strange situation. (over 2000) interested to observe inter-cultural differences (differences between cultures/countries) and intra-culture (differences in culture within the same culture). 32 studies in 8 different countries.

Question 4

Findings of 1988 Van ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg.

Answer 4

Found small differences of the meta-analysis, secure attachment was the most common attachment style. Insecure-avoidant was the second except Israel and Japan (from being classed as collectivists at the time), the cultural patterns found across the globe appear to be similar to the US SS. Secure attachment is seen as the norm. It supports the view of attachment being innate and it being a biological process. Their findings replicated Ainsworth.

Question 5

An example of cultural differences.

Answer 5

Grossmann and Grossmann in 1991 found higher levels of insecure attachment among German infant, the German culture involves keeping some separation from the infants with their parents. So the infants do not engage in proximity seeking behaviours. Seen as individualistic culture.

Question 6

Takahashi (1990)

Answer 6

60 middle-classed Japan infants and found similar rates of secure attachments to those by Ainsworth, but 32% showed insecure-resistant attachment had high levels of distressed being alone. 90% of infants had to be stopped in the study due to extreme responses. Results may be due to Japanese infants rarely experiencing separation from the Mother and explains there distress in the SS.

Question 7

Similarities may be due to global culture - Bowlby.

Answer 7

Despite cultural variations in attachment, the strongest secure attachments are still formed with the infant’s mother. According to Bowlby’s theory of attachment the reason for universal similarities for the form of attachment is it being an innate mechanism, not changed by culture. The 32- meta analysis of Van ijzendoorn and Kroonberg study may show that cultural similarities may be expressed through the media which spread ideas about parenting, so children are exposed potentially to similar influences which may be affected by their parents, suggesting similarities may not be due to innate biological influences but the global culture expressed through the media.

Question 8

Cross-cultural research - imposed etic.

Answer 8

It is argued whether the tools used are valid and show culture bias. Observational methods of the strange situation are based on the ideas of the American criteria, where the willingness to explore is a sign of secure attachment (American perspective). This is not the case in some cultures. Japans culture shows that dependence instead of independence is a sign of secure attachment would show secure attachment. Therefore in Western cultures ideas they may be classed as insecurely attached, whereas the Japans standards class them as securely attached, this shows the idea of imposed etic where one technique of assessment can be applied to other culture inappropriately. Therefore this shows the strange situation to lack validity as a way of accurately measuring world-wide attachment types.