Attachment - Cultural Variations In Attachment Flashcards
Who studied cultural variations in attachments?
Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg
Why did Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg study cultural variations in attachment?
To look at the proportions of secure, insecure avoidant & insecure resistant attachment across countries as well as the differences with in the same countries (subcultures)
What was the procedure in Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg’s study
Did a meta analysis of 32 studies of attachment using the strange situation.
Conducted in 8 countries - 15 in the USA
What were the findings in Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg’s study?
In all countries secure attachment was most common - 75% Britain, 50% china
Insecure resistant least common overall - 3% Britain, 30% Israel
Insecure avoidant most common in Germany & least common in Japan
Variations between each country was 150% greater than those between countries
What was another study conducted by Simonelli et al & what was found & concluded?
An Italian study conducted to see whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types matched previous studies.
76 12 month olds used
50% secure, 36% insecure-avoidant -> lower secure rate that others
Suggests that cultural changes can make a dramatic difference to patterns of secure & insecure attachment
What was another study conducted by Jin et al & what was found & concluded?
Conducted a study to compare proportions of attachment types in Korea to others using strange situation (used 87 children)
Insecure & secure attachments were similar to those in most countries (most secure) -> more insecure resistant & 1 avoidant in insecure group (similar to van ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg results of japan)
Since japan & Korea have similar child-rearing styles the similarity might be explained in these terms
What are the conclusions of cultural studies into attachments?
Secure attachments are the norm in a wide range of countries (supports Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate & universal). However it also shows cultural practices have an influence on attachment type.
What are the strengths of cultural studies into attachments?
Large samples -> van ijzendoorn study had 3000 babies & their primary attachment figures -> increases internal validity & reduces anomalous results
What are the limitations of studies into cultural variations into attachment?
Samples unrepresentative of culture -> van ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg claimed to study cultural variation but studied comparisons between countries & one sample used might be over representative of poverty (example) -> comparisons between countries may have little meaning
Biased method -> using the strange situation on other cultures (imposed etic) is problematic as some may see certain characteristics of the study as normal in their culture
Lacks validity -> kagan et al suggested attachment type is more related to temperament that the relationship with the primary caregiver (s.s may just be measuring anxiety)
