cultural variation

Question 1

van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg’s research

Answer 1

compared rates of attachment type in 8 countries

more variation within than between countries

Question 2

other studies of cultural variations

Answer 2

simonelli et al - italian secure attachment rates dropped to 50%, may be due to increased day care

jin et al - korean secure vs insecure attachment rates similar to other studies - insecure avoidant similar to japan - could be due to similar child-rearing styles

Question 3

cultural variations conclusions

Answer 3

appears that attachment is innate and universal and secure attachment is the norm

however - cultural practices affect rates of attachment types

Question 4

cultural - generalisability

Answer 4

limited sample – over-generalised – china only used 25 infants – 15/32 studies from USA – apparent consistency not a true reflection of variation between cultures

Question 5

cultural - drawing conc

Answer 5

drew conclusions about cultural differences when they were only comparing countries – claimed to be studying cultures but within any country there are many different cultures each with different child rearing practices – one study of attachment in urban Tokyo found similar proportions to Western studies, whereas a more rural sample over-represented insecure-resistant individuals. This means the comparisons between countries may have little meaning; the particular cultural characteristics of the sample need to be specified.

Question 6

cultural - imposed etic

Answer 6

Takahashi noted that the test (the strange situation) does not really work in Japan because Japanese mothers are so rarely separated from their babies that, as we would expect, there are very high levels of separation anxiety. Also, in the reunion stage, Japanese mothers rushed to the baby and scooped them up, meaning that the child’s response was hard to observe. Showing how the study is affected by imposed etic, which is seen where he tried to apply a research which was made to be used in the USA to other cultures meaning that the behaviours measured by the strange situation may not have the same meanings in different cultural contexts, and comparing them across cultures is meaningless.

Question 7

cultural - validity

Answer 7

Lack of temporal validity - use of day care has increased recently - more comfortable with separation - more insecure-avoidant, attachment conclusions not applicable today for example Italian study

Question 8

cultural - ethics

Answer 8

A further problem of cultural variation research - ethical implications to how different cultures are perceived as socially sensitive, German mothers seen as cold, Japanese mothers overprotecting, culture bias due to the use of the strange situation reflects American norms