Cultural Variations

Question 1

Definition of cultural variation

Answer 1

The difference between western and non western cultures and why their attachment styles might differ

Question 2

An individualistic culture

Answer 2

(Western such as United States and Europe)
Emphasizes personal achievements for individual regardless of the expense of group goals resulting in a strong sense of competition

Question 3

A collectivist culture

Answer 3

(Non western such as china korea and Japan)
Emphasize family and work group goals above individual needs ire desire

Question 4

Aim

Answer 4

To investigate cross cultural variations in attachment

Question 5

Sample

Answer 5

32 studies of stance situation from 8 countries using around 2000 children

Question 6

Procedure/ method

Answer 6

Meta analysis of the strange situation
Controlled observation

Question 7

Findings

Answer 7

The most common attachment types in all 8 countries was secure attachment

The lowest percentage is secure attachment was in china ghetto highest in Britain

Question 8

Findings continued

Answer 8

• however they found considerable differences in insecure types. Insecure avoidant was the most dominant insecure attachment type in western cultures
• whereas insecure resistant was the most dominant insecure type in non western cultures
• one of the most significant findings was that there was one and a half times/150% greater variation of attachment styles within cultures that between cultures for example in the USA one study found 46% of the sample were securely attached compared to another study in the USA that found 90% of the sample were securely attached

Question 9

Conclusion

Answer 9

The results show that there are cultural variations in attachment as insecure types were different. Although there must be similarities due to secure attachment being most common in all cultures

Question 10

AO3

Answer 10

Van ijzendoorns meta analysis of cultural variations of attachment could be argued to have high population validity as it was a meta analysis of 32 strange situation studies using a large sample of 2000 infants. Therefore it is easier to generalize the findings to the rest of the target population increasing the external validity of the research investigating cultural variations in attachment types

Question 11

AO3

Answer 11

However critics would point out that although there was a large number of studies combined for this meta analysis the research can be critics for culture bias as over half of the research studies were carried out in the US and only 5 of the studies were carried out in collectivist cultures therefore it is difficult to generalize the findings across all cultures when explaining the different types of attachment