cultural variations Flashcards
describe cultural variations
An individualistic culture is one which emphasises personal independence and achievement, resulting in a strong sense of competition. For example, the USA, Germany and UK.
A collectivist culture is one which emphasises family and work goals able individual needs, there is a high degree of interdependence between people. For example, Greece, Italy, Japan and India.
what is cross cultural variations?
Cross-cultural variation refers to the fact that norms, values and behaviours differ across cultures. Cultures socially construct norms and values; therefore relationships between infants and caregivers will differ because of different parenting styles and beliefs
what was the study of Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg procedure
Carried out a meta-analysis of 32 studies in which the strange situation had been used to measure attachment types in different cultures. They studied 15 countries in total, 8 were in the USA. The sample consisted of 1990 children.
what were the findings of Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg cross cultural study?
They found that the overall most common type of attachment is secure. However there was a significantly high proportion of Japanese infants with insecure-resistant attachment, and a significantly high proportion of German children with insecure-avoidant attachment.
This means there is more variation between an English person and a Somali child in the same culture than between an English child and an American child between different cultures.
describe the Korean study of cultural variations by jin et al and what are the findings
Procedure
Assessed babies in the same way as the Italian study.
Findings
Overall, the proportion of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries, with most infants being secure. However, those classified as insecure attached were resistant and only one child was avoidant.
describe the Japanese study of cultural variations in attachment by Takahashi and what were the findings?
Procedure
They used the Strange Situation to study 60 middle class Japanese infants and their mothers.
Findings
Japanese infants showed no evidence of insecure-avoidant attachment and high rates of insecure-resistant attachment. The Japanese infants were particularly distressed at being left alone; their response was so extreme that for 90% of the infants, the study was stopped at this point.
In Japan, infants rarely experience separation from their mothers which would explain why they were more distressed in the Strange Situation than their American counterparts.
This would make them appear insecurely attached.
evaluation: strength
combining studies
A strength of combining the results of attachment studies carried out in different countries is that you end up with a very large sample.
In the IJzendoorn meta-analysis there was a total of nearly 2000 babies and their primary attachment figures.
The overall sample size is a strength because large samples increase the internal validity by reducing the impact of anomalous results caused by bad methodology ot very unusual participants
Evaluations: weakness
study may be ethnocentric
For example, the Strange Situation was designed by Ainsworth (an American researcher) based on a British theory (Bowlby). In the strange situation, a lack of separation anxiety and a lack of pleasure on reunion indicate an insecure attachment. In Germany, this behaviour may be seen as independence rather than avoidance and hence not a sign of insecurity within that cultural context.
what is the study being ethnocentric a problem?
This is a problem because it can be questioned whether Anglo-American theories and assessments can be applied to other cultures (imposed etic) Therefore, cross cultural comparisons using the ‘strange situation’ may lack validity.
Evaluation: lacking ecological validity
Grossman used the Strange Situation technique which can be criticised as lacking ecological validity.
For example, the ‘playroom’ environment in which the infant was interacting in was both strange and unfamiliar to the infant’s everyday environment. This means that, because the research was conducted in a laboratory, the environment is artificial.
This is a weakness because it is possible that the experiment was not measuring the infant’s natural behaviour and as a result, the findings cannot be generalised past the study.
Evaluation: weakness
method of studying is biassed
Cross cultural psychology includes the ideas of etic and emic.
The Strange Situation was designed by an American researcher based on a British theory. There is a question over whether Anglo-American theory
What were the percentages of van ijzendoorns study of cultural variation
in collectivist cultures (China, Japan, Israel) rates of insecure-resistant attachments
were higher (over 25%) (than findings in the US)
secure attachment was the most common (50% in China to 75% in the UK)
