Cultural Variations Flashcards
Define cultural variation
The differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups
Define an individualist culture
Emphasis on personal independence and achievement at the expense of group goals. Strong sense of competition
Define a collectivist culture
Emphasis on family and work goals above individual needs and desires. There is a high degree of interdependence between people
State the three main studies carried out on cultural variations
- Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)= Meta-analysis
- Jin et al. (2012)= Korea
- Simonelli et al. (2014)= Italy
Describe the procedure of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study
Located 32 studies across 8 studies where the strange situation had been used. The overall sample was 1900 children. The data was meta-analysed. This means they were combined and analysed, weighing each study based on it’s sample size.
State and explain the three main findings from Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study
- Secure attachment= most common. Supports Bowlby’s view that attachment is an innate and biological process.
- Insecure-avoidant= Highest % in Germany. German caregivers place emphasis on independent infants who obey their parents’ demands.
- Insecure-resistant= least common overall, but highest in Israel and Japan. Collectivist cultures. Distress likely shock at being separated from mothers
Was the variation greater between or within cultures in Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study?
Within cultures- 1.5 times greater
Which other study showed evidence for high levels of insecure-resistant in Asian countries?
Jin et al. (2012):
- Compared attachment types in Korea to other studies using the Strange Situation to assess 87 children
- Proportions of insecure and secure babies= similar to most countries.
- Only 1 resistant child. Higher levels of insecure-resistant
Describe the procedure and findings of Simonelli et al.’s study
- Conducted in Italy to see whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still matches those found in previous studies
- Assessed 76 babies aged 12 months using the Strange Situation
Describe the findings of Simonelli et al.’s study
- 50% of infants= secure attachment
- 36% of infants= insecure-avoidant
- This is a lower rate of secure attachment and higher rate of insecure-avoidant attachment than has been found in many studies. This may be because an increasing number of mother’s work and use professional care so children become more independent.
1 Strength of cultural variations of attachment
Most of the studies conducted in the cross-cultural research were carried out by indigenous researchers. Eg. Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonberg included research by Japanese and German teams. This avoids validity issues from miscommunication and avoids bias due to stereotypes.
3 Limitations of cultural variations
Doesn’t consider subcultures:
Studies countries rather than cultures which may have other child-rearing practices. Ijzendoorn and Sagi (2001) found distributions of attachment in Tokyo similar to Western countries but in rural areas there was an overrepresentation of insecure- resistant children.
Confounding variables:
In a meta-analysis, the studies use different methodologies. Characteristics such as social class/ rural or urban make-up/ age can confound results. Environmental factors. Eg. Large rooms with less toys will lead children to explore differently than a small room with interesting toys. Studying cultural variation in non-matching studies may not tell us anything about cross-culture variation.
Imposed etic - Designed by an American based on a British theory. Applying this technique may not be suitable for measuring attachment across all culture. Could lead to children being incorrectly labelled as insecure but are just shocked/ stressed/ independent.
