Cultural variations in attachment

Question 1

Cultural variations

Answer 1

‘culture’ refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people. Cultural variations then are the differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups.

Question 2

Key study: van Ljzendoorn - procedure

Answer 2

Located 32 studies of attachment where the Strange Situation had been used to investigate the proportions of infants with different attachment types.
Studies were conducted in 8 countries; 15 were in the USA.
Overall, 32 studies yielded results for 1,990 children.
Data was meta-analysed, results being combined and weighted for sample size.

Question 3

Key study: van Ljzendoorn - findings

Answer 3

• wide variations between the proportions of attachment types in different studies.
• varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China.
• Insecure-resistant –> least common type although proportions ranged from 3% in Britain to around 30% in Israel.
• Insecure-avoidant –> attachments were observed most commonly in Germany and least commonly in Japan.

Question 4

Italian study - Simonella

Answer 4

• See whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still matches those found in previous studies.
• 76 participants of 12 months old using the SS.
  Found:
• 50% were secure,
• 36% insecure-avoidant
  Suggests the lower rate of secure attachment that has been found in many studies is because increasing numbers of mothers of very young children work long hours and use professional childcare.

– cultural changes can make a dramatic difference to patterns of secure and insecure attachment.

Question 5

Korean study - Jin

Answer 5

Compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea t other studies. The SS was used to assess 87 children

• most infants being secure
• most were classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one child was avoidant.

Question 6

Conclusions

Answer 6

• secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures, supporting Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate and universal and this is the universal norm.
• suggests cultural practices have an influence on attachment type.