cultural variations in attachment

Question 1

define cultural variations

Answer 1

the way different groups of people vary in terms of their social practises and the effects these practises have on their development and behaviour

Question 2

outline a study investigating cultural similarities between attachment

Answer 2

= Tronik et al

1) studied an African tribe called the Efe from Zaire who live in extended family groups
2) infants were looked after and even breastfed by different women but usually slept with their own mother at night
3) despite such difference in childbearing practises the infants at 6 months still showed a primary attachment

Question 3

outline a study investigating cultural differences in attachment

Answer 3

• Grossman and Grossman
  1) found higher levels of insecure attachment in German infants that in other cultures
  2) this may be due to different childbearing practises as German culture promotes keeping interpersonal space between child and parent so infants don’t engage in proximity seeking behaviours
• Takahashi
  1) used the strange situation to study 60 middle class japanese infants and found similar rates of secure attachment to Ainsworth but showed no evidence of insecure avoidance and higher rates of resistant attachment
  2) children rarely spend time away from the mothers in japan

Question 4

outline the procedure of IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study into cultural variations of attachment

Answer 4

1) a meta-analysis of the findings of 32 studies of attachment behaviour
2) studied 2000 strange situation classifications in 8 countries
3) wanted to see if the inter-cultural differences did exist as well as if intra-cultural differences existed

Question 5

outline the findings of IJzendoorn and Kroonberg’s study

Answer 5

1) found in every country differences were small
2) secure attachment was the most common classification in every country
3) insecure avoidant was the next most common in every country other than isral and Japan (collectovist countries)

4) variation within cultures was 1.5 times greater that between cultures
5) cultural similarities suggest that attachment is innate and a biological process

Question 6

what conclusion can be drawn from studies investigating cultural variations

Answer 6

1) suggest that there are cultural variations in infant care but the strongest attachment are still formed with the mother
2) also shows that there are differences in patterns of attachment that can be related to cultural attitudes and practises such as Germany promoting independence

Question 7

evaluate cultural differences in attachment

Answer 7

1) similarities may be due to global culture= Bowbly stated cultural similarities were due to attachment being an innate mechanisms however research found using a meta analysis of 32 studies that at least some cultural similarities can be explained through mass media which spread ideas about parenting - suggest that it may not be innate but due to increasing global culture
2) overall findings are misleading= Ijzendoorn and kroonberg used a disproportionally high number of studies based in the USA 18/32 which may have distorted findings this means apparent similarities may not truly reflect the variation of attachment types between cultures
3) comparisons aided by standardised methiodal- the use of the strange situation as a procedure means that the comparison can be made across cultures therefore increasing validity