cultural variations in attachment

Question 1

what is meant by cultural variations

Answer 1

• the ways that different. groups vary in terms of their social practices
• the effects of these practices on their social behaviour

Question 2

outline the procedure of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

Answer 2

• meta-analysis conducted on findings from 32 studies on attachment behaviour
• 2000 strange situation classifications were studied in 8 different countries
• interested in whether inter-cultural differences exist and also whether there are intra-cultural differences

Question 3

what are inter-cultural differences

Answer 3

differences between different countries/cultures

Question 4

what are intra-cultural differences

Answer 4

findings from studies conducted within the same culture

Question 5

outline the findings of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study

Answer 5

• secure attachment most common in all countries
• insecure-avoidant was second most common in all countries apart from Israel and Japan
• variation within cultures was 1.5 times greater than the variation within cultures

Question 6

outline the findings of the Takahashi study

Answer 6

• replication of strange situation with Japanese children
• 0% insecure-avoidant
• 32% insecure-resistant
• 68% secure
• 90% of infant-alone steps had to be stopped due to excessive infant anxiety

Question 7

how does use of indigenous research support cultural variations in attachment

Answer 7

• studies such as Takahashi also show that children in collectivist cultures do not often have an insecure-avoidant attachment style

Question 8

how are cofounding variables a limitation in studies measuring cultural variations in attachment

Answer 8

• temperament of children
• Ainsworth assumed main influence on separation was quality of attachment
• it has been said temperament is a more important influence
• strange situation may acc be measuring genetic differences in temperament across cultures rather than attachment or parenting style

Question 9

how are imposed etics a limitation to studies measuring cultural variation in attachment

Answer 9

• most research used may be biased towards American/British culture
• strange situation designed by American researcher and based on British theory so may not be applicable to other cultures
• this is an imposed etic eg. high levels of insecure resistant and lack of avoidant attachment in Takahashi’s study may be due to the fact that the children and mother are never separated
• means idea of high insecure attachment in Japan may be an imposed etic, reducing the reliability of the research to fully describe cultural differences in attachment