Cultural Variations In Attachment Flashcards
What is culture?
The shared beliefs and values of members of a particular society.
What are the two types of cultures?
-Individualistic culture.
-Collective culture.
What is an individualistic culture?
One which values personal independence & achievement above family and work goals.
What is a collectivist culture?
One which values family and work goals above personal independence & achievements (high degree of interdependence).
What was the aim of Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)?
To learn how frequency of attachment types vary across different cultures.
What was the method of Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)?
A meta-analysis of 32 Strange Situation studies across 8 different countries using Ainsworth’s Strange Situation.
What were the results of Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)?
High secure: UK & USA.
High avoidant: Germany.
High resistant: Japan.
What was the conclusion of Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)?
-Secure (UK & USA): individualistic culture (not being reliant on others). Many children are used to being in day care, but not with strangers, which could explain the avoidant behaviour on separation.
-Avoidant (Germany): Grossman (1985) says German parents seek ‘independent, non-clingy infants’ that ‘obey commands’.
-Resistant (Japan): also an individualistic culture. Japanese children are rarely left by their mothers. The distress shown when the mother leaves is out of shock rather than insecure attachment.
What are evaluation points of cultural variation?
-Strange Situation was designed in America, and may not apply to other cultures.
-18 of the 32 studies were conducted in America.
-There are a lot of countries, as well as continents, missing including Africa and a lot of Asia.
-The Chinese study used a sample of 25 infants to represent around 20% of the global population.
