Cultural variations in attachment Flashcards
Define cultural variations
‘Culture’ refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people. Cultural variations then are the differences in norms between people in different groups. In attachment research we are concerned with the differences in the proportion of children of different attachment types.
what was the aim of the Ijzendoorn study 1988
to investigate if attachment styles are universal across cultures, or culturally specific
What was the procedure of the Van Ijzendoorn 1988 study
The study was a meta analysis. Data was collected from 32 studies in 8 different countries. All the studies used the strange situation procedure to study attachment. They calculated the average percentage from the different attachment styles in each country.
What were the results of Van Ijzendoorn’s meta analysis 1988
It was found that secure attachment was the most common type of attachment in all cultures. The lowest percentage of secure attachments was shown in China (50%) and the highest in Great Britain (75%).
Results showed that individualistic countries that supported independence e.g. Germany had high levels of anxious (insecure) avoidant (35%) , whereas collectivist countries such as Japan and Israel had quite high levels of insecure-resistant (27%, 29%).
what can we conclude from Van Ijzendoorn’s meta analysis 1988
The overall consistency in secure attachment types leads to the conclusion that there may be universal (innate) characteristics that underpin infant and caregiver interactions.
strength - who
Evaluate the Van Ijzendoorn 1988 meta analysis
A strength of the study is that by combinging the results of attachment from different studies carried out if different countries we end up with a large sample of nearly 2000 infants and primary caregivers. This is a strength because it increases the internal validity of the study and reduces the impact of anomolous results which means that the results are more accurate.
weakness - who
Evaluate the Van Ijzendoorn 1988 meta analysis
One problem is that many of the studies used in the meta analysis had biased samples which cannot claim to be representative of each culture. For example, only 36 infants where used in the Chinese study which is a very small sample size for such a populated country. Additionally the number of studies the mean was reached from varied from 1 to 18. Also most of the studies analyzed where from Western cultures. This is a weakness because while the mean for USA may be accurate as it was calculated from 18 studies the UK and China one wont be as each of their means came from the data from one study
weakness - culture
Evaluate the Van Ijzendoorn 1988 meta analysis
A weakness of the study is that while it claims to be investigating culture it is actually comapring individaul countries which are made up of lots of different cultures. The study also doesnt take into accound sub-cultures which Van Ijzendoorn et al found that there was 1.5 times greater variation within cultures compared to between cultures.
weakness - method
Evaluate the Van Ijzendoorn 1988 meta analysis
A weakness is that the method of assessment (the strange situation) is bias. The strange situation was designed by an american researcher based off of a british theory (Bowlby). It is hard to apply to other cultures as they will have different definitions of attachment for example, a lack of pleasure on reunion indiated an insecure attachment but in germany this behaviour may be seen as more independence than avoidance and therefore not a sign of insecurity withing a cultural context (Grossmann and Grossmann 1990)
What are two other studies on cultural variation
Simonella et al 2014 (italian study)
Jin et al 2012 (korean study)
aim, method, results, reasoning, conclusion
Describe Simonella et al 2014
Simonella et al conducted a study in Italy to see whether the proportion of infants of different attachment types still matches those found in previous studies. They assesed 76 12month olds using the strange situation.
They found 50% were secure, and 36% insecure- avoidant which is lower than what had previously been found.
They suggested that is could be because increasing numbers of mothers of very young children work long hours and use proffessional childcare.
These findings suggest that cultural changes make dramatic differences to patterns of secure and insecure attachment.
Describe Jin et al 2012
Jin et al conducted a study to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies. The strange situation was used to assess 87 children.
The overall proportions of insecure and secure infants were similar to those in most countries, with most infants being secure. However, more of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one child was avoidant. This distrubution is similar to what Ijzendoorn 1988 found with Japan and since Japan and Korea have quite similar child-rearing styles this similarity might be explained in terms of child rearing styles.
what conclusion can be draw from Van Ijzendoorn, Samonella et al and Jin et al
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 type is the universal norm. However, the research also clearly shows that cultural practises have an influence on attachment type.
define individualistic culture
include examples
Cultures that value independence with each working to their own goals
e. USA, europe, australia, South africa
Define Collectavist culture
include examples
Cultures that value cooperation with each other working towards the family or group goals.
eg. Japan, Israel, India, egypt, mexico
