cultural variations in attachment

Question 1

van ijzendoorn and kroonenbergs research

Answer 1

conducted study to look at proportions of secure insecure avoidant and insecure resistant attachments across range of countries to assess cultural variation
located 32 studies of attachment in 8 countries 15 in the us
studies yeilded results for 1990 children
meta analysed
wide variation between proportions of attachment types in different studies
secure attachment was most common in all countries
proportion varies from 75% britain to 50% china
individualist cultures- insecure resistant 14% but not for collectivist above 25%
variations within same country 150% greater than those between countries
us one found 46% securely attached compared to one 90%

Question 2

other studies of cultural variation

Answer 2

italian-simonelli-conductd stud in italy to see whether proportions of babies of different attachment types still matches those found in previous studies, assessed 76 babies aged 12mths using strange situation, found 50% secure 36% insecure avoidant, siggests tis is because increasing numbers of mothers of very young children work long hours and use professional childcare, suggest patterns of attachment types are not static but vary in line with cultural change

korean study-jin-compare proprtions attachment types in orea, asses 87 babies, insecure and secure babies similar to those in most countries most babies secure, more classified insecurely attachment resistant and only one was avoidant, distributio n similar to ones found in japan, similar child rearing styles similarity explained n terms of child rearing style

Question 3

conclusions

Answer 3

secure- norm in wide range cultures supporting bowlby idea attachment is innate and universal and this type is universal norm
research clearly shows cultural practices have influence on attachment type

Question 4

indigenous researchers (eval)

Answer 4

conducted by indigenous researchers
those from same cultural background as participants
kroonenberg and ijzendoorn research by german team and takahashi japanese
potential problems in cross cultural research can be avoided- misunderstanding language or having difficulty communicating instructions
bias becuause one nations stereotypes over the other
excelent chance researchers and participants communicated successfully enhancing validity of he data

not been true
morelli and tronick outsiders from america when they studied child rearing and patterns of attachment in efe of zaire
data affected by difficulties in gathering data from pps outside own culture
data frmo some countries may affected by bias and difficulty in cross cultural communication

Question 5

confounding variables (eval)

Answer 5

impact of confounding variables
different countries- not matched for methodology when compared in reviews or meta analysis
sample characteristics such as poverty confound results as can age of pps studied in different countries
environmental variables differ beteen studies and confound results
size of room and availability of interesting toys babies appear to explore more in studies conducted in small rooms with attractive toys compared to large bare rooms
less visible proximity seeking because of room sixe might make a child more likely to be classified as avoidant
looking at attachment behaviour in different non matched studies conducted in different countries may not tell us about cross cultural patterns of attachment

Question 6

imposed etic (eval)

Answer 6

trying to impose test designed for one cultural context to another context
includes ideas opf emic and etic
imposed etic-occurs when we assume idea o technique that works in one cultural context will work in another
babies response to reunion- britain and us lack of affection avoidant attachment, germayn interpreted as independence
behvaiours measured may not have same meanings in different cultural contexts and compaing them across cultures is meaningless