Cultural Variations in Attachment

Question 1

who are the researchers involved in the meta analysis?

Answer 1

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

Question 2

what did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg?

Answer 2

• meta analysis of 32 strange situation studies
• studies were conducted in 8 countries
• around 1990 children in total

Question 3

what were the findings of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg?

Answer 3

• most common attachment type: secure
• UK had the highest number of secure attachment: 75%
• Germany had the highest number of insecure avoidant: 35%
• Israel had the highest number of insecure resistant: 29%

Question 4

how many times greater was variation within cultures than variation between cultures?

Answer 4

1.5 times greater
- for example USA one study found 46% securely attached compared to another that found 90%

Question 5

who are the other researchers involved in cultural variations in attachment?

Answer 5

• Alessandra Simonelli et al (Italian Study)
• Jin et al (Korean study)

Question 6

what was the aim of Simonelli et al?

Answer 6

• conducted a study in Italy
• to see whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still match those found in previous studies

Question 7

what did Simonelli et al do?

Answer 7

• assessed 76 babies aged 12 months using the strange situation
• 50% were secure
• 36% were insecure-avoidant
• this is a lower rate of secure attachment and a higher rate of insecure-avoidant

Question 8

what does Simonelli et al’s study suggest?

Answer 8

the changes in rates of type of attachment is due to increasing numbers of mothers of very young children working long hours and using professional childcare
- patterns of attachment types are not static but vary in line with cultural change

Question 9

what was the aim of Jin et al’s study?

Answer 9

conducted a study to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies

Question 10

what did Jin et al do?

Answer 10

• used strangest situation to assess 87 babies
• overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries, with most babies being secure
• most of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one baby was avoidant
• similar to distribution of attachment types in Japan

Question 11

why were the attachment types the way they were in Japan and Korea?

Answer 11

• they have quite similar child-rearing styles

Question 12

what is the conclusion of studies in cultural variations?

Answer 12

• secure attachment seems to be normal in a wide range of cultures, which supports Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate and universal, this type is a universal norm
• cultural practices have an influence on attachment type