Cultural Variations in Attachment Flashcards
Cultural Variations
IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)
Procedure
- The researchers meta-analysised 32 studies where the Strange Situation is used to investigate attachment types.
- These were conducted in 8 countries: 15 in the US.
- Studies yeilded results for 1,990 children.
Cultural Variations
Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)
Findings
- There was a wide variation in the proportion of attachment types.
- In all coutnries, secure attachment was the most common, however this varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China.
- Individualist cultures saw similar rates of insecure-resistent attachments to Ainsworth’s original study (under 14%).
- Collectivist culture’s had resistant rates above 25%, but saw a decrease in avoidant attachment.
- Variations between results in the same country were 150% more than those between countries.
- E.g. in the US, one study found 46% securely attached compared to another which was 90%.
Cultural Variations
Simonelli (2014)
Italian Study
- Assessed 76 babies aged 12 months using the Strange Situation.
- 50% were secure, 36% avoidant.
- This is a lower rate of secure and higher rate of avoidant than in many studies.
- Researchers suggest this is because of increasing the number of mothers of very young children working long hours.
- Patterns of attachment types are not static but instead vary with cultural change.
Cultural Variations
Jin (2012)
Korean Study
- Strange Situation was used to assess 87 babies.
- Overall populations of insecure and secure babies was similar to other cultures.
- However, more of those classified as insecurely attached were restistant and only one avoidant.
- This distribution is similar to the distribution in Japan.
- Japan and Korea have similar child-reering style so this might explain similarities between results.
Cultural Variations
Conclusions
- Secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures.
- Supporting Bowlby’s theory that attachment is inate and secure attachment is a universal norm.
- However, research also shows cultural practices have an influence on attachment type.
Cultural Variations: Evaluation
Indigenous Researchers
Strength
- Ijzendoorn included research by people of the same cultural backgroud as the participants.
- This means many potential problems can be avoided.
- For example, misunderstanding of the language and difficulty communicating instructions to participants; bias because of stereotyping.
This means there is a good chance researchers and participants communicated successfully - enhancing the validity of the data collected.
Cultural Variations
Counterpoint
Indigenous Researchers
- Not all researchers were indigenous to the country the study was conducted in.
- Morelli and Tronrick (1991) were outsiders from America when studying child-rearing and patterns of attachment in the Efe of Zaire.
- Their data may have been affected by difficulties gathering data from participants outside their own culture.
This means data from the some countries may be subject to bias and difficulty with cross-cultural communication.
Cultural Variations: Evaluation
Confounding Variables
Limitation
- Studies conducted in different countries are not typically matched for methodology.
- Sample characteristics such as poverty, social class or age can confound results.
- Environmental variables may also differ between studies and confoudn results.
- E.g. Babies may explore more in small rooms with large attractive toys, than in large or bare rooms.
- Less visible proximity-seeking due to room size may cause them to be classed as avoidant.
This means non-matching studies conducted in different countries may not tell us anything about cross-cultural patterns of attachment.
Cultural Variations: Evaluation
Imposed Etic
Limitation
- Imposed etic is where it is assumed that a technique that works in one culture, will work in another.
- In Britain or the US, lack of affection on reunion may indicate an avoidant attachment.
- However, in Germany, such behaviour is regarded as independence rather than insecurity.
- Therefore, this aspect of the Strange Situation would not work in Germany.
This means behaviours measured by the Strange Situation may not have the same meanings in other cultures, so comparing them across cultures is meaningless.
