cultural variations in attachment

Question 1

van ijzerdoorn and kroonenberg (1988) - aim

Answer 1

investigate cross cultural variations in attachment

Question 2

van ijzerdoorn and kroonenberg (1988) - method

Answer 2

• did a meta analysis of 32 studies from 8 countries that had used ainsworth’s strange situation
• used the results of over 1990 infants

Question 3

van ijzerdoorn and kroonenberg (1988) - results

Answer 3

• secure attachment was the most common in all cultures examined
• japan and israel (collectivist cultures) had higher levels of insecure resistant than other cultures
• germany (individualistic culture) had higher levels of insecure avoidant than other cultures

Question 4

van ijzerdoorn and kroonenberg (1988) - conclusion

Answer 4

the global trend seems to reflect the US norms that secure is the most common, adding weight to the argument that secure attachment is the optimal one for healthy development

Question 5

give a limitation of van ijzerdoorn and kroonenberg
1/4

Answer 5

they may have been comparing countries, rather than cultures. for example, they compared the uk with israel, each country has different subcultures, each with their own way of childrearing. this suggests that the researchers may have collected data on subcultures within the countries that they investigated, rather than the nation as a whole

Question 6

give a limitation of van ijzerdoorn and kroonenberg
2/4

Answer 6

their sample was biased, 27 of the 32 studies were conducted in individualistic cultures. therefore results are biased towards these cultures norms and cannot be generalised to collectivist cultures, lowering the population validity of the research

Question 7

give a limitation of van ijzerdoorn and kroonenberg
3/4

Answer 7

the strange situation was developed in the USA, therefore results may be culturally biased to the norms and values within this culture. this methodology may be suitable for use solely within western cultures where their attitudes are similar. using an assessment methodology beyond the sample it was designed for is known as an imposed etic, since attachment means different things for different cultures, we cannot accurately generalise findings to samples from non-western cultures

Question 8

give a limitation of van ijzerdoorn and kroonenberg
4/4

Answer 8

there are alternative explanations of universal attachment that don’t consider the effect of culture. bowlby for example claims that attachment occurs globally as a result of innate mechanisms to aid the infants survival. this is a biological process that occurs in the initial months after birth, and isn’t impacted by the culture that the infant is brought up in. van ijzerdoorn and kroonenberg do counter this however and suggest that cross cultural similarities may be the result of mass exposure to similar media such as television as opposed to inborn tendencies

Question 9

cultural similarities

Answer 9

the efe tribe in zaire, africa live in extended family groups where infants are looked after and breastfed by multiple women, but sleep with their mothers at night. the infants showed a preference for a primary attachment figure at 6 months old, supporting the theory that secure attachment is the most common globally

Question 10

cultural differences

Answer 10

in german culture, child rearing favours independence from a young age, infants don’t seek interpersonal contact with their parents. this causes them to appear insecurely attached as they don’t seek proximity to their mothers or joy upon reunion