cultural variations in attachment

Question 1

what are cultural variations in attachment?

Answer 1

differences in child-rearing practices and attachment types between cultural groupings

Question 2

what did belsky contribute to cultural variations?

Answer 2

-proposed an evolutionary reason, arguing insecure attachment types are associated with weak adult relationships and early sexual activity

Question 3

what does cultural variation have to do with biological basis of attachment?

Answer 3

for attachment to be biological, attachment types would have to be universal, which they aren’t

Question 4

what did reebye et al contribute to cultural variations in attachment?

Answer 4

-in britain we tend to view insecure-avoidant as negative, but in germany it’s valued as its associated with being independent

Question 5

what was van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg’s research?

Answer 5

-1988
-meta-analysis of 32 strange situation studies from 8 countries
-1990 separate strange situations classifications were used

Question 6

findings and conclusions of van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg

Answer 6

-overall attachment was 21% type A, 67% type B, 12% type C
-model attachment in all countries (bar germany) was secure
-highest for type A was germany
-intra-cultural differences were greater than inter-cultural
-type A found mainly in western cultures
-type c found most in israel, china and japan
-data suggests there’s a difference in pattern of cross-cultural attachment types
-overall patterns were similar to ainsworth’s

Question 7

evaluate van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg

Answer 7

-intra-cultural differences found in different samples from the same researchers, suggesting no methodological issues
-some places didn’t have data, especially african countries, so makes it harder for universal conclusions to be drawn
-some intra-cultural differences could be due to socio-economic reasons
-cross-cultural studies can suffer from an imposed etic, here researchers hold bias based on their own cultural beliefs

Question 8

evaluate cultural variations in attachment

Answer 8

-different patterns of reaction in strange situation reflect cultural values and practices, eg germany independence training
-greater type c in japan could be because japanese children are rarely separated fromt heir mothers, so become more distressed in unfamiliar situations
-rogoff 2003 - black american infants have many caregivers, so were more likely to explore and be friendly in SS
-not found in all cultures means strange situation may be cultural-bound to western cultures