Cultural Variations in Attachment

Question 1

studies of cultural variations

Answer 1

van ijzendoorn and kroonbergs research: Procedure- they located 32 studies that looked at different proportions of babies and their attachment types, these studies were conducted in 8 different countries, over 15 were in the US. data was meta-analysed so research studies were combined and analysed together.

Question 2

studies of cultural variations- findings

Answer 2

in all countires, secure attachment was the most common attachment type. however the proportion varied fron 75% in britain to 50% in china. in indivualist cultures rates of insecure-resistant attachment was similar to ainsworth’s study but this was not true for collectivist cultures like china, japan and israel where rates were above 25%.

Question 3

other studies of cultural variations

Answer 3

an italian study- simonelli et al. - 50% were secure, 36% insecure- avoidant. this is a lower rate of secure attachment and higher rate of insecure-avoidant than has been found in other studies. the researchers suggest this is because of increasing numbers of mothers of very young children work long hours and use proffessional childcare.

Question 4

other studies of cultural variations- 2

Answer 4

a Korean study- Mi Kyoung jin et al. assessed 87 babies. most babies were secure. however most of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one baby was avoidant. similar to japan. might be explained in terms of child-rearing.