Cultural variations in attachment

Question 1

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - procedure

Answer 1

Meta analysis of studies from different cultures using the strange situation
32 studies
8 countries
2000 children

Question 2

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - findings and conclusion

Secure attachment

Answer 2

Highest in Great Britain - 75%
Lowest in China - 50%
Similar across cultures
Always the most common type of attachment

Question 3

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - findings and conclusion

Insecure-avoidant attachment

Answer 3

Highest in West Germany - 35%
Lowest in Japan - 5.2%
In West Germany, infants are encouraged to be independent from their mothers
Suggests there are cultural differences in this attachment type

Question 4

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - findings and conclusion

Insecure-resistant attachment

Answer 4

Highest in Japan - 28.8%
Lowest in Great Britain - 2.8%
Japanese encourage infants to depend on their mother and create “amae” which is a sense of oneness which they believe is natural
Suggests there are cultural differences in this attachment type

Question 5

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - conclusion

Answer 5

Overall, attachment types were similar in different cultures
Suggests attachment is an innate process and it is not greatly affected by cultural differences

Question 6

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - evaluation

Answer 6

High population validity - all cultures included

Researcher bias - chose the studies used

Question 7

Grossman and Grossman - procedure

Answer 7

Replicated the strange situation with 49 German families of a range of social classes

Question 8

Grossman and Grossman - findings

Answer 8

Infants either avoidant or secure

Very few were resistant

Question 9

Grossman and Grossman - conclusion

Answer 9

Cultural differences in attachment type

Could be caused by German cultural norms or parents keeping some interpersonal distance from the infant

Question 10

Grossman and Grossman - evaluation

Answer 10

High population validity - range of social classes

Control of extraneous variables

Question 11

Takahashi - procedure

Answer 11

Replicated the strange situation with 60 middle class Japanese infants

Question 12

Takahashi - findings

Answer 12

68% secure
32% resistant
0% avoidant
90% of studies stopped early due to infants extreme distress during separation anxiety

Question 13

Takahashi - conclusion

Answer 13

Similar to USA in terms of secure attachment

Higher resistant attachments because in Japanese cultures babies spend most of their time with their mother

Question 14

Takahashi - evaluation

Answer 14

Low population validity - only middle class infants tested
Ethical issues - caused the majority of infants extreme distress
Reliable - strange situation method has high control

Question 15

Evaluation point - the effects of mass media

Answer 15

Different cultures watch American TV
So all cultures will see American attachment types and parenting books on television
Will copy it - so all cultures share attachment styles?
Therefore, attachment types are due to nurture not nature