Cultural Variations in Attachment Studies Flashcards
meta analysis researchers & date
van ijzendoorn & kroonenberg (1988)
van i & k method
- meta analysis of studies in many countries
- including uk, usa, sweden, japan, china, holland, germany & israel
- 32 studies & 2000 children
- 18/32 from usa & 1 from uk
results of van i & k
- uk = highest number of secure children (75%)
- germany = highest avoidant (35%)
- japan & israel = highest resistant (27&29%)
general overview of the meta analysis
majority of countries follow the pattern of secure being highest & resistant being lowest
average findings of the meta analysis
- secure = 65%
- avoidant = 21%
- resistant = 14%
issue of country & culture with the meta analysis
seems to be measuring countries not culture - should’ve taken more studies from each country
imposed etic
judging another culture by your own cultural norms & standards
EVALUATION - meta analysis positive
comparison is aided as the strange situation is standardised
- comparison can be made across cultures & so reliability is high
EVALUATION - meta analysis negatives
not globally representative
- data from less western orientated cultures required to establish a more global perspective
misleading overall findings
- disproportionately high number of studies were from the usa
japanese study name & year
takahashi (1990)
takahashi (1990) method
- replicated the procedure with 60 middle class japanese infants
- revealed distinct cultural differences in how infants responded to the 8 stages
takahashi findings
- avoidant = 0%
- resistant = 32%
- secure = 68%
- for 90% = alone steps had to be stopped due to excessive anxiety
explaining takahashi results
why no avoidant?
- extremely impolite to avoid interacting with other people - children are taught this from an early age
why so distressed when left alone?
- infants spend almost 100% time with mothers for the first 2 years - being left alone is unusual for them leading to extreme distress
