Cultural variations in attachments Flashcards
What is culture
Culture’ refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people. Cultural variations then are differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups. In attachment research we are concerned with the differences in the proportion of children of different attachment types
The term culture does not necessarily mean ‘country’ or even ‘society’ as many different groups, each with their own rules and customs, may coexist within a country like the UK.
What is subculture
The term ‘subculture’ is usually used to refer to a group within a country that, although it shares many of the dominant cultural characteristics of that country, may also have some special different characteristics.
What are one of they key dimensions of which cultures differ
One of the key dimensions of which cultures differ is the individualistic-collectivist one. Western cultures tend to be classed as individualistic (e.g. the UK and US are seen as these) which value independence and the importance of the individual.
What do collectivist cultures believe
However, collectivist cultures (usually non western countries) emphasise the importance of the group or collective. Such cultures are characterised by the extent to which things are shared – groups live and work together, sharing tasks, belongings and childrearing. They value interdependence i.e. they aspire to be dependent on each other rather than function as self-determining individuals, Japan and Israel are examples of collectivist cultures. If there are different types of cultures existing in the world, this suggests that child rearing will therefore be different – does this also question whether attachments types will be different in different cultures? It also questions whether the ‘strange situation’ will be appropriate to measure as indicator of attachment type in many cultures especially if they are collectivist!
Key studies carried out in different countries studying attachment behaviours
Ainsworth in Uganda (1967)
Uganda (Ainsworth, 1967) – Ainsworth conducted a two year naturalistic observation of mother-infant interaction in Uganda in 1954. The participants were 26 mothers and infants who lived in six villages surrounding Kampala. She observed that some mothers were more ‘sensitive’ to their infants needs and these mothers tended to have ‘securely attached’ infants. Secure attachment then led the infant to have increasing competence and independence.
An Italian study – Simonella (2014)
Conducted a study in Italy to check attachment types. Found that in a sample of 76 12 month olds using the strange situation 50% were found to be securely attached and 36% insecure-avoidant. This is a lower rate of secure attachments than found in other studies. Researchers argue that there is an increase of women in work and are using professional childcare. These findings suggest that cultural changes can make a dramatic difference to patterns of secure and insecure attachment.
A Korean study – Jin et al. (2012)
Conducted a study to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies. The Strange Situation was used to assess 87 children. The overall proportion of insecure and secure babies was similar to those in most countries, with most infants being secure. However, the insecurely attached children were mainly insecure resistant. In fact only one child was insecure-avoidant. This distribution is similar to Japan. Since Japan and Korea have quite similar child-rearing styles this similarity might be explained in terms of child-rearing style.
Tronick et al. (1992)
Studied an African tribe, the Efe, from Zaire who live in extended family groups which means that the infants were looked after and breastfed by different women (although usually slept with their mothers at night). Despite this, the infants at six months, still showed one primary attachment - this supports the idea of monotropy
Takahashi (1990)
Used the ‘strange situation’ technique to study 60 middle-class Japanese infants and their mothers and found similar rates of secure and insecure attachments to Ainsworth in the US. However, the Japanese infants showed no evidence of insecure-avoidant attachment and high rates of insecure-resistant attachment (32%) Also, the infants were particularly distressed on being left alone; in fact their response was so extreme that for 90% of the infants the study was stopped at that point.
This cultural variation can be explained in terms of child-rearing practices. In Japan, infants rarely experience separation from their mothers, which could explain why they were more distressed in the ‘strange situation’ than their American peers.
Grossman and Grossman (1991)
These researchers found that German infants tended to be classified as insecurely attached rather than securely attached and this may be due to child-rearing practices where parents and children tend to maintain some interpersonal distance
Meta analysis of attachment behaviours
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1998)
Conducted a meta-analysis of the findings from 32 studies of attachment behaviour. Altogether the studies examined over 2000 strange situation classifications in eight different countries and the findings are summarised below in the table:
Country Number of studies Secure (%) Avoidant (%) Resistant(%)
China 1 50 25 25
Netherlands 4 67 26 7
UK 1 75 22 3
Japan 2 68 5 27
Israel 2 64 7 29
Sweden 1 74 22 4
US 18 65 21 14
West Germany 3 57 35 8
What does this table show?
1) In all countries ‘secure attachment’ was the most common.
2) China had the lowest amount of secure attachments (only 50%) but an equal amount of insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments
3) Insecure-avoidant’ was the next most common except in Israel and Japan. Insecure-avoidant was particularly high in individualist cultures like West Germany which put greatest emphasis on independence.
4) Insecure-resistant is most common in collectivist cultures such as Japan and Israel.
5) Variations between results of studies within the same country were actually 150% greater than those between countries. In the USA for example, one study found only 46% securely attached compared to one sample as high as 90%
Conclusion
• The fact that secure attachment is the most common suggests that most babies, regardless of the culture in which they are bought up, will form secure attachments
• This supports the idea that secure attachment is ‘best’ for healthy social and emotional development and that attachment is an innate and biological process.
• However, cultural practises can have a significant impact on the likelihood of a baby forming either an insecure-avoidant or insecure-resistant attachment.
Evaluation of cultural variations in attachment
Large samples – a strength of combining the results of attachment studies carried out in different countries is that you can end up with a very large sample, For example, in the Van Ijzendoorn meta-analysis there was a total of 2000 babies and their primary attachment figures. Even studies like those of Simonella et al. and Jin et al. had large comparison groups from previous research, although their own samples were smaller. This overall sample size is a strength because large samples increase internal validity by reducing the impact of anomalous results caused by bad methodology or very unusual participants.
Samples tend to be unrepresentative of culture – the meta-analysis by Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg claimed to study cultural variation whereas in fact the comparisons were between countries and not cultures. Within any country there are many different cultures each with different child-rearing practices. One sample could over represent poor people or even rich people. For example, in Japan, children reared in an urban setting were more likely to show the same attachment patterns as was found in the Western studies whereas a more rural sample in Japan had an over-representation of insecure-resistant children. This means that comparisons between countries may not be as relevant as comparisons between different cultures in one country!
Method of assessment is biased – cross cultural psychology includes the ideas of emic and etic. Emic is related to the uniqueness of each culture whereas as Etic is related to cultural universality.
The Strange Situation was designed by an American researcher Ainsworth based on a British theory by Bowlby. There is a question over whether Anglo-American (Western-based) theories and assessments can be applied to other cultures. In other words it could be that using the Strange Situation in a non Western culture is an example of an imposed etic.
A good example of imposed etic may be the idea of separation anxiety and lack of pleasure on reunion indicate an insecure attachment in the Strange Situation. In Germany this behaviour may be seen as independence than avoidance and hence not a sign of insecurity within that cultural context
Furthermore, Rothbaum et al. (2000) argued that attachment theory and research is not relevant to other cultures because it is so rooted in American culture.
Rothbaum et al. Looked in particular at the contrasts between American and Japanese culture. He considered 3 major differences:
1) The sensitivity hypothesis – Bowlby and Ainsworth promoted the view that a sensitive mother is one who encourages her child to eventually become independent. However in collectivist cultures like Japan, sensitivity is about promoting dependence rather than independence.
2) The continuity hypothesis – Bowlby and Ainsworth proposed that infants who are more securely attached go on to develop into more socially and emotionally competent children and adults. However in Western cultures ‘emotionally competent’ has a different meaning across cultures. For example in some cultures individuals are expected to discuss and show their emotions. In others cultures-including Japan- individuals are not expected to show and share their emotions.
3) The secure-base hypothesis – In the West, secure attachments are seen as providing an infant with a secure base from which to explore, thus promoting independence. Attachment relationships in Japan are dependence-oriented
Rothbaum suggested therefore that attachment theories cannot be generalised to all cultures.
