Cultural Variations in Attachments Flashcards
What is culture?
The norms & values that exist within any group of people
What are some studies of cultural variations in attachments?
Ainsworth in Uganda (1967)
Simonella (2014) - Italy
Takahashi (1990) - Japan
Jin al (2012) - Korea
Grossman & Grossman (1991) - Germany
What did Ainsworth in Uganda (1967) do?
2-year naturalistic observation of mother-infant interaction in Uganda
The mothers that were more “sensitive” tended to have securely attached infants - led the infant to have increasing competence & independence
What did Simonella (2014) do?
Conducted strange situation in Italy to see attachment types
Only 50% securely attached & 36% insecure avoidant
SUGGESTS CULTURAL CHANGES MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO PATTERNS OF SECURE & INSECURE ATTACHMENT
What did Jin et al (1992) do?
Conducted strange situation in Korea with same proportion of secure to insecure with most countries
However, most insecure were insecure resistant (like Takahashi)
CHILD REARING STYLES MAY EXPLAIN THIS
What did Takahashi (1990) find?
Used strange situation in Japan
Similar rates of secure & insecure to Ainsworth BUT ONLY INSECURE RESISTANT (similar to Jin)
Can explain cultural variations as infants are rarely separated from mothers in Japan
What did Grossman & Grossman (1991) find?
German infants tended to be insecurely attached - mainly insecure avoidant
May be due to child-rearing practices as Germany culture requires distance between parents & child
What is the Key Study showing cultural variations in attachments?
Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1998)
What did Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1998) do?
Meta-analysis of the findings from 32 studies of attachment - included over 2000 strange situations in 8 different countries
What were some key findings of Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg’s study (1998)?
Secure attachment most common in each country
Insecure-avoidant second highest (not Israel or Japan) - particularly high in individualistic cultures (independence)
Insecure-resistant more common in collectivist cultures
VARIATION BETWEEN RESULTS OF STUDIES WITHIN COUNTRIES WAS GREATER THAN BETWEEN COUNTRIES
What conclusions were made from Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg’s study?
Most babies will form secure attachments regardless of upbringing (suggests it is the best one)
Cultural practices have big impact of likelihood of insecure avoidant of resistant
What are the strengths for cultural variations in attachments?
Large samples in most studies - increased validity due to lower impact of anomalous results
Lots of research support
What are the weaknesses of cultural variations in attachments?
Samples tend to be unrepresentative of culture
Biased method of assessment
Rothbaum et al (2000) argued attachment theory isn’t relevant to other cultures that aren’t American
How did samples tend to be unrepresentative of culture?
Comparisons studied difference between countries, not cultures (Van Ijzendoorn claimed)
Many different cultures in a country so 1 sample could be over-representative
How is the method of assessment for cultural variation in attachment biased?
Strange situation is a western assessment based on western theories so it may not apply to collectivist cultures - IMPOSED ETIC
What are the 3 differences Rothbaum et al (2000) suggested?
Sensitivity hypothesis
Continuity hypothesis
Secure base hypothesis
How is the sensitivity hypothesis different for different cultures?
Bowlby & Ainsworth suggested a sensitive mother encourages child to be independent BUT THIS IS THE OPPOSITE FOR COLLECTIVIST CULTURES LIKE JAPAN
How is the continuity hypothesis different between cultures?
Developing good social/emotional competency is different between cultures
Some cultures expected to discuss and show emotion unlike cultures like Japan which aren’t expected to show emotion
How is the secure-base hypothesis different between cultures?
Individualistic cultures provide a secure base to promote independence whereas collectivist cultures are more dependence orientated
Why is Rothbaum’s argument a weakness of cultural variations in attachment?
It suggests attachment theories cannot be generalised to all cultures
