Culture Variation in A

Question 1

What are culture variations?

Answer 1

The ways that different groups of people vary in terms of their social [practices and the effects these practices have on development and behaviour

Question 2

What does it mean to suggest that research is ethnocentric?

Answer 2

When assuming that one particular culture is the norm

Question 3

Why would cultural variations in A types potentially present a challenge to the findings of A research?

Answer 3

Different cultures would have different understanding of what a secure A is due to their own values so what is considered good in one place may not be the same in other places

Question 4

What are the overall conclusions of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research into culture variation?

Answer 4

1. Secure A most common A in all countries, between 75% in the UK to 50% in China
2. Individualistic cultures, Germany higher proportion of avoidant to ambivalent resistant A, 35%
   Collectivist cultures, Japan higher proportion of ambivalent to avoidant resistant A, 29%
3. Variation within cultures was 1.5 X greater than variation between cultures

Question 5

What did Van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg conduct to reach their conclusions?

Answer 5

Meta analysis of 2000 children from 32 studies that used the SS to measure A in 8 different countries, including western and non-western countries

Question 6

How did Van ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg compare cultures and what did they do to avoid extraneous variable?

Answer 6

• compared different proportions of A

- studies similar as possible eg: studies where only the mother was the CG

Question 7

What was the difference between particular individualistic and collectivists cultures?

Answer 7

1. Individualistic cultures, Germany higher proportion of avoidant to ambivalent resistant A, 35%
2. Collectivist cultures, Japan higher proportion of ambivalent to avoidant resistant A, 29%

Question 8

Why might the substantial meta analysis that Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg conducted have a cultural bias and their findings not be generalised to the rest of the population?

Answer 8

-Over half of studies carried out in the US (18/32) reflecting the dominance by that country
-27 = individualistic cultures, 5 = collectivist cultures
- implies not representative
+ ASS developed in the US ∴ more suited for studying A in the US? = inappropriate for other cultures/countries
- Valid conclusions

Question 9

How can valid conclusions be drawn from Van ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study?

Answer 9

if we understand the attitudes to child rearing in the country that is being studied

Question 10

Arguable what is this research by van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg actually comparing instead of comparing cultures?

Answer 10

• countries EG; Japan and with US
• One study of A in Tokyo - similar distributions of A types to the western studies
• more rural samples found over-representation of insecure-R individuals
• Found more variation within cultures than between cultures due to…presumably due to data collected on different subcultures with in each country
• Warning

Question 11

What warning/conclusion did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg give when comparing cultures?

Answer 11

“great caution should be exercised in assuming that an individual sample is representative of a particular culture or even subculture”

Question 12

Why did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg find more variation within cultures than between cultures presumably?

Answer 12

Within each country that are many different subcultures , each of which have different child rearing practices.
The data collected on different subcultures within each country only

Question 13

What did Van ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s have a high control of that lead to the study having a high cross culture comparison validity?

Answer 13

-EV by using…
1. results from SSS - well established standardised procedure
2. studies with only mum as CG
3. Specific groups of infants (down’s syndrome/ twins) not used
4. less than 35 infants not used
= measures of diff proportions really reflect diff cultures

Question 14

What did Takahashi find when he used the SS to study 60 middle-class Japanese infants?

Answer 14

• Similar rates of Secure A to those found in Ainsworth et al
• BUT J infants showed no evidence of insecure-A A and high rates of Insecure-R A, 32%

Question 15

Why did 90% of the infants study stop at the point if being left alone?

Answer 15

• Infants particularly distressed on being left alone
• accounted to Culture variation in childrearing practices - J infants rarely left alone explain American counterparts
• Makes them appear insecurely A

Question 16

As well as the method used in A research, what else did Rothbaum et al argue was not relevant to other cultures?

Answer 16

• Theory: Ainsworth proposed infants who securely A = more socially + emotionally competent children + adults
• Competence definition = being independent + able to regulate ones emotions. In japan opposite - inhibition of emotional expressions + being group orientated
• implications of development form this research may not apply in other cultures

Question 17

Where did Rothbaum et al suggest explanations of A rooted in? (weakness)

Answer 17

Individual cultures- small set of universal principles, need for protection, but in general childcare practices mostly related to cultural values

Question 18

Why might Rothbaum et al have overstated that the explanation of A is rooted in individual cultures? (weakness II)

Answer 18

Posada + Jacobs note that there is actually a lot of evidence that supports the universality of A from many different countries: China, Colombia, Germany, Japan