Culture variations in attachment

Question 1

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

Answer 1

• Conducted a study to look at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries to assess cultural variation
  -Looked at the differences within the same countries to get an idea of variations within a culture

Question 2

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg procedure - procedure

Answer 2

Looked at 32 studies of attachment where the Strange Situation had been used to investigate the proportion of attachment types
These were conducted in 8 countries - 15 studies were from America
Overall these results were from 1,990 children
These data from these 32 studies was meta-analysed

Question 3

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg procedure - findings

Answer 3

Wider variation between the proportions of attachment types in different studies

In all countries secure attachment was the most common classification
However, the proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China

Individualist culture rates of insecure-resistant attachments were similar to Ainsworth’s original sample (under 14%) but this was not true for the collectivist samples from China, Japan and Israel were rates above 35%
Here rates of insecure-avoidant attachments were reduced

Interesting finding - variations between results of studies within the same country were actually 150% greater than those between countries. For example, in America, one study found only 46% securly attached compared to one sample as high as 90%

Question 4

Italian study

Answer 4

Simonelli et al (2014) conducted a study in Italy to see whether the proportion of babies of different attachment types still matches those found in previous studies

• The researchers assessed 76 babies aged 12 months using the Strange Situation
  
  • They found 50% were secure, with 36% insecure-avoidant
• This is a lower rate of secure attachment and a higher rate of insecure-avoidant attachment than has been found in many studies
• The researchers suggested that this was because increasing numbers of mothers of very young children work long hours and use professional childcare
  -These findings suggests that patterns of attachment types are not static but vary with cultural change

Question 5

Korean study

Answer 5

Mi Kyoung Jin et al (2012) conducted a study to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea in other studies

• The Strange Situation was used to assess 87 babies
• The overall proportion of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries, with most babies being secure
• However, more of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only on baby was avoidant
• This distribution is similar to the distribution of attachment types found in Japan (Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s, 1988)
• Since Japan and Korea have quite similar child-rearing styles this similarity might be explained in terms of child-rearing style

Question 6

Conclusion

Answer 6

Secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures, supporting Bowlby’s idea that attachment in innate and universal

However, the research also clearly shows that cultural practices have an influence on attachment type

Question 7

Strength - Indigenous researchers

Answer 7

• Indigenous psychologists are those from the same cultural background as the participants
• This kind of research means that many of the potential problems in cross-cultural research can be avoided, such as researchers’ misunderstanding of the language used by participants or having difficulty communicating instructions to them
• Difficulties can also include bias because of one nation’s stereotype of another

-This means there is an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully - enhancing the validity of the data collected

Question 8

Counterpoint to indigenous researchers

Answer 8

• This has not always been true of all cross-cultural attachment researchers
• Morelli and Tronick (1991) were from America when they studies child-rearing and patterns of attachment in the Efe of Zaire
• Their data may have been affected by difficulties in gathering data from participants
  -This means that data from some countries might have bene affected by bias and difficulty in cross-cultural communication

Question 9

Limitation - confounding variables

Answer 9

• Studies conducted in different countries are not usually matched for methodology when they are compared in reviews or meta-analysis
• Sample characteristics (poverty, social class, and urban/rural make-up) can confound results, as can the age of participants studied in different countries
  
  • Environmental differences may also differ between studies and confound results
  • For example - the size of the room used in the Strange Situation and the availability of fun/interesting toys. Babies may tend to explore less if the room is smaller. Less visible proximity-seeking because of the room size mean the child is classified as avoidant
    This means that looking at attachment in different non-matched studies conducted in different countries may not tell us anything about cross-cultural patterns of attachment

Question 10

Limitation = imposed Etic

Answer 10

Cross-cultural psychology includes the idea of emic (cultural uniqueness) and etic (cross-cultural universality)

• Imposed etic occurs when we assume an idea of technique that works in one cultural context will work in another
  
  • E.g. Attachment research is the measure of babies response to reunion with the caregiver in the Strange Situation. In Britain and America, lack of affection on reunion may indicate an avoidant attachment. But in Germany, such behaviour would be more likely interpreted as independence rather than insecurity. Therefore the Strange Situation may not work in Germany
    This means that the behaviours measured by the Strange Situation may not have the same meaning is different cultural contexts, and comparing them across cultures in meaningless

Question 11

Competing explanations

Answer 11

• Cross-cultural research has found very similar attachment types in different countries
• Bowlby’s theory explains this similarity by identifying attachment as innate and universal
• However, van Ijendoorn and Kroonenberg suggest an alternative explanation
  Namely that global media represents a particular view of how parents and babies are meant to behave. This may override traditional cultural differences in the way children are brought up