L5 - cross-cultural variations in attachment

Question 1

who did a study into variations in culture in attachment

Answer 1

van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg
meta-analysis of 32 studies into attachment to see if it occurs the same way across all cultures
strange situation to measure attachment

Question 2

what were the main individualistic and collectivist cultures studied

Answer 2

individualistic - USA, UK, Germany
collectivist - Japan, Israel, China

Question 3

main findings of their study

Answer 3

• secure attachment was most common in all
• second most common was type A except in israel and japan
• china had least secure attachments
• UK had highest secure attachments
• west germany had highest insecure avoidant
• there was more intra-variation than inter-variation

Question 4

conclusions of their study

Answer 4

• similarity between cultures suggests that caregiver infant interactions have universal characteristics
• variation between cultures shows cultural differences have an effect on whether they’re type a or c if not type b
• variations within cultures such as sub-cultural differences play an important role in attachment style

Question 5

strengths of van ijzendoorn and kroonenbergs study

Answer 5

• generalisability - large sample, can be generalised to other cultures
• ethics - no ethical issues as it was a meta analysis, used secondary date
• objective - quantitative data, no interpretation, reliable

Question 6

weaknesses of van ijzendoorns and kroonenbergs study

Answer 6

• culturally biased: strange situation methodology developed in US, may not be valid in other cultures, assumed willingness to explore is secure but mat be different in other cultures
• all studies used attachment to mother: child may be insecurely attached to mother and secure to fathers, so measures attachment to one individual rather than attachment style