LT6 - Cross Cultural Issues With Child Rearing

Question 1

What research findings from the strange situation in Germany

Answer 1

Grossman et al found more anxious avoidant attachment types 49% compare to those in the USA 23%

Question 2

What were the research findings from the strange situation in Japan

Answer 2

Miyake et al found a high percentage of anxious resistant attachment types 32% than those in the USA 12%, but no anxious avoidant attachment types at all in Japan

Question 3

What was found from matter analysis and 38 countries

Answer 3

Van Ijzindoorn and Kroonenberg found differences and attachments between countries were small, secure touch meant was the most common followed by anxious avoidant, except in Japan in Israel. They also examined attachment types found within the same country but in different regions and found that some wider similar as between countries

Question 4

How can you explain differences in cross-cultural results for the strange situation

Answer 4

Using the results of these different studies, what was first thought to be a matter of difference in sensitivity of mothers was later thought to be because of the different cultural emphasis – implying that she has a role on attachment types. The strange situation was perhaps most suited for testing certain cultures rather than all – those that emphasise sensitive mothering in the same way as the UK and USA.

Question 5

How come the research findings in Germany be explained regarding the stray situation

Answer 5

In Germany, the high percentage of anxious avoidant attachment could be due to the lack of responsiveness by mothers, as Ainsworth might have concluded. However German parent styles encourage independence. This makes it a matter of cultural features of parenting style.

Question 6

How can you explain the results found in Japan into the strange situation

Answer 6

In Japan mothers do not leave the children with others and encourage dependency on them. Japanese children Are kept close to pacify them and they rarely allow their children to cry: crying is undesirable. Naturally in the strange situation the children would have become very distressed when left alone

Question 7

What is the strength of using strange situation procedure to measure attachment types and different countries in terms of reliability

Answer 7

Reliability is high as the same standardised procedure of the strange situation was used in the different cultures, therefore findings from the study can be compared with one another and tested for consistency. Consistent findings can be seen to be found as the same three attachment behaviours repairs out in the different studies.

Question 8

What is a weakness of using strange situation as a cross-cultural method to measure attachment types in terms of the

Answer 8

The strange situation lacks ecological validity, regardless of the country it is carried out in. This is because the strange situation procedures take place in the labs, and originally timed. This means the children are not in a natural setting to the behaviour may be a natural and not relevant to real life attachment behaviours

Question 9

What is a weakness of using the strange situation to assess attachment types in other countries in terms of etic

Answer 9

The strange situation procedure can be seen as an imposed attic. By using a procedure developed in America and different cultures, such as Germany and Japan, it could be concluded that it is the procedure itself that provides the difference in findings rather than the differences of the sensitivity of mothers from the different cultures. For example Japanese children or less used to strangers than American children might be more fearful answer respond differently, rather than having a different attachment type.

Question 10

What is ethical concern of using a strange situation as a cross-cultural method of measuring attachment types

Answer 10

The strange situation is particularly on ethical when used on children in Japan. Japanese children are brought up to be dependent on the primary care giver. Therefore the unfamiliar setting and temporary separation from the caregiver causes even more psychological harm for these children than those in other cultures, which may explain the different findings from the Japanese study

Question 11

What is a contribution from using the strange situation cross country

Answer 11

Using the strange situation to study cross cultural differences has positive contributions to society as it allows us to understand of attachment is universal behaviour or not

Question 12

What is a weakness of using the strange situation in different countries in terms of bias

Answer 12

There could be cultural bias because attachment types and categories were based on standardise western views of child rearing. Some of the cultures have different views of child rearing due to placing value on different characteristics for example Germany values independence – so what appears to be insecure behaviour, may not be a problem in the culture

Question 13

Why do research is to cross-cultural studies into attachments

Answer 13

Cross-cultural studies of those carried out more than one culture in order to compare findings. Using the strange situation in different countries allows researchers to understand attachment behaviours universe or not. The strange situation procedure has been used for many researchers are many different cultures to measure attachment types, and these results can be analysed using meta analysis