The Strange Situation (Attachment) Flashcards
Ainsworth
explored differences in the attachment of infants. developed a structured controlled observation known as the “strange situation” to investigate them.
Ainsworth concluded that:
• attachment differences depended upon the sensitivity of the mother (how well the mother could read her infant’s feelings and moods)
• sensitive mothers generally had infants who were securely attached
• less sensitive and less responsive mothers (those who ignored their infant or were impatient with them) had babies who were more likely to be insecurely attached
• a baby’s attachment does seem to be affected to some extent by the quality and sensitivity of the caregiver
(types of attachment observed by Ainsworth) Secure attachment
These infants played contently with their mother present and it didn’t matter if the stranger was present. They would return to her periodically during their play.
During the reunions, they sought comfort from her and then continued to play.
Mother and stranger were treated differently with moderate separation distress and stranger anxiety.
66%
(types of attachment observed by Ainsworth) Insecure-avoidant attachment
These infants ignored their mothers and her presence/absence didn’t affect their play. They did not return to her at any intervals.
Infants displayed little stress when she left and ignored her when she returned.
Infants reacted to the stranger and mother in a similar way- little stranger anxiety shown.
22%
(types of attachment observed by Ainsworth) Insecure-resistant attachment
These infants were fussy and wary even with the mother present
They explored less and stayed by their mother. They showed huge distress and showed separation anxiety.
They were distressed by her leaving and sought contact on her return but simultaneously would show anger and fight her contact.
12%
(Evaluations of Ainsworth) Support for validity
attachment type is strongly predictive of later development
babies assessed as secure tend to have better outcomes, for example: success at school, success in romantic relationships and friendships in adulthood
insecure-resistant is associated with the worst outcomes including bullying n later childhood (Kokkinos 2007) and adult mental health (Ward et al 2006)
Validity can explain subsequent outcomes
(Evaluations of Ainsworth) good reliability
showed very good inter-rater reliability
Bick et al 2012 looked at inter-rater reliability in a team of trained strange situation observers and found agreement on attachment types for 94% of tested babies
(Evaluations of Ainsworth) ethnocentrism
the tendency to believe one’s ethnic or cultural group is centrally important, and that all other groups are measured in relation to one’s own.
(Evaluations of Ainsworth) culture bound
Takahashi 1990 has noted that the test does not really work in Japan because Japanese mothers are so rarely separated from their babies that, we would expect, there are very high levels of separation anxiety.
also n the reunion stage, Japanese mothers rushed to the baby and scooped them up, meaning the child’s response was hard to observe
(Evaluations of Ainsworth) temperament hypothesis
Kagan 1982 suggested that temperament, the genetically influenced personality of the child, is the most important influence on behaviour in this situation. Temperament could be a confounding variable.
(Evaluations of Ainsworth) there is at least one more attachment type
Main and Solomon 1986 pointed out that a minority of children display atypical attachments that do not fall within types A, B or C behaviour.
This is known as disorganised attachment
Disorganised children display an odd mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours
(Evaluations of Ainsworth) Individualism/collectivism
Individualist cultures: emphasises personal independence and achievement a the expense of group goals, resulting in a strong sense of competition.
Collectivist cultures: emphasises the family and work goals above individual needs and desires, there is a high degree of interdependence between people.
(Evaluations of Ainsworth) Van Ijezedoorn and Kroonenberg 1988
UK and US are individualistic- we encourage independence and not being reliant on others, hence the exploration behaviour. Many children are used to being in day care but yet, are not used to strangers, which could explain the avoidant behaviour on separation.
Japan is a collectivist culture by Western standards.Japanese children are very rarely left by their mother. So the distress the show when she leaves is probably more due to shock than it is to insecure attachment. The distress they show when left alone with the stranger is also more likely to be due to absence of the mother.
Germany had the highest percentage of avoidant behaviour, typical of independent children. This is not surprising given that Grossmann et al 1985stated that German parents seek “independent, non-clingy infants, who do not make demands on parents, but obey their commands.”
(Evaluations of Ainsworth) Variation within countries
Meta analysis was between countries not cultures, ignoring cultures within countries and socioeconomic status .
Van Ijzendoorn and Sagi fund that distributions of attachment type in Tokyo were similar to the Western studies, whereas rural samples had an over-representation of insecure-resistant individuals
Another meta analysis has showed differences in levels of types of attachment even in the same countries. There is an oversimplification assuming that all children re brought up in exactly the same way within a country or culture.
(Evaluations of Ainsworth) Italy/Korea
(Italy) Simonella et al 2014- conducted a study using the strange situation. Only 50% of infants were securely attached (76 in total)
The researchers suggest this change could be due to increasing numbers of mothers working longer hours
(Korea) Jin et al 2012 87 children assessed. Most infants were securely attached. More of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant. Similar to Japan
