Theories And Research Into Attachment - Cultural Variations Of Attachments

Question 1

What are the two types of culture and what do they involve?

Answer 1

• Individualist= independence, personal achievement, love
• Collectivist= interdependence, collective achievement

Question 2

What is a meta-analysis?

Answer 2

A statistical approach to combine results from multiple studies in an effort to release an increased reliability
- It improves estimates of the size of the effect/or to resolve uncertainty when reports disagree

Question 3

What was Van-Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s procedure?

Answer 3

• (1988)
• Conducted a meta-analysis on 32 separate ‘strange situation’ studies
• 15 of them were conducted in the USA, but the meta-analysis used studies from 8 different countries
• In total, 2000 mothers-infant pairs were considered in this study

Question 4

What were their findings?

Answer 4

• Secure attachments were the most common attachment type in all cultures observed, the highest were in Great Britain (it varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China)
• Avoidant attachments were most common in West Germany compared to any other western culture
• Resistant attachments are most commonly found in Japan and Israel (however they found inter-cultural difference)

Question 5

Why could there be a difference between cultures?

Answer 5

This can be due to different child-rearing practises