Types of attachment Flashcards
Secure
High willingness to explore, high stranger anxiety, enthusiastic upon reunion, easy to soothe after separation
Insecure-Avoidant
High willingness to explore, low stranger anxiety, indifferent after separation, avoids contact upon reunion
Insecure-Resistant
Low willingness to explore, high stranger anxiety, distressed after separation, seeks and rejects comfort upon reunion
A + P of the strange situation
A: to investigate how infants behave in stressful conditions, testing attachment type
P: Stress and anxiety is caused by caregiver separation and the presence of a stranger
Ethical issues in the SS?
Possible inappropriate treatment of participants - wrong to deliberately put infants through stress and anxiety
Validity of the SS?
Does not measure attachment with other figures such as the father
Ecological validity of the SS?
The child would behave the same in real life, but the mother wouldn’t deliberately leave the child either alone or with a complete stranger
Reliability?
Possible cultural variations, however the procedure is easily repeatable in every country
Study into the effects of attachment type
Prior & Glaser - longitudinal study
Secure = positive (less dependence, higher achievement)
Insecure-avoidant = negative (aggressiveness later)
Insecure-resistant = greater anxiety, withdrawn behaviour
2 factors influencing attachment type
- Mother’s behaviour/sensitivity (NURTURE)
2. Temperament of child (NATURE)
Individualist culture
Value independence and importance of the individual
Collectivist culture
Value interdependence and the importance of the group/working together
Study showing cross cultural similarities
Tronick et al - studied African tribe who live in extended family groups. Various caregivers but slept with mother at night. After 6 months, still showed one primary attachment.
Supports Bowlby’s monotropy and hierarchy idea
Cross cultural differences
Grossman and Grossman: Germany = individualist, culture requires distance between parent and child, SS shown children appeared as insecurely attached because of different child-rearing practice
Takahashi: Japan = Collectivist, emphasise close family relationships, rarely separated from mother, SS revealed no insecure-avoidant but high insecure-resistant, more distressed in that situation
What was the important thing Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg found?
More differences within cultures than between
