Cultural Variations

• It is suggested that if attachment is innate, then attachment behaviour should be similar in all cultures.
• Sagi, Van IJzendoorn & Koren-Karie (1991) studied attachment styles of infants in the USA, Israel, Japan and Germany. They reported that most children are securely attached but that cross-cultural variations could be seen in the findings.
• Sagi, Van IJzendoorn & Koren-Karie (1991) found that German children had the highest insecure avoidant attachment (49%) and Israeli (33%) and Japanese (32%) children had the highest insecure resistant attachment.
• Cross-cultural variations in attachment can be seen in the differences in child rearing styles or attachment types across different cultures.
• Culture refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people, and cultural variations are the differences between these.
• Cross-cultural research in attachment is interested in the universal concept of attachment; does every child form the same attachment.
• Individualist cultures value independence with each working to their own individual goals e.g. USA and Europe (Western cultures).
• Collectivist cultures value cooperation with each working towards the family or group goals e.g. Japan and Israel (Eastern cultures).
• The Strange Situation procedure has been used in a variety of cultural settings to identify whether patterns of attachments appear to be universal or if they are subject to cultural influences.
• Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) conducted a study to investigate attachment types across a range of countries in order to assess cultural variation. They also looked at differences within the same countries to get an idea of variations within a culture.
• Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) reviewed the data from 32 studies in their meta-analysis, where the Strange Situation method was used to investigate different attachment types.
• Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) found that there was a wide variation between the proportions of attachment types in different studies, representing different countries. In all countries secure attachment was the most common classification.
• Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) found that type A attachments (insecure avoidant) were most likely to be seen in the studies from Germany (35%).
• Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) found that type B attachments (secure) were most likely to be seen in studies from Sweden and the UK with 75% respectively.
• Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) found that type C attachments (insecure resistant) were most likely to be seen in the studies from Israel (29%) and Japan (27%).
• Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) found that Western countries that support independence such as Germany had high levels of insecure avoidant. Whereas Eastern countries that are more culturally close, such as Japan, had higher levels of insecure resistant. The exception to the pattern was China which an equal number of avoidant and resistant infants.
• Takahashi (1990) replicated the Strange Situation with 60 middle class Japanese infants & mothers using the same standardised procedure and behavioural categories. Takahashi found that 90% of infant-alone steps had to be stopped due to excessive infant anxiety.
• Takahashi (1990) found cross-cultural variations in a Japanese sample, where 68% were securely attached, 32% were insecure resistant and none were insecure avoidant. This highlights cross-cultural differences in Japan.
• Simonelli (2014) conducted the Strange Situation with 76 middle class Italian infants and found that there was a much lower rate of secure attachment than in historical findings (50%) and a much higher rate (36%) of infants with an insecure-avoidant type.
• Simonelli (2014) shows that patterns of attachment types are not static but vary in line with cultural change.
• Mi Kyoung Jin et al (2012) conducted a study to compare the attachment types in Korea to other studies. The Strange Situation was used to assess 87 babies. Most babies were found to be securely attached, and of the insecurely attached more were insecure resistant, showing a similar trend to those found previously in Japan.
• Mi Kyoung Jin et al (2012) concluded that since Japan and Korea have similar child rearing styles this similarity in attachment types could be explained by such practises.
• McMahon-True et al (2001) studied mother and infant pairs in Mali, rural Africa and found that 67% of children were securely attached despite daytime care by a grandmother.
• Malin (1997) studied Aboriginal children in rural areas of Australia and found significantly different child rearing practices.
• Secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures, which supports the idea that attachment is an innate, biological process.
• The use of the Strange Situation as a procedure means that a comparison can be made across cultures, and the reliability is therefore high.
• Research from meta-analyses such as Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) usually include large sample sizes, which make generalisations possible.
• The findings from Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) are misleading as a disproportionately high number of the studies reviewed were conducted in the USA (18/32), therefore the overall conclusions would be distorted.