Cultural variations

• What is the main purpose of studying attachment behaviors around the world?

  To determine if attachment is innate and biological or a result of nurture and culture
• What is the most commonly used tool for measuring attachment behaviors?

  The Strange Situation
• Why might the Strange Situation not provide an accurate idea of attachment behaviors worldwide?

  It may not account for cultural differences in attachment behaviors
• Who conducted a meta-analysis on cultural variations in attachment styles?

  Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
• How many studies were included in the meta-analysis by Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg?

  32 studies
• How many children were involved in the studies analyzed by Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg?

  1,990 children
• What was the most common attachment style found in all nations studied?

  Secure attachment
• What was the dominant style of insecure attachment found in Western cultures?

  Avoidant attachment
• What was the dominant style of insecure attachment found in non-Western cultures?

  Resistant attachment
• What does the finding that variation within cultures is 1.5 times greater than between cultures suggest?

  There are more differences in attachment styles within a single country than between different countries
• What does the concept of universality in attachment suggest?

  Similar attachment behaviors would be found around the world
• What percentage of securely attached children was found in West Germany?

  57%
• What percentage of resistant attachment was found in Japan?

  27%
• What do the findings about secure attachment suggest about infant-caregiver interactions?

  There may be universal characteristics in these interactions
• What does the term "amae" refer to in Japanese culture?

  Emotional dependence or indulgent dependence
• How do American and Japanese mothers differ in their interpretation of a child calling for them during naptime?

  American mothers see it as negative behavior, while Japanese mothers view it as positive
• What is a strength of cross-cultural research into attachment?

  It uses the Strange Situation, which has high inter-rater reliability
• What was the inter-rater reliability percentage found by Bick (2012) for the Strange Situation?

  94%
• Why is the Strange Situation considered ethnocentric?

  It was designed based on American ideals of attachment behavior
• What does the lack of population validity in Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis imply?

  It may not accurately represent attachment behaviors across all cultures
• What did Mesman et al. (2020) find about child-rearing practices in the Gusii of rural Kenya?

  They expressed sensitive responding in more physical ways than verbal ways
• What are the key findings of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's meta-analysis on attachment styles?

  • Secure attachment is the most common style globally.
  • Western cultures show avoidant attachment as dominant insecure style.
  • Non-Western cultures show resistant attachment as dominant insecure style.
  • Variation within cultures is greater than between cultures.
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of using the Strange Situation in cross-cultural research?

  Strengths:

  • High inter-rater reliability (94%).
  • Standardized and replicable research tool.

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Ethnocentric design based on American ideals.
  • Lack of population validity with limited non-Western studies.