Types of Attachment

• What is the name of the procedure developed by Ainsworth to study attachment?

  Strange Situation
• What are the eight episodes in the Strange Situation procedure?

  1. Observer introduces mother and infant
  2. Mother and infant left alone
  3. Stranger joins mother and infant
  4. Mother leaves stranger and baby
  5. Mother returns and stranger leaves
  6. Mother leaves and baby left alone
  7. Stranger enters
  8. Mother returns and stranger leaves
• What percentage of children are classified as having a secure attachment in the Strange Situation?

  66%
• What percentage of children are classified as having an insecure avoidant attachment?

  22%
• What percentage of children are classified as having an insecure resistant attachment?

  12%
• What factors contribute to the development of different attachment types according to Belsky and Rovine?

  • Child’s innate temperament
  • Parent’s sensitive responsiveness
• How does a child's innate temperament influence attachment types?

  It influences the parent's response to the child
• Strange Situation AO3 - Sensitive responsiveness theory


  • Sensitive responsiveness theory supported by research from Wolff and Van I. who conducted a meta analysis of research into attachment types
  • Found that there is a relatively weak correlation between sensitive responsiveness and attachment type
  • Which suggests that there are other reasons which may better explain why children develop different attachment types
  • So Ainsworth’s explanation of sensitive responsiveness being the reason why children have different attachment types is therefore a reductionist approach
• Strange Situation AO3 - Support for validity


  • Att. type as defined by the SS is strongly predictive of later development
  • Babies assessed as securely attached tend to go on to have better outcomes in many areas
  • Insecure-resistant attachment is associated with the worst outcomes, including bullying in later childhood (Kokkinos) and adult mental health problems (Ward)
  • This is evidence for the validity of the concept because it can explain subsequent outcomes and suggests that the type of attachment behaviour is a predictor for later relationships (continuity hypothesis)
• Strange Situation AO3 - Evidence against validity


  • Criticised on the grounds that it identifies only the type of attachment to the mother - child may have different attachment with different attachment figures
  • Means that it lacks validity as it does not measure a general attachment, only one specific to the mother
  • Child may show different attachment behaviours on different occasions and child’s attachment may change -due to changes in family circumstances (ex. If parents separate)
  • Conducted in an artificial setting meaning the observational study also has low ecological validity
• Strange Situation AO3 - Culture-bound test


  • May not have the same meaning in other countries outside Western Europe and the USA
  • Takahashi found that the test does not work in Japan as Japanese mothered are so rarely separated from their babies that, as expected, there are very high levels of separation anxiety
  • In the reunion stage Japanese mothers rushed to the baby to scoop them up so the child’s response was hard to observe, meaning that caregivers from different cultures also behave differently in the Strange Situation
• What type of analysis did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg conduct?

  Meta-analysis
• What was the most common attachment type found in all countries?

  Type B (Secure)
• What was the range of secure attachment proportions in Britain and China?

  75% in Britain, 50% in China
• How do individualistic cultures compare in insecure attachment rates to the original Strange Situation sample?

  Similar rates of insecure attachment
• Which country showed high rates of insecure avoidant attachment?

  Germany
• Which countries had high rates of insecure resistant attachment?

  Israel and Japan
• What did the study find about variation in attachment within cultures?

  Greater variation within cultures
• How much greater is the variation within cultures compared to between cultures?

  150% greater
• What percentage of securely attached infants was found in one USA study?

  46%
• What did Grossmann highlight about German children’s attachment behavior?

  High percentage of avoidant behavior
• What do German parents seek in their infants according to Grossmann?

  Independent, non-clingy infants
• Cultural variations AO3 - High validity

  • Most of the research conducted by psychologists who were from the same cultural background as participants
  • Grossman et al - Germany and Takahashi - Japan
  • Prevented problems of misinterpretation of language and behaviours
  • Suggests there was little reappear her misunderstanding of language when communications instructions which enhances the validity of the data collected
  • Reduces investigator effects and reduces culture bias
• What was the percentage of securely attached infants found in Japan according to Takahashi?

  68%
• What percentage of infants in Japan were classified as insecure-resistant?

  32%
• What was unique about the insecure-avoidant classification in Japan?

  No infants were insecure-avoidant
• Why was the "leaving the infant alone" stage abandoned in Japan's study?

  Infants were extremely distressed
• What might have happened if Japanese infants had not been so distressed?

  80% would have been securely attached
• How do Japanese cultural values influence attachment behavior?

  Discourages avoidance of interaction
• How much time do Japanese infants spend in contact with their mothers?

  Almost all of their first 2 years
• What is the consequence of being left alone for Japanese infants?

  Leads to extreme distress
• How does the Strange Situation misjudge Japanese infants' behavior?

  Classifies distress as insecure-resistant
• Cultural variations AO3 - Ethnocentric


  • Within any country there are many sub-cultures each with different child rearing practices
  • Meta-analysis found that distributions of attachment type in Tokyo (urban setting)were similar to Western studies whereas a more rural sample had an over representation of insecure resistant individuals
  • Cannot be assumed that an individual sample is representative of a particular culture or subculture
  • Environmental variables may differ between studies and confound results
  • This means that conclusions and comparisons about different cultures cannot be made
• Cultural variations AO3 - Biased method of assessment


  • Trying to apply a theory or technique designed for one culture to another culture is known as acculturation
  • Ex. idea that a lack of separation anxiety and lack of happiness on reunion response indicate an insecure attachment in the Strange Situation but in Germany this behaviour is seen more as independence rather than avoidance and hence not a sign of insecurity within that cultural context (Grossman)
  • This means that comparing cultures across cultures may lack validity