cultural variation

• define culture

  specific norms, values, standards of behaviour and shared history that exist in groups of people
• who investigated the cultural variations in attachment?

  van ijzendoorn & kroonenberg in 1988
• what was the aim of the cultural variation study?

  investigate proportion of different attachment types in different countries
• outline the procedure of van ijzendoorn & kroonenberg's study

  32 studies across 8 countries

  • 1990 children
• what were the findings of van ijzendoorn & kroonenberg's study?

  • secure attachment was most common
  • insecure-resistant was the least common type
  • in Japan and Israel, insecure-avoidant was least common
  • variation was 1.5 times greater within cultures
• who investigated cultural variation in japan?

  Takahashi
• outline takahashi's study

  • japanese infants
  • more likely to be insecure-resistant
  • cultural practices of close contact and reduced separations
• who investigated cultural variation in germany?

  Grossmann & Grossmann
• define imposed etic

  designing research into one culture and inappropriately generalising it to another
• outline grossmann & grossmann's study

  • german infants
  • more likely to be insecure-avoidant
  • parents encourage independence and self-reliance
• weakness - lacks appropriateness

  • methodological issues
  • strange situation was designed for western cultures
  • misinterpretation of attachment behaviours
• strength - research support

  • van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg
  • secure attachment was most common across all cultures
  • universal presence
• strength - culturally sensitive

  • Takahashi
  • studies emphasise need for contextual understanding
  • helps avoid ethnocentric bias