AO3

• Strength:

  • A strength of cultural variation research is the use of indigenous psychologists.
  • For instance, van IJzendoorn’s research involved German researchers, and Takahashi’s study was conducted by Japanese researchers.
  • This reduces issues like language barriers and cultural bias, ensuring behavior is interpreted within the correct cultural context.
  • This increases the validity of the findings by minimizing bias and improving cultural understanding.
• Weakness:

  • A weakness of research into cultural variations in attachment is the influence of confounding variables.
  • Studies often differ in methodology, such as poverty, social class, urban/rural environments, or participant age. Environmental factors like room size or toy type can also vary.
  • These variables may influence attachment behaviors, meaning findings may not reflect true cultural differences but rather inconsistent methodologies or external factors, reducing validity
• Weakness:

  • A weakness of cultural attachment research is imposed etic, where methods like the SS assume behaviors have the same meaning across cultures.
  • For example, in the US and UK, lack of affection on reunion is seen as avoidant attachment, whereas in Germany, it may reflect valued independence.
  • This suggests the SS may misinterpret behaviors due to cultural differences, making cross-cultural comparisons invalid and biased, causing research to reflect cultural norms rather than universal attachment behaviors.