Van Ijzendoorn

• What were Van Ijzendoorn's aims?

  • to assess whether within separate samples there was a pattern in the distribution of different attachment types
  • to assess the extent of inter (between) and intra (within) cultural differences in attachment types
• Van Ijzendoorn's procedure


  • he did a meta analysis of 32 studies from 8 countries that used the 'Strange situation' to assess mother-child attachments
  • all studies comprised of at least 35 mother-infant pairs with infants below 2 years of age
• What did Van Ijzendoorn find? (percentages)

  • the most common attachment type was type B (securely attached) at 67%
  • type A (insecure avoidant) at 21%
  • type C (insecure resistant) at 12%
• What did Van Ijzendoorn find about type A attachment type?

  • highest proportion of type A attachment was found in Germany
  • type A was found more commonly in western cultures
• What did Van Ijzendoorn find about type C attachment type?

  • was more common in China, Japan, and Israel (as opposed to type A)
• What did Van Ijzendoorn find when considering intra and inter cultural differences?

  • that intra-cultural differences were much greater than inter-cultural differences
  • e.g on one USA sample, there were 94% type A, although in other USA samples, there was only 47%
• What is intra-cultural differences in attachment?


  • differences in attachment types between samples from one country
• What is inter-cultural differences in attachment?


  • differences in attachment between different countries
• What did Van Ijzendoorn conclude?

  • his data suggests a difference in pattern of cross-cultural attachment types
  • overall, patterns of attachment types were similar to what Ainsworth had found during her 'Strange situation' study
  • predominance of type B attachment
  • that we don't have cultural differences in attachment
• Evaluation of Van's study

  • not representative - there are no African or South American countries included so this would be required before coming to a universal conclusion
  • cross cultural studies suffer from an 'IMPOSED ETIC'
  • misleading - a disproportionately high amount of studies were conducted in the USA (18/32) which distorts the results
  • high reliability - standardised procedure of strange situation, a comparison therefore CAN be made across cultures
• What is an 'imposed etic'?

  • where researchers analyse findings in a biased manner in terms of their own cultural beliefs
  • e.g Ainsworth (an American) assumed that separation anxiety was an indication of secure attachment but it may mean something else in different cultures