cultural variations

• Van IJzendoorn study - procedure

  researchers located 32 studies of attachment where the strange situation had been used to investigate the proportions of infants with different attachment types. these studies were conducted in 8 different countries, 15 were in the USA. the data for these studies were meta-analysed, results being combined and weighted for sample size
• Van Ijzendoorn study - findings

  in all countries, secure attachment was the most common. the proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China. Insecure-resistant was overall the least common ranging from 3% in UK to 30% in Israel. Insecure-avoidant were observed most commonly in Germany and least in Japan.
• A Korean study

  Jin et al conducted a study to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies. the strange situation was used to assess 87 children. most infants being secure attached. however, most of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one was avoidant. Since Japan and Korea are quite similar in styles this will be the same result from Van Ijzeerdoorn's study
• conclusions

  Secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures, supporting Bowlby's idea that attachment is innate and universal. However, the research shows that cultural practices have an influence on attachment type.
• A03 - large sample sizes

  • a strength of combining results of studies is that you can end up with a large sample
  • it increases the internal validity by reducing the impact of anomalous results caused by bad methodology
• A03 - samples tend to be unrepresentative of culture

  • the meta-analysis claimed to study cultural variation where as the comparisons were between countries and not cultures
  • this means that comparisons between countries such as Korea may have little meaning, the particular cultural characteristics of the sample need to be specified
• A03 - method of assessment is biased

  • the strange situation was designed by an American researcher and there is question whether they can be applied to other cultures.
  • e.g. the lack of separation anxiety and lack of pleasure at reunion in Germany may been seen more as independence than avoidance