cultural variations of attachment

• van ijendoorn and kroonenberg carried out meta analysis on all studies using strange situation test


  • 32 studies reviewed
  • 8 countries
  • secure was most common attachment type
  • western cultures (USA, germany) - kintergarden, used to avoidance
  • non-western cultures (China, japan) - seperation / strangers are unusual - resistancy is more common here
• :( based on secondary data


  • if various teams carried out the experiment slightly different their results couldnt be reliably compared, making whole cross culteral study meaningless
• :( ethical issues 


  • stresses the children
  • in non-western cultures children would become even more stressed
  • eg. in japan study often had to be stopped as children got distressed , never normally leave their mothers
• :) findings should be comparable 


  • so long as researched carried out technique exactly as it was first designed they should all have controlled variables
• :( small samples


  • only one study in UK, sweden and china
  • studies often included middle class children
  • one study may result in biased conclusions, sample might not be representative of the whole population
• :( western technique

  • suitable for western children, imposed on different cultures
  • lead to children being stressed, making them appear insecure resistant when infact they were really securely attached eg Japan
• :) cross culteral study

  • although many cultures were not represented, researchers made sure to obtain a mix of collectivist and individualist cultures for comparison, meaning the aim of the study was achieved