AO1

• Individualistic culture

  • Western cultures that value independence and individuality
  • E.g UK and USA
• Collectivist culture

  • an importance of the group
  • Characterised by the extent to which things are shared
  • Groups live together, share tasks, belongings and child rearing
  • Value interdependence
  • E.g Japan and China
• Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - procedure

  • Examined 32 studies in 8 countries where the strange situation had been used to investigate attachment
  • Had data from around 2000 children
  • meta analysis - results combined but weighted for sample size
• Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - findings

  • in all cultures secure attachment was the most common classification but it varied (e.g britain was 75%, china was 50%)
  • insecure resistant was the least common
  • variation within cultures was 1.5x greater than variation between cultures (e.g in US one study found 46% securely attached and another found 90%)
• conclusion

  • the global pattern across cultures appears to be similar to that found in the US
  • supports the idea that secure attachment is best for healthy social and emotional development
  • support the idea that attachment is innate and biological
• cross cultural similarities

  • Tronick et al - studied an african tribe
  • infants looked after and breastfed by different women, slept with own mother
  • infants still showed one primary attachment
  • supports monotropy, secure base and Bowlbys ideas that attachment is innate
• cross cultural differences

  • Grossman and Grossman - German infants classed as insecurely attached
  • German culture involves keeping some interpersonal behaviour
  • so infants dont engage in proximity seeking behaviour in strange situation - labelled insecurely attached