ATTACHMENT - CULTURAL VARIATIONS

• Van Izjendoorn and Kroonenberg

  Aim = investigate cultural variations in attachment using meta analysis of studies.
• Van Izjendoorn and Kroonenberg - procedure

  • Data from 32 studies using a strange situation were examined
  • research used 8 cultures.
  • % of each culture were compared
• Van Izjendoorn and Kroonenberg - findings

  • Secure attachment most common in all cultures - 75% in Britain and 50% in China.
  • Insecure resistant is least common - 3% Britain and 30% Israel.
  • Insecure avidant - most common in Germany
• Van Izjendoorn and Kroonenberg - Evaluation

  Large sample size

  • 2000 babies and their primary attachment figure
  • increases internal validity and decreases impact of anomalous results
  • some samples = small (China 36) therefore can generalise to all Chinas population
• Van Izjendoorn and Kroonenberg - Evaluation

  similarities may not be innately determined

  • similarities may be explained by mass media
  • Van Izjendoorn and Kroonenberg stated that similar tv programmes and book around the globe = reason for cultural similarities.
• Grossman and Grossman

  • German infants = insecure avoidant
  • Due to child rearing practices
  • Parents promote interpersonal distance between infant and parent.
  • Do not engage on proximity seeking.
• Takahanshi

  • 60 middle class Japanese infants and their mothers
  • 60-75% secure
  • no insecure avoidant
  • high insecure resistant
  • very distressed when left alone
  • rarely experienced separation from mothers
• Evaluation

  • imposed etic
  • strange situation created in western culture
  • assume willingness to explore = secure
  • This is not always the case in Japan as dependence is secure and not interdependence.
  • One technique designed in one culture but imposed on another doesn't work.
  • Therefore we can measure what we want to in non - western cultures