cultural variations

• van IJzendoorn + Kroonenberg's research

  conducted a study to look at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries.

  also looked at the differences within the same countries
• van IJzendoorn + Kroonenberg's research - procedure

  located 32 studies of attachment where the Strange Situation had been used,. conducted in 8 different countries - 15 studies were in the US, 1,990 children overall

  the data was meta-analysed
• van IJzendoorn + Kroonenberg's research - findings

  secure attachment was the most common in all countries.

  -> proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China

  individualist cultures rates of insecure-resistant were similar to Ainsworth's findings.

  collectivist cultures had higher levels of insecure-resistant and lower levels of insecure-avoidant. (China, Japan, Israel)

  variations between results of studies within the same country were 150% greater than between countries.
• italian study

  Simonelli et al

  conducted a study in Italy to see if the proportions of attachment was similar to other studies.

  assessed 76 babies aged 12 months using the Strange Situation

  found 50% were secure, 36% insecure-avoidant.

  lower rate of secure and higher rate of insecure-avoidant than other studies.

  suggested this is because increasing numbers of mothers use childcare and go to work
• korean study

  Jin et al

  conducted a study in Korea to compare proportions of attachments with other studies.

  assessed 87 babies using the Strange Situation

  overall proportions of secure and insecure were similar to most countries.

  but, more were classified as insecure-resistant, only one baby was insecure avoidant.

  similar to attachment types in Japan as Japan and Korea have similar child-rearing styles.
• strength - indigenous researchers

  Studies used researchers from the same cultural background as participants.

  e.g. van IJzendoorn + Kroonenberg included research by a German team.

  Japanese study used a Japanese researcher.

  means potential problems of cross-cultural research can be avoided e.g. misunderstanding language or difficulty communicating.

  enhances validity
• limitation - confounding variables

  studies conducted in different countries won't match in methodology as characteristics of participants will cause confounding variables. e.g. poverty, age, social class.

  environmental variables may also differ. e.g. size of the room, availability of interesting toys.
• limitation - imposed etic

  The Strange Situation was developed in the US and Britain therefore, the technique works in those cultures. However, it may not in others.

  e.g. In Britain and the US, the lack of affection at reunion may indicate avoidant attachment but in Germany it may indicate independence. Therefore, part of the SS doesn't work for German culture.

  suggests the behaviours measured in the SS may not have the same meanings in different cultures