cultural variations in attachments

• who looked at the proportions of attachments across a range of counties

  van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg (1988)
• how many studies were found in how many countries with how many children

  they found 32 studies of attachment where the strange situations has been used. These were conducted in 8 countries and the studies yeilded results from 1990 children
• what was the most common attachment in all countries

  secure attachment was the most common but ranged form 50% in china to 75% in Britian
• what were the rates in individualist cultures

  rates of insecure- resitant were similar to ainsworths orignial sample (all under 14%)
• what were the rates in collective cultures

  the rates of insecure-resistant rates were above 25% including placing such as china, japan and Israel
• what did these rates suggest

  that there were cultural differences in the distribution of insecure attachment
• what is one strength of culture variation (PEEL) (large sample)

  P - a strength of meta-analysis is that you can end up with a very large sample

  E - in van ijzendoorn's meta-analysis there was a very large sample used of 32 studies over 8 countries

  E - there are a total of 1990 babies and their caregivers

  L - this is a strength because large sample increase internal validity by reducing the impact of biased methodology or very unusual participants
• what is one strength of culture variations (PEE) (similarities)

  P - van ljzendoorn et al offer an alternative for the similaritiesfound between cultures

  E - bowlby argued that attachment is innate and universal which is why similarities are found globally

  E - van ljzendoorn proposed an alternative possibility - small cross cultural differences reflect the effect of the mass media. many books, TV programs are broadcasted around the world and create parenting norms so similarities in children rearing have become more common
• what is one strength of culture variations (L) (similarities)

  L - this can explain how similarities across different cultures are not necessarily because the attachment is innate but due to the influence of social norms
• what is one limitation of culture variations (PEEL) (confounding variables)

  P - temperament may be a confounding variable in the strange situation

  E - ainsworth assumed that the main influence on separation anxiety and stranger anxiety was the quality of attachment

  E - Kagan et al suggests that temperament is a more important influence in behaviour in the strange situation

  L - this would mean stranger situation is just measuring anxiety or the genetic differences in the temperament between cultures rather than assessing attachment types