Cultural variations

• What was Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenbergs research about?

  • Looked at proportions of secure , insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachment styles across a range of countries to assess cultural variation.
  • Differences within same country to assess variations WITHIN culture
• What was the procedure of Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenbergs research into cultural variation?

  • Located 32 studies of attachment using strange situation
  • Conducted in 8 countries for children in 1990
• What were the results of Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenbergs study into cultural variation?

  • Secure attachment most common across all countries
  • Insecure resistant : individualistic culture <14%. Collectivist culture (China, Japan) above 25%
  • Variations within country : 150% greater than between countries
  • US: securely attached = 46% vs 90%
• What was Simonelii et al's study into attachment in Italy?

  • Assessed 76 babies aged 12 months
  • 50% secure, 36% insecure-avoidant, 24% insecure-resistant
  • Cultural changes cause dramatic differences to style of attachment
  • Suggests italy has an individualistic culture
• What was Jin et al's study into attachment in Korea?

  • Strange situation used to assess 87 babies
  • Proportions of secure and insecure similar to other countries
  • Insecure-resistant more common than insecure-avoidant
  • Collectivist culture
• What conclusions can be made about cultural variations in attachment?

  • Secure attachment is the norm in wide range of cultures
  • Cultural practices influence attachment style
• What are two strengths of studies into cultural variation in attachment?

  • Large samples (increases internal validity)
  • Indigenous researchers (most researchers from same country as participants so no language barrier)
• What are two limitations of studies into cultural variation of attachment?

  • Samples unrepresentative of culture (one sample might over-represent people)
  • Imposed etic (trying to apply a theory designed for one culture to another e.g strange situation designed by American psychologist)