quickfire cultural variations

• who did the meta analysis study comparing attachment across and within cultures

  • Van Ijzendoorn and Peter Kroonenberg
  • 1988
• Ijzendoorn and kroonenberg procedure

  • researchers located 32 studies of attachment using the strange situation; conducted in 8 diff countries (18 were from the US)
  • overall 1990 kids were used
  • results were meta analysed- results were combined and analysed together, weighing each study for its sample size
• Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's findings

  • in all countries, secure attachment was the most common
  • but the proportions of secure attachment varied: 50% in China vs 75% in Britain
  • Insecure-resistant rates in individualist cultures were similar to Ainsworth's original findings (under 14%)
  • but in collectivist cultures eg china japan and israel the rates for resistance were all above 25%
  • finally, there was a 150% greater variation between studies within the same culture, for eg one US study had 90% secure attachments but another US one had 46%
• who conducted the SS study in italy

  • simonelli et al 2014
• simonelli et al procedure

  • researchers assessed 76 babies age 1 using the strange situation
• simonelli findings

  • 50% were secure
  • 36% insecure avoidant
  • this is a lower rate of secure and higher rate of avoidant compared to other studies
• what was the possible reasoning researchers suggested from simonelli et als study

  • This difference in % was prob due to the fact that more mothers of young children went back to work long hours and use childcare
  • the findings suggested that patterns of attachment are not static but vary with cultural changes
• who conducted the SS study in korea

  • Jin et al 2012
• Jin et al procedure

  • Strange situation was used to assess 87 babies
• jin et als findings

  • the proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to most countries; most being secure
  • but, more of the insecure classified ones were resistant, only 1 was insecure avoidant
  • these rates were very similar to those in Japan
• what was the possible reasoning on why Japan and Korea had such similar findings

  • because Japan and Korea have quite similar child rearing styles this explained their close results
• conclusion from cross cultural studies

  • secure attachment seems to be the norm in a range of cultures
  • this supports Bowlby's idea that attachment is universal and innate (with secure being the universal norm)
  • but the research also shows that cultural practises have an influence on attachment type
• AO3 indigenous researchers

  • strength
  • Most studies were conducted by indigenous psychologists ( from the same cultural background as the ppts)
  • eg Ijz and Kroon included research by a german team (grossman) and takahashi who is japanese
  • this means that any potential problem in cross cultural research can be avoided such as misunderstandings or language barriers ect
  • difficulties can also include bias becoz of one nations stereotype on another
  • this overall enhances validity of the data collected
• AO3 confounding variables

  • limitation
  • Studies conducted in different countries are not usually matched for methodology when they are compared in meta-analyses.
  • Sample characteristics such as poverty, social class, and urban/rural make-up can confound results, as can the age of participants studied in different countries.
  • Environmental variables also differ. eg size of the room, availability of interesting toys — babies might appear to explore more in studies conducted in small rooms with attractive toys compared to large, bare rooms.
  • Less visible proximity-seeking because of room size might make a child more likely to be classified as avoidant.
  • This means looking at attachment behaviour in different non-matched studies conducted in different countries may not tell us anything about cross-cultural patterns of attachment.
• AO3 imposed etic

  • limitation
  • trying to impose a test designed for one cultural context to another context.
  • Cross-cultural psychology includes the ideas of emic (cultural uniqueness) and etic (cross-cultural universality).
  • Imposed etic occurs when we assume an idea or technique that works in one cultural context will work in another.
  • An example of this is in the use of babies’ response to reunion with the caregiver in the Strange Situation. In Britain and the US, lack of affection on reunion may indicate an avoidant attachment. But in Germany such behaviour would be more likely interpreted as independence rather than insecurity.Therefore that part of the Strange Situation may not work in Germany.
  • This means that the behaviours measured by the Strange Situation may not have the same meanings in different cultural contexts, and comparing them across cultures is meaningless.
• AO3 competing explanations

  • cultural research has found very similar attachment types in different countries. Bowlby’s theory explains this similarity by identifying attachment as innate and universal.
  • However, van lJzendoorn and Kroonenberg suggest an alternative explanation. Namely that global media represents a particular view of how parents and babies are meant to behave.
  • This may override traditional cultural differences in the way children are brought up.