Types of attachment

• outline the strange situation? (Ainsworth)

  Aim: Identify and categorise Infant and attachment styles

  Procedure: Controlled observation, observed stranger, separation anxiety, reunion behaviour and willingness to explore. Controlled when the mother entered and left, stranger entered and left.

  Findings: 3 attachment types: Insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant and securely attached
• 2 Strengths of strange situation

  • High reliability (procedure was controlled)
  • Help to identify support for insecure attachments
• 2 Weaknesses of strange situation

  • Low ecological validity
  • Low generalisability (only American infants, culture bias)
• Outline cultural variations (Van Ijzendoorn)

  Aim: Look at proportions of secure, insecure attachments across different countries

  Procedure: analysed findings of 32 studies from 8 countries of the strange situation (China, Japan, Germany, UK, USA, Israel, Sweden and Netherlands)

  Findings: Secure most common in Britain and Sweden, Avoidant most common in Germany and resistant most common in Japan and Israel

  Conclusions: Individualistic cultures encourage independence and collectivistic cultures rarely experience separation