Individualist cultures value independence with each working to their own individual goals e.g. USA and Europe (Western cultures).
Collectivist cultures value cooperation with each working towards the family or group goals e.g. Japan and Israel (Eastern cultures).
The Strange Situation procedure has been used in a variety of cultural settings to identify whether patterns of attachments appear to be universal or if they are subject to cultural influences.
Culture refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people, and cultural variations are the differences between these.
Takahashi (1990) replicated the Strange Situation with 60 middle class Japanese infants & mothers using the same standardised procedure and behavioural categories.
Takahashi found that 90% of infant-alone steps had to be stopped due to excessive infant anxiety.
