Cultural Variations

• Who investigated cultural variations in attachment and when?

  Van Ijzendoorm & Kroonenburg (1988)
• What was the methodology of Van Ijzendoorm's study?

  meta-analysis of 32 studies from 8 countries, all of which replicated Ainsworth's strange situation
• What is meant by an individualist culture?

  a culture which emphasises personal achievement and independence
• What is meant by a collectivistic culture?

  a culture which emphasises the importance of family and shared goals
• What attachment type was the most common across all countries?

  secure
• What countries had the highest proportion of securely attached infants?

  UK - 75%

  Sweden - 74%
• What countries had the highest proportion of insecure-avoidant infants?

  Germany - 35%

  Holland - 26%
• What countries had the highest proportion of insecure-resistant infants?

  Israel - 29%

  Japan - 27%
• What is the evaluation for Van Ijzendoorm's study on cultural variations?

  :( not globally representative --> 27/32 studies from individualistic cultures --> need more data from socialist countries to establish global perspective --> ethnocentric --> low ecological validity

  :( cultural relativism --> uses western method of measuring attachment --> US researcher testing on US infants --> should not be used in cultures where the same values are not as important

  :) sample size --> 1900 infants --> high internal validity