AO1 Cultural Variation

• Who conducted a meta analysis of the strange situation across cultures?

  Ijendoorn et al.
• What was the procedure of the meta analysis?

  Located 32 studies of attachment where the Strange Situation had been used to investigate the proportions of infants with different attachment types. These 32 studies were conducted in eight countries involving 1990 children
• What were the findings of the meta analysis?

  In all countries secure attachment was the most common classification. However the proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China. Insecure-resistant was overall the least common type although the proportions ranged from 3% in Britain to around 30% in Israel
• Which country was insecure avoidant most commonly observed?

  Germany (35%)
• Which country was insecure avoidant least commonly observed?

  Japan (5%)
• Individualistic countries such as Germany had high levels of insecure avoidant
• Collectivist countries such as Japan had quite high levels of insecure resistant
• Simonella et al demonstrated that the proportion of securely attached children in Italy was only 50%, which was lower than expected and lower than the predictions formed across a variety of different cultures. The researchers suggested that these changes may be due to changing cultural and social expectations of mothers