strange situation

Cards (9)

  • Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1998)

    Investigated whether attachment styles are universal or culturally specific
  • Meta-analysis
    • 32 studies from 8 different countries
    • Examined results of the Strange Situation
  • Attachment styles found
    • Secure (70% of children, highest in GB, lowest in China)
    • Insecure resistant (highest in Japan and Israel)
    • Insecure avoidant (highest in China, above 25%)
  • Simonelli study
    Found lower rates of secure attachment and higher insecure avoidant in Italian children, attributed to long working hours of mothers and children being left in daycare
  • Advantages of using indigenous researchers
    • Aids communication between researchers and participants
    • Helps prevent misunderstandings
    • Successful communication increases validity
  • Confounding variables occur in cross-cultural studies, such as differences in sample characteristics, biased samples, and environmental variables
  • Using the Strange Situation in a different cultural context from the one for which it was designed may be meaningless, as it reflects the norms and values of American culture
  • For example, lack of reunion in the Strange Situation represents insecure attachment in the US, but in Germany it would be a sign of independence
  • Therefore, it is meaningless to compare attachment behaviours across countries using the Strange Situation