Cultural variations in attachment

• van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) looked at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries. They also looked at the differences within the same countries to get an idea of variations within a culture.
• van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg found 32 studies of attachment where the Strange Situation had been used. These were conducted in 8 countries, 15 in the US. Overall the studies yielded results for 1,990 children. The data was meta-analysed, results being combined and weighted for sample size.
• Secure attachment was the most common classification in all countries, but ranged from 50% in China to 75% in Britain.
• In individualist cultures rates of insecure-resistant attachment were similar to Ainsworth's original sample (all under 14%) but this was not true for collectivist samples from China, Japan and Israel whre rates were above 25%. This suggests that there were cultural differences in the distribution of insecure attachment.
• Simonelli et al. (2014) assessed 76 babies aged 12 months in Italy using the Strange Situation to see whether the proportion of attachment types still matched previous studies in Italy. They found that 50% were secure, with 36% insecure-avoidant. This lower rate of secure attachment may be because increasingly mothers work long hours and use more childcare. This shows that cultural changes can affect patterns of attachment.
• Jin et al. (2012) compared the attachment types of 87 Korean babies to proportions in other studies. Found similar patterns of secure and insecure attachment to other studies. However, within insecure categories there were differences - only one baby was avoidant. This pattern is similar to Japan and may be because both countries have similar child-rearing practices.
• AO3 - Use of indigenous researchers:

  Indigenous researchers are those from the same cultural background as the participants. Using indigenous researchers aids communication between researchers and participants and helps prevent misunderstandings eg. of instructions. This means that there is an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully, increasing the validity of the study.
• AO3 - Impact of confounding variables:

  Studies conducted in different countries may not be matched for sample characteristics, eg. studies in different countries may use children of different ages and social classes. Environmental variables may also differ, eg. using smaller rooms which might encourage babies to explore more. This means that studies assessing attachment types carried out in different countries may tell us little about cultural differences in attachment.
• AO3 - Imposing a test designed in one culture (an imposed etic):

  Using a test in a different cultural context from the one for which it was designed may be meaningless. The Strange Situation was designed in the US where lack of affection at reunion represents insecure attachment. However, in Germany it would be seen as a sign of independence. This means that it may be meaningless to compare attachment behaviours across countries.
• AO3 - Large sample:

  The findings of van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg can be considered reliable due to the significantly large samples that they used, i.e. 1990 children. This replicability increases the validity and faith in the conclusions drawn because it decreases the likelihood that the observed results were simply due to chance or a 'one-off'.