cultural variations in attachement

• Van IJzendoorn and Krooneberg meta analysis procedure: The researchers looked at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries. They found 32 studies of attachment where the Strange Situation had been used. These were conducted in 8 counties and the data was meta-analysed, results being combined and weighted for sample size.
• Van IJzendoorn and Krooneberg metal analysis findings and conclusions: 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 was under 14% but this is different from collectivist samples from China and Japan where rates were above 25% suggesting that there were cultural differences
• Simonelli et al. study procedure: 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
• Simonelli et al. study findings and conclusions: found that 50% were secure, 36% insecure avoidant. This lower rate of secure attachment may be because more mothers work long hours and use more childcare. This shows that cultural changes can affect patterns of attachment
• Jin et al. procedure: compared the attachment types of 87 Korean babies to proportions in other studies
• Jin et al. study findings and conclusions: found similar patterns of secure and insecure attachment to there studies. However within insecure categories there were differences as only one baby was avoidant. This pattern is similar to Japan and may be because both countries have similar child-rearing practices
• One strength of the studies is the use of indigenous researchers. Indigenous researchers are those from the same cultural background as the participants. Using indigenous researchers aid communication between researchers and participants and helps prevent misunderstandings. This means that there is an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully, increasing the validity of the study
• One limitation is the impact of confounding variables. Studies conducted in different countries may not be matched for simple characteristics, for example, studies in different countries may use children of different ages and social classes. Environmental variables may also differ. For example, using small 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.
• One limitation is imposing a test designed in one culture. Using a test (the Strange Situation) in a different cultural context from the one for which it was designed for 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