cultural variations in attachment

• culture = norms and values that exist within any group of people
• van Ijzendoorn + kroonenberg:

  • aim : to investigate cross culture variations in attachment
• meta analysis procedure:

  • located 32 studies of strange situation ( conducted in 8 countries, 15 from US)
  • yielded results for 1990 children
  • results combined + analysed together, weighing each study according to sample size
• meta analysis findings:

  • all countries, type B most common
  • proportions of type B varied, 75% in Britain, 50% in China
  • type A 2nd most common, most common in Germany, least in Japan
  • proportion of type c differed, 3% UK, 30% Israel
• meta analysis findings pt2:

  • individualist cultures, rates of type C similar to Ainsworth's findings (<14%) - not true for collectivist e.g China, Japan, Israel (>25%)
  • variations within countries more likely than between countries (150%)
  • in US, one study type C = 46%, another study = 90%
• Simonella et al:

  • conducted study in Italy - investigate whether proportion of attachment types matches what was previously found
  • 76 12 month infants
• simonella et al findings:

  • 50% type B, 36% type A - lower rate of type B, higher type A
  • researcher suggests this is because of change in working patterns of mothers (increase in working hours + hiring childcare)
• Jin et al:

  • compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea with 87 infants
  • similar findings to most countries, most common type B
  • most children classified as insecure were classed as type C (only 1 child was avoidant)
• cultural variations conclusion:

  • in all cultures secure is most common suggesting attachment is innate
• EVALUATION: large sample size, increased validity

  • total of 1990 infants, reduces likelihood of anomalies caused by methodological issues/unusual children
  • Simonella + Jin - large groups of participants
  • high level of internal validity, research = trustworthy, is an accurate reflection of attachment types
• EVALUATION: samples represent countries not cultures:

  • within countries there are different parenting styles - CVs e.g poverty or location may have large impact
  • Van Ijzendoorn + Sagi - distributions of types on Tokyo were similar to western countries, rural = more type C
  • comparisons between countries may have little meaning, samples should be more representative of cultures
• EVALUATION: culture bias

  • imposed etic - use idea that works in one cultural context in another e.g reunion response in strange situation
  • UK,US - lack of affection may suggest type A, germany = such behaviour would be viewed as independent
  • behaviours observed may not have same meanings in different contextual contexts, comparisons may be meaningless
• takahashi:

  • 60 middle class infants (aged under 12 months)
  • 68% type B, 32% C, type A = 0%
• takahashi explained:

  • leaving infant alone caused too much distress - stage had to be abandoned, if no distress seen 80% would be type B
  • infants spend almost 100% of their time in contact with mother
  • being left alone is extremely unusual - leads to extreme distress which incorrectly classes them as type C