7. Cultural Variations In Attachment

Question 1

What is culture?

Answer 1

Norms and values that exist within a group of people

Question 2

What is cross-cultural variation?

Answer 2

Differences in cultural norms existing between different groups of people

Question 3

What may vary between cultures in child-rearing practices?

Answer 3

Environment, traditions, beliefs about children

Question 4

Who researched cultural variations in attachment and when?

Answer 4

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenburg in 1988

Question 5

What are the two aims of research into cultural variations of attachment?

Answer 5

• To look at the proportions of the three types of attachment identified by Ainsworth across a range of cultures
• To investigate differences within cultures (intracultural) and between cultures (intercultural)

Question 6

What type of study was used to investigate cultural variations in attachment?

Answer 6

Meta-analysis (analysis of experimental data from several similar studies)

Question 7

How many studies were used and from which countries?

Answer 7

32 studies from 8 countries (Great Britain, Sweden, Japan, the Netherlands, United States, Israel, Germany, China)

Question 8

How many children were used in the study?

Answer 8

A total of 1990

Question 9

How was the data meta-analysed?

Answer 9

Proportions of infants with different attachment types within in each country were combined and weighted for sample size

Question 10

What age of children were used?

Answer 10

Under two years old

Question 11

Which caregiver was used?

Answer 11

Mothers only

Question 12

What were the attachment types based on?

Answer 12

The Strange Situation (Secure, Insecure avoidant, Insecure resistant)

Question 13

What was the overall most common attachment type found?

Answer 13

Secure

Question 14

Which countries had the most & least secure children?

Answer 14

Great Britain with 75%

China with 50%

Question 15

Which countries had the most & least insecure avoidant children?

Answer 15

The Netherlands 38%

Japan 7%

Question 16

Which countries had the most & least insecure resistant children?

Answer 16

Israel 30%

Great Britain 3%

Question 17

Why are German children more likely to be labelled ‘insecure avoidant’? Who discovered this?

Answer 17

• Grossman + Grossman
• German cultures involve independance from parents
• Explains lack of proximity seeking

Question 18

What did Takashi find in Japanese children and why? Where else found this?

Answer 18

• High proportion of resistant
• Children are barely away from parents
• 90% of Strange Situations had to be stopped when parent left due to high separation anxiety
• Jin et. Al also found this in Korea

Question 19

What effect did young mothers returning to work have on attachment classification according to Simonella et. Al?

Answer 19

• High insecure avoidant

- Young mothers often used childcare and return to work

Question 20

What implications would this study have on cultural variations in attachment?

Answer 20

• Secure attachments are the norm so suggests attachment is innate & universal behaviour
• Child rearing practices do seem to influence attachment type
• Intracultural differences were far more varied than between cultures; issues with oversimplifying a country as a culture

Question 21

How does a large sample size affect the validity of the study?

Answer 21

• Almost 2000
• Anomalies can be identified & more accurate results
• Increased internal validity

Question 22

Why may the sample use be unrepresentative?

Answer 22

• Uneven number of studies: 1/32 in china and 15/32 in USA

- Questions how much knowledge we have especially due to large intracultural variation

Question 23

Why is it interact to use countries as cultures?

Answer 23

• Many subcultures within a country
• Different childcare practices within these cultures
• E.g variation between rural and urban areas found in Tokyo, Japan
• Explains higher intracultural differences
• Decreases credibility of study

Question 24

Why is the Strange Situation methodology biased?

Answer 24

• Based on American norms and values

- Questionable whether children can be judged with these methods

Question 25

How may the Strange Situation suggest an imposed etic?

Answer 25

Labels children from other cultures as insecure if they don’t conform to American norms

Question 26

Why may the Strange Situation methodology lack internal validity?

Answer 26

‘Attachment type’ could be due to innate temperament of child (Kagan et. Al) not relationship with caregiver

Question 27

What implications does a lack of internal validity have?

Answer 27

Emphasises how little understanding we have of cultural variations in attachment