ATTATCHMENTS: Cutural Variations In Attachment

Question 1

Who were the lead researchers

Answer 1

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988

Question 2

What did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg do in 1988

Answer 2

• conducted a study to compare the proportions of secure, insecure- avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments BETWEEN countries
• they also looked at the differences WITHIN the same countries to get an idea of variations WITHIN a culture

Question 3

Procedure of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988

Answer 3

• a Meta analysis of 32 studies of attachment using the strange situation across 8 different countries
  (Multiple researchers carried it out, but Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg analysed it)
• overall the 32 studies yielded results for 1990 children
  (Large sample size)

Question 4

Findings of the Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

Answer 4

• In all countries, secure attachment was the most common classification
  however, proportions varied from 75% in Britain and 50% in China
• insecure resistant overall was the least common type
  proportions ranged from 3% in Britain to 30% in Isreal
• Insecure avoidant attachments observed most commonly in Germany and least in Japan.

An interesting finding was that variations between results of studies in the same countries were 150% greater than those between countries.

Question 5

Names of two other studies of cultural variations

Answer 5

ITALIAN STUDY: Simonella et al 2014

KOREAN STUDY: Jin et al 2012

Question 6

Simonella et all 2014

Answer 6

Study using 96 1 year olds using the strange situation across situation in Italy

• found 50% were secure
• this is a lower rate of secure attachment that has been found in many other studies
• Research suggests that this is because of the increasing numbers of young mothers that work for long hours and use professional childcare

This suggests that cultural changes can make a dramatic difference in patterns of secure and insecure attachments

Question 7

Jin et al 2012

Answer 7

• Found that Korea had similar attachment proportions to those in other counties.
• This distribution is similar to the distribution of attachment types found in japan
• Korea has quite similar children-rearing styles, which may explain the results

Only one person was insecure avoidant
- the majority insecure resistant

Question 8

Conclusions about the strange situation across cultures

Answer 8

• secure attachments seem to be the norm in a wide range of cultures, supporting Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate and universal (thus is a universal norm)
• however research also shows that cultural practices and child rearing practices have an influence on attachment types

Question 9

Positive evaluations of cultural variations

Answer 9

1. Large samples
   - due to the combination of the results of attachment studies carried out in different countries
   - for the Van Ijzendoorn study there was nearly 2000 babies and their primary attachment figures.
   - increased internal validity but reducing the impact of anomalous results caused by bad methodology or very unusual participants.

Question 10

Negative evaluations for the cultural variations in attachment

Answer 10

1. samples tend to be unrepresentative of culture
2. methods of assessment is biased
3. alternative explanations for cultural similarity