cultural variation in attachment Flashcards
What is cultural variation
differences in culture/way of life
What is an individualist culture
- Western cultures e.g. USA,UK and Germany
- Individual emphasis
- Independent (autonomy)
- Self-actualisation
What is a collectivist culture
- Countries such as Japan and China
- Group emphasis
- Interdependence (Together)
- Group goals
Who conducted the study on explaining the cultural variations of the strange situation and what was the aim
Van Ijzendoorn
Aim: To find out whether the proportions of infants who were secure, insecure resistant and insecure avoidant were the same in all cultures
What was the procedure of Van Ijsendoorns study of cultural variations of the strange situation
He conducted a meta-analysis of findings from 32 studies of attachment behaviours which replicated Ainsworth. He approx. examined 2000 strange situation infants in 8 different countries
What were the findings of the study of cultural variations of the strange situation
- Despite cross-cultural differences secure attachment was the most common in all countries. This can support Bowlby’s view that attachment in innate.
- Variations within a culture were shown to be 1.5 X greater than between different cultures
- Insecure resistant is higher in collectivist cultures (e.g. where in Japan children are hardly separated from their caregiver)
- Insecure avoidant was higher in Germany (individualist culture where parents seek independent non clingy children)
What are some other studies to explain cross cultural differences in attachment
- Tronick et al
- Takahashi
- Simonelli (2014)
What was Tronick et al and Takahashi’s study’s on cross cultural differences in attachment
Tronick et al (African tribes) - Infants were looked after and even breastfed by different women but usually slept with their own mothers at night. At 6 months children still had a specific attachment (monotropy) which supports Bowlby’s view attachment is innate
Takahashi (Japan) - Supports Van Ijzendoorn’s about collectivist cultures. For example his study in Japan that replicated Ainsworth’s showed 32% of infants were shown as insecure resistant and in 90% of cases have high distress and separation anxiety as they were separated from caregivers (that they are rarely separated from)
What was Simonelli’s study on cultural differences of attachment
Modern more recent study conducted in 2014 in Italy (western)
He assessed 76 babies of 12 months old. He found 50% were secure with 36% being insecure avoidant.
Researchers suggest this is because of increasing number of mothers in western countries with young children work long hours and need to access proffesional childcare.
How would you evaluate the cross cultural differences in attachment
- Similarities between cultures may be due to globalisation instead of innate factors (Criticism of Bowlby)
- There are limitations with meta-analysis (criticism of Van Ijzendoorn)
- Issues with cultural bias (Criticism of the strange situation)
How would you evaluate the cross cultural differences in attachment
(Similarities between cultures may be due to globalisation and not innate factors)
Bowlby states attachment across cultures is due to an innate response
However some psychologists believe it could be due to globalisation. Globalisation results in Western media such as books, social media, news stories etc to be distributed across countries carrying the western ‘ideal’ parenting ideas causing the cultural diffusion of traditional parenting types in some collectivist countries e.g. urban Japan.
This suggests cultural similarities are not due to an innate drive between all children but our increasing global influences of the ‘ideal’ parent
How would you evaluate the cross cultural differences in attachment
(Limitations with meta-analysis)
Meta-analysis seen in Van Ijzendoorn’s study assumes throughout all countries all citizens have the same culture meaning it doesn’t take into account sub-cultures within countries
For example, Insecure resistance was higher in rural Japan than in Tokyo as Tokyo has similar parenting to western countries due to it being a globalised city and therefore have more secure children
Therefore the meta-analysis can be criticised for assuming a whole country has the same cultural ideas/standards.
How would you evaluate the cross cultural differences in attachment
(Issues with cultural bias)
Ainsworth’s strange situation was created in the UK and America and also was tested in America. Meaning it could have been ‘culturally bias’ and ‘ethnocentric’ as a way of measuring attachment
The strange situation based on western children was used to then judge attachment of other cultures making it an ‘imposed ethic’
For example, in some countries e.g. Japan children have been labelled as ‘insecure’ because they behave differently to US ideals and practises
