Cultural variations in attachment

Question 1

What is a culture?

Answer 1

A set of norms, traditions, beliefs and values shared by a large group of people

Question 2

What are individualist and collectivist cultures?

Answer 2

• Individualist - Western, emphasise independence, individuality & autonomy at expense of group goals
• Collectivist - Eastern, emphasise group membership, interdependence (relying on
  each other) & cooperation.

Question 3

Describe Van Ijzebdoorm & Krooneberg’s study

Answer 3

• Aimed to see whether differences in attachment between cultures were greater than those within cultures
• Looked at proportion of types of attachment across countries
• Meta analysis of 32 studies in 8 countries using strange situation

Question 4

What were the findings of Van Ijzebdoorm & Krooneberg’s study?

Answer 4

• Secure most common attachment in all cultures - lowest China, highest GB
• Germany - high levels of avoidant
• Japan - high levels of resistant
• Conclusion: more variation within country than between other countries

Question 5

What is Takahashi’s study (1990) on cultural differences in attachment?

Answer 5

• Replicated the Strange Situation with 60 middle class Japanese infants & mothers
• Found similar rates of secure attachment but higher rates of resistant
• May be due to different childrearing
• In Japan infants rarely separate from their mothers

Question 6

What are the conclusions of these studies on cultural variation?

Answer 6

• Despite cultural variations in infant care, strongest attachments are still formed with the mother which shows it’s innate and biological.
• Differences in attachment can be related to different cultural practices.