Cultural Variations in Attachment

What is meant by cultural variations in attachment? AO1

the differences in norms and values that exist between people from different cultures

Who conducted research in cultural variations in attachment? AO1

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)

Outline the procedure. AO1

Conducted a meta-analysis of 32 studies from 8 different countries that used the strange situation procedure

So assessed around 2000 children

What were Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s findings? AO1

1. Secure attachment:

   -most common attachment type cross-culturally

   -lowest % was found in China (50%)

   -highest % was found in Britain (75%)

2. Insecure-Avoidant attachment:

   -highest % was found in West Germany (35%)

3. Insecure-Resistant attachment:

   -highest % was found in Japan (27%) and Israel (29%)

4. Variation within cultures was 1½ times greater than variations between cultures

What is one strength of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research into cultural variations in attachment? AO3

+ve: Consisted of a Large Sample Size

This is because a meta-analysis of 32 studies was conducted across 8 different countries, allowing nearly 2000 infants to take part in the research

Given that it was such a large sample it reduces the impacts of any anomalous results from poorly conducted studies or unusual ppts on the findings found from the meta-analysis

This allows us to generalise the findings from the research to whole populations, thus increasing the internal validity of the findings

What is one weakness of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research into cultural variations in attachment? AO3

-ve: Not a Globally Representative Sample

Even though they conducted a meta analysis of 32 studies from 8 different countries, a high proportion of the studies reviewed were conducted in the US (18/32)

This suggests that the overall findings from the study are distorted as they mainly consist of and so reflect Western-oriented cultures rather than a global mix of African, South American and Eastern European socialist countries

Therefore the findings from the study do not provide a valid representation of how attachment types can vary between cultures

Therefore weakening the study

What is one weakness of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research into cultural variations in attachment? AO3

-ve: Biased Sample

This is because their study was based on collecting data from studies that have used the strange situation methodology which is culturally biased as it was developed in the USA so is based on western ideals

This demonstrates that the strange situation methodology may not apply to infants from non-western cultures as they are likely to respond differently to the strange situation

For example, Japanese mothers are rarely separated from their babies so the strange situation is not a correct measure of attachment types for this culture- the strange situation is an example of an imposed etic

Therefore cannot accurately compare attachment types, thus weakening the validity of the study