strange situation cultural variations

who studied this?

van ijzendoorn

aim?

investigate proportion of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachment across countries and within the same country to get differences

procedure?

carried out a meta-analysis from 32 studies in 8 different countries

used 1900 children under 2 years old

overall secure attachment?

67%

overall insecure avoidant attachment?

21%

overall insecure resistant attachment?

12%

secure attachment in britain compared to china?

britain- 75% (most)

china- 50% (least)

where was insecure resistant found most commonly?

japan, isreal and china

where was insecure-avoidant most common?

germany

where was insecure-avoidant least common?

isreal and japan (collectivist cultures at the time)

conclusion?

attachment differs across cultures but is similar to USA

supports that secure attachment is the best for healthy social and emotional growth

confirms that bowlby’s attachment is innate and universal

name one strength of this?

very large sample with high population validity

what is counterpoint of there being a large sample?

over half (18) samples done in america and only one done in china

27 done in individualistic cultures and 5 in collectivist cultures

may not be representative

more research needs to be done

how many observations done in collectivist cultures?

5

how many observations done in individualistic cultures?

27

name 2 limitations of this?

1. not applicable to different cultures

2. compared countries not cultures

why might strange situation now be applicable to other cultures?

reflects values and norms of america

imposed etic- methodology is inherently flawed

german children more likely to be classed as insecure-avoidant because they value independence

strange situation has different meanings in different cultures

might not be a valid measure across cultures and to interpret results correctly, research about childrearing needs to be done

how did they compare countries rather than countries? why is this a limitation?

compared japan with USA

within both countries there are lots of subcultures with different childrearing practices

tokyo (urban)- similar attachment to western countries and cultures

rural japan- found more insecure-resistant infants

found more variation within cultures than between cultures but looped them all together to compare between countries

need to be careful when assuming individual sample is representative of one particular culture