Cultural variations in attachment AO1

Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg Procedure

• Meta-analysis of 32 studies using same procedure as Ainsworth’s strange situation

• Attachment types both between and within cultures studied

• Over 2000 babies studied

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg Findings

• In all countries, secure attachment was the most common, but the proportions varied, e.g. 75% in Britain and 50% in China

• Insecure-Resistant least common, though proportions ranged from 3% in Britain to 30% in Israel

• I-A observed commonly in Germany and least commonly in Japan

• Variation within cultures found to be 150% greater within cultures than between them

  • E.g. Within USA, one study found 46% S-A compared to another sample as high as 90% S-A

van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg Conclusions

• Japanese chn rarely left by mother, so distress shown on separation more due to shock than I-A

• GB and US are individualistic, encouraging independence and not being reliant on others, hence higher exploration behaviour. Many chn used to being in daycare but not used to strangers, explaining stranger anxiety on separation

• German study highlights high % of avoidant behaviour, typical of more independent children. Grossman et al (1985) states German parents seek ‘independent, non-clingy infants who obey the commands of parents’

• Children raised on an Israeli Kibbutz unlikely to have met a stranger before as everyone on the farm is familiar to them. Therefore, reactions to the SS are likely a reaction to an unprecedented event, rather than an indicator of attachment type

Italy - Simonella et al (2014)

• Assessed 76 12-month olds using SS. Found 50% secure, with 36% I-A. Lower rate of secure attachment than found in other studies

• Suggested this is because increasing numbers of v. young chn work long hours and use professional childcare

• Cultural changes therefore make a significant difference to patterns of secure and insecure attachment

Korea - Jin et al (2012)

• SS used to assess 87 chn. Overall proportions of secure and insecure babies similar to those in most countries, with secure being most common

• However, most classified insecure were resistant, with just 1 child classified as avoidant (similar to that found in Japan)

• Japan and Korea have similar child-rearing processes, which may explain this finding

Germany - Grossman & Grossman (1991)

• German infants tend to be classified as insecurely rather than securely attached

• Culture involved keeping some interpersonal distance between parents and children, so infants do not engage in proximity-seeking behaviours in the SS, therefore appear to be insecurely attached

• 57% secure, 35% IR, 8% IA

Japan - Takahashi et al (1990)

• Used SS to study 60 middle-class Japanese infants and their mothers and found similar rates of secure attachment to those found by Ainsworth

• Japanese infants showed no evidence of IA and high rates of IR (32%). Japanese infants were particularly distressed at being left alone, so extreme that for 90% of infants, the study had to be stopped at this point

• Perhaps due to different childcare practices where infants are rarely separated from mothers, explaining why they were more distressed in the study, making them appear more insecurely attached