3.5 Types of attachment and cultural variations

Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ aim:

The aim was to be able to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a baby’s attachment to a caregiver.

Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation: Procedure

-It takes place in a room with quite controlled conditions and a two-way mirror and cameras which psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour.

Behaviours used to judge attachment:

-Proximity-seeking

-Exploration and secure-base behaviour

-Stranger anxiety

-Separation anxiety

-Response to reunion

Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Procedure

Episode (each of 3 minutes)	Behaviour assessed
Caregiver and infant play	Exploration
Caregiver sits whilst infant plays	Parent as a secure base
A stranger enters and talks to the caregiver	Stranger anxiety
Caregiver leaves the infant and stranger together	Separation anxiety
Caregiver returns and the stranger leaves	Reunion behaviour
Caregiver leaves the infant alone	Separation anxiety
Stranger enters	Stranger anxiety
Caregiver returns and greets the infant	Reunion behaviour

Ainsworth ‘Strange Situation’: Findings

Ainsworth found that there were distinct patterns in the way that babies behaved. They identified three main types of attachment.

Secure Attachment (Type B)

these babies explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver. They usually show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety. Securely attached babies require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage. About 60-75% of British babies are classified as secure.

Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A)

These babies explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour. They show little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety. They make little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns and may even avoid such contact. About 20-25% of British babies are classified as insecure-avoidant.

Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C)

These babies seek greater proximity than others and so explore less. They show high levels of stranger and separation distress but they resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver. Around 3% of British babies are classified as insecure resistant.

Ainsworth ‘Strange Situation’ evaluation: Strengths

-Its outcome predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development. A large body of research has shown that babies assessed as Type B tend to have better outcomes than others, both in later childhood and adulthood.

-Good inter-rather reliability. Back metal. tested inter-rater reliability for the study and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases. This high level of reliability may be because the procedure takes place under controlled conditions and because behaviours involve large movements and are therefore easy to observe. -Study does not depend on subjective judgments.

Ainsworth ‘Strange Situation’ evaluation: Limitations

-A limitation is that the study isn’t a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts as it was studied in the US and Britain. In a Japanese study, babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety and so a disproportionate number were classified as insecure-resistant. This may be due to the unusual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation is very rare. -Culture bound.

-Main and Solomon identified a fourth category old attachment- a disorganised type D attachment. a mix of resistant and avoidant attachment. However, Type D babies are unusual and have generally experienced some form of server neglect or abuse. Most will go on to develop psychological disorders by adulthood.

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research aim:

To look at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries to assess cultural variation.

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research: Procedure

The researchers located 32 studies of attachment. These were conducted in 8 countries- 15 were in the US and the data was meta analysed, weighting each study for its sample size.

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research: Findings

There was a wide variation between the proportions of attachment in different studies. In all countries secure attachment was the most common classification. However the proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China.

An Italian Study

Simonelli et al. conducted a study to see whether the proportion of babies of different attachment types still matches those found in previous studies.

-They found 50% were secure, with 36% insecure-avoidant. The researchers suggest this is because increasing numbers of mothers of very young children work long hours and use professional childcare.

-These findings suggest that patterns of attachment types are not static but vary in line with cultural change.

A Korean study

Jin et al. conducted a study to compare the proportions of attachment types in korea to other studies. The Strange Situations was used to asses 87 babies.

The overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries, with most babies being secure. however, more of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only only one baby was avoidant.

Conclusions

Secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures, supporting Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate and universal and this type is the universal norm. However, the research also clearly shows that cultural practices have an influence on attachment type.

Studies of cultural variations evaluation: Strengths

-Most of the studies were conducted by indigenous psychologists. This means they are from the same background as the participants. This means any cross-cultural research can be avoided - this means some researchers’ misunderstandings of the language used by participants or having difficulty communicating to them.

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Studies of cultural variations evaluation: Limitations

-There are confounding variables on findings. Studies conducted in different countries are not usually matched for methodology when they are compared in reviews or meta-analysis. Sample characteristics such as poverty, social class and urban/rural make-up confound results as can the age of participants studied in different counties. Environmental variables might also differ, for example the size of the room and the availability of interesting toys.

-Imposed etic occurs when we assume an idea or technique that works in one cultural context will work in another. In the US and Britain, lack of affection or reunion may indicate avoidant attachment. But in Germany such behaviour would be more likely interpreted as independence rather than insecurity. Therefore the Strange Situation may not work in Germany.