cultural variations

cultural variations

culture refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people, cultural variations are the differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups

Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg cultural variations experiment- aim

explore the proportions of secure, insecure avoidant and insecure resistant attachments across a range of countries to assess cultural variation, explored differences within the same to look at variations within a culture

Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg cultural variations experiment- procedure

• carried out a meta analysis of 32 studies which used the strange situation, carried out across 8 countries, 15 studies were from the US

• overall, 1990 children were assessed

Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg cultural variations experiment- findings

• in all counties, secure was the most common attachment type

• this varied from 75% in the UK to 50% in China

cultural variations in attachment- individualist cultures

• considered good to be self reliant, assertive and independent eg UK, USA, Australia

• rates of insecure resistant attachment were similar to Ainsworth's original sample, all had 14% of children show insecure avoidant attachment

cultural variations in attachment- collectivist cultures

• considered good to make decisions as a family, for the benefit of the family, independence is seen as selfish eg China, Japan, Korea

• 25% of children showed insecure resistant attachment, insecure avoidant attachment rates were reduced

cultural variations in attachment- within countries

• variations within countries were 150% greater than those between countries

• in the US, one study found 46% secure attachment while another found 90%

Italian study on cultural variations

• Simonelli et al. (2014) studied the proportions of Italian babies with each attachment type, assessed 76 babies age 12 months using the strange situation

• found 50% secure, 36% insecure avoidant

• lower secure and higher avoidant than in most other studies, theorised this is due to mothers working long hours and using childminders

Korean study on cultural variations

• Mi Kyoung Jin et al. (2012) assessed 87 babies using the strange situation, most were secure, however more classified as insecure resistant, only 1 baby was avoidant

• similar to the findings of Van IJzendoorn for Japan, both Korea and Japan have similar child rearing practices

strength of cultural variations- indigenous researchers

• indigenous researchers are from the same cultural background as the participants eg Grossman et al. (1981) Germans working with German participants

• researchers understand the language and cultural norms of their country so research should be accurate, aids communication between participants and researchers and helps prevent misunderstandings eg of instructions

• increases the validity of the study as there is an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully, however it increases the risk of bias due to wishing to portray your own culture is superior

counterpoint of cultural variations- not always indigenous researchers

• using indigenous researchers has not been true of all cross cultural attachment research eg Morelli & Tronick (1991) studied child rearing and attachment in the Efe people of Zaire, researchers were American

• data may have been skewed by researchers' own beliefs and differences between the foraging community's practices and researchers' own western lifestyle

• means some cross cultural attachment research may have communication errors and hence lacks validity

weakness of cultural variations- confounding variables

• methodology isn't usually matched across studies samples in a meta analysis, sample characteristics varied across countries eg socio economic status, social class, age, urban/rural living

• environmental characteristics may also differ eg size of room or type of toys available, babies may explore a small room with toys more than a small, bare room, shows less proximity seeking so the baby's more likely to be classified as avoidant

• means studies assessing attachment types carried out in different countries may tell us little about cultural differences in attachment

weakness of cultural variations- imposed etic

• cross cultural research tries to impose a test designed for one culture onto another, imposed etic is assuming an idea or technique working in one cultural context will work in another eg the Strange Situation

• the Strange Situation was designed in the UK where baby showing lack of reunion behaviour would be seen as avoidant whereas it’s seen as a sign of independence in Germany

• may be meaningless to compare attachment behaviours across countries

weakness of cultural variations- competing explanations

• cross cultural research finds very similar attachment types in different countries, Bowlby's theory suggests it's because attachment is innate and secure attachment is the universal form

• however, Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg suggested a different theory, suggest similarity may be more a product of global media presenting a particular view of how parenting, could negate traditional cultural differences and present a universal way of parenting

• means its hard to know whether Bowlby’s theory is true as there is a credible alternative explanation