cultural variations of SS and attachment styles

temperament of the child

• Kagan 1984 suggest that temperament of the child is actually what leads to different attachment types, children with different innate temperaments will have different attachment types

• Supported by Fox 1989 who found that babies with an 'easy' (eat, sleep regularly and accept new experiences) temperament are likely to develop secure attachments

• Babies with 'slow to warm up' (take while to get used to new experiences) temperament are more likely to have insecure-avoidant attachments

• Babies with 'difficult' (eat and sleep irregularly and reject new experiences) temperament are likely to be insecure-resistant

 

• Belsky and Rovine 1987 propose interactionist theory to explain different attachment types as they say that child's attachment type is result of innate temperament and how parents respond to them

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988

• understand variations in attachment in different cultures to see if the three main attachment types could be applied universally (and if there were differences within cultures)

  • And find the proportions of each type

• using method called meta-analysis (32 studies from 8 countries, 1990 children)

• Studies all included

  • Strange situation used

  • Observed only mother-infant pairs

  • Classified infants into one of the attachment types A (avoidant), B (secure), C (ambivalent or resistant)

• Choice of studies excluded any identifying special groups of children, such as those with Down Syndrome, any less than 35 pairs and any using children older than 2 years

• Calculated averages of individuals who were classified as having secure, insecure-avoidant or insecure-resistant attachment in each country

results

• Stacked bar chart

• Secure attachment was most common in all countries

• Higher number of insecure-avoidant attachments in individualist cultures rather than collectivist

  • Developing independence, less clingy

• Higher number of insecure-resistant attachments in collectivist cultures rather than individualist

  • Angry that they are left with stranger as they will typically be very well introduced to neighbours and community so unused to strangers

• Variations of results within countries was 150% higher than variations between countries

  • Suggests that different environments (urban v rural) affect parenting within countries

conclusion

• Modest cross-cultural differences reflect the effects of mass media, which portrays similar notions of parenting

• Overall consistency in secure attachment types leads to the conclusion that there may be universal/innate characteristics that underpin infant and caregiver interactions

• Significant variations of insecure attachments demonstrate that universality is limited, implications include linking of the variation in attachment to child-rearing practices and environmental factors

• German study highlights high percentage of avoidant behaviour, typical of independent children

  • Grossmann et al 1985 says that German parents seek 'independent, non-clingy infants, who do not make demands on parents, but obey their commands'

• Israeli children were reared in communal living, so were used to separation from their mother and showed no anxiety when this occurs

  • Not used to strangers so were distressed and this explains the high percentage of resistant behaviour

 

• Individualist - rates of insecure-resistant similar to Ainsworth's whereas in collectivist is was higher

• Secure attachment seems to be the norm in most cultures, supporting Bowlby's idea that attachment is innate and universal however cultural practices also have influence on attachment type

strength

• Research conducted by indigenous psychologists who have same background as the ppts (enhances the validity of research as miscommunication due to language barriers are limited) - Grossman is German and Takahashi is Japanese

• Difficulties also include bias as one nation's stereotypes may override findings but the indigenous psychologists helped limit this

  • HOWEVER, this is not true for all cross-cultural attachment research as Morelli and Tronick 1991 were outsiders from America when they studied the child-rearing and patterns of attachment in the Efé of Zaire

  • Their data may have been affected by difficulties in gathering data outside their own culture - leads to bias and lack of cross-cultural communication

• Standardised procedure used

  • Comparison is easier to make as all studies used the Strange Situation

  • Classification is the same for attachment styles

• Wide array of countries used - not all Western

  • Truly cross-cultural research

  • High population validity

weakness

• Findings from each country may not be representative of cultural variation within the country

  • 150% higher variation within countries

• Disproportionately high number of studies done in the USA (15/32)

  • Also only 8 countries which is just not representative globally

• Could be confounding variables that are not considered when analysing research (ex: sample differences in SES, urban/rural backgrounds, and situational variables when conducting the study)

  • Methodology is not matched, sample characteristics such as poverty, social class, urban/rural make-up can confound results as can age of participants

  • Environmental variables may differ between studies and confound results - babies may appear to explore more in studies conducted in small rooms

  • Less visible proximity-seeking because of room size may make it likely that the child is labelled avoidant

• Imposed etic: when we assume an idea or technique that works in one cultural context will work in another.

  • Emic is cultural uniqueness whereas etic is cross-cultural universality

  • Behaviours measured by the Strange Situation may not have the same meanings in different cultural contexts and comparing them across cultures is meaningless - in UK a lack of affection in reunion is seen as avoidant but in Germany this would be independence

• Similar attachment types in countries would suggest that attachment is innate and universal so supports Bowlby's theory

  • HOWEVER, global media represents a particular view of how parents and babies are meant to behave which may override traditional cultural differences in the way children are brought up

additional studies

• Italian study

• Simonelli et al. (2014) assessed 76 1-year old babies using the Strange Situation. Wanted to see whether the proportions matched those found in previous studies

• 50% secure, 36% insecure-avoidant, which is a higher proportion of avoidant attachment compared to other studies

• Increasing numbers of mothers working long hours and prefer professional childcare and these results are reflective of cultural changes.

• Patterns of attachment types are not static but vary in line with cultural change

 

• South Korea study

• Jin et al. (2012) used Strange Situati

  on to assess 87 babies. Compared proportions to other studies.

• Overall proportions of attachment types similar to other countries, however only one baby was classed as insecure avoidant and many were insecure-resistant

• Distribution is similar to Japan as they have similar child-rearing styles

 

• Japan study

• Takahashi (1990) used Strange Situation for 60 infants. Higher levels of infant anxiety when left alone than other studies.

• 0% insecure-avoidant, 68% secure, 32% insecure-resistant