Takahashi (1990)

Takahashi (1990)

1. AO2

   • Strength
     • Valuable insight that cultural variations exist within attachment types due to child rearing strategies
       • As Japanese infants are rarely separated from their mothers, which can explain the absence of insecure avoidant classfication
         • Supported by further research so findings have good face validity
   • Weakness
     • Ethical issues in using SS in other cultures
       • Infants experienced intense distress in being separated from their mothers
         • Distress more than child would experience in everyday lives
           • Therefore a more ethical approach should be developed to assess attachment types in other cultures

2. AO1

   • 60 middle class Japanese infants aged under 12 months
   • Using SS tool
   • 68% Secure; 32% Resistant; 0% Avoidant
   • In the 'leaving the infant alone' stage, the Japanese infants became so distressed that this stage had to be abandoned
     • If the children had not been so distressed, as many as 80% = secure
       • Concluded that there is variation in attachment classification due to variation in child-rearing strategies