CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN ATTACHMENT AND CULTURAL RELATIVITY

CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN ATTACHMENT AND CULTURAL RELATIVITY

1. Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

   • Carried out a meta-analysis of 32 studies across 8 counties which used the strange situation experiment to measure attachment
     • GREAT BRITAIN
     • JAPAN
     • WEST GERMANY
     • ISRAEL
     • CHINA
     • UNITED STATES
     • SWEDEN
     • NETHERLANDS
   • RESULTS COMPARED TO THE STANDARD (USA)
     • West Germany showed that more children were Avoidant compared to USA
     • China showed that there were higher levels of resistant and avoid ant children
     • Japan showed that more children were Resistant
     • Great Britain showed similar results to USA
     • israel showed high numbers of resistant children
     • Secure was the highest attachment
   • these figures indicated that there are significant differences in attachment types across these different cultures, and would appear to undermine Bowlby and Ainsworths beliefs that attachment is universal, nature rather than nurture, if this were the case then we wouldn't see differences in attachment type
     • However, it could be the method of testing, it was design for chidden in america, parenting styles are different across the globe i.e. in Germany children are taught to be Independent which is why they have high numbers of avoidant children

2. Takahashi (1990)

   • suggested that differences in maternal behaviour make the 'strange situation technique' inappropriate in certain cultures.
     • Example: Japan is a collectivist country japanese children had no opportunity to show avoidant behaviour in the final stage of the strange situation as mother inevitable went straight to them. it is not done in the Japanese culture to leave a child crying

3. Grossmen and Grossman (1990)

   • suggested that attachment has different meaning in different cultures. What is called avoidant in GB and USA might be called independent in Germany

4. EMIC AND ETIC; TWO DIFFERENT WAYS TO CARRY OUT CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH

   • EMIC
     • Go and live in a culture your studying and apply research to that culture only (Ainsworths' Ugandan study)
   • ETIC
     • Develop research tool in one culture and then apply to other cultures (Ainsworths' Strange Situation)