Cultural Variations in Attachment

Cultural Variations in Attachment

1. van IJzendoorn conducted a study to look at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant & insecure-resistant attachments

2. Researchers located 32 studies of attachment where the Strange Situation had been used to investigate the proportions of infants with different attachment types

   • 32 studies conducted in 8 countries
     • 15 in the USA
   • These 32 studies yielded results for 1990 children
     • Data was meta-analysed, results being combined & weighted for sample size
   • Findings
     • There was wide variation between the proportions of attachment types in different studies
     • In all countries, secure attachment was the most common
       • 75% in Britain, 50% in China

3. Other studies of cultural variations show that secure attachment seems to be the norm in a widerange of countries, supporting Bowbly's idea that attachment is innate& univerisal & that this type is the universal type

   • However, the research also clearly shows that cultural practices have an influence on attachment type

4. Evaluation

   • Large samples
     • Combining the results of attachment studies
     • Nearly 2000 babies in IJzendoorn's study
     • Increase internal validity by reducing the impact of anomalous results
   • Samples tend to be unrepresentative of culture
     • In IJzendoorn's study, results were compared between countries, not cultures
     • Many different cultures within a country
   • Method of assessment is biased
     • SS designed by American Ainsworth based on British theoy (Bowlby)
     • A question over whether Anglo-American theories & assessments can be applied to other cultures
       • Imposed etic

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