Cultural Variations of Attachment

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Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg:

They conducted a study to look at the proportions of secure, insecure-resistant and insecure-avoidant attachments across a range of countries. They also looked at the differences within the same countries to get an idea of variations within a culture

They analysed the results from 32 Strange Situation studies done in 8 countries; 15 of which were done in the USA

There was a wide variation between the proportions of attachment types in different studies

In all countries, secure attachment was the most common classification. However the proportions varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China

Insecure-resistant was overall the least common type although the proportions ranged from 3% in Britain to 30% in Israel

Insecure-avoidant proportions ranged from 6% in Japan to 35% in Germany

The variations between results of studies within the same country were actually 150% greater than those between countries. In the USA for example one study found only 46% securely attached compared to one sample as high as 90%

Large samples increase internal validity by reducing the impact of anomalous results

The study claimed to research cultural variations however the comparisons were between countries and not cultures

The Strange Situation was designed by an American Researcher based on a British theory. There is a question over whether Anglo-American theories and assessments can be applied to other cultures

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An Italian Study - Simonella:

Simonella conducted a study in Italy to see whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still matched those found in previous studies

He assessed 76 1 year olds using the Strange Situation

He found 50% were secure and 36% insecure-avoidant. This is a lower rate of secure attachment that has been found in many studies

Researchers suggest that this is because increasing numbers of mothers with young children, work very long hours and use professional child care

These findings suggest that cultural changes can make dramatic differences to patterns of secure and insecure attachment

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A Korean Study - Jin:

Jin used the Strange Situation to assess 87 children

The overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries with most infants being secure

However more of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one child was avoidant

This is similar to the distribution of attachment types in Japan. This may be because Japan and Korea have similar child rearing styles

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