What do we mean by Culture? the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterises an institution, organization or group an integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning

Cross Cultural Variation Are we all the same? Consider how you were brought up Is attachment universal or culturally specific?

7. 2. 3 Cross-cultural research 7.2.3 Cross-cultural research The use of the cross-cultural research method, including the Strange Situation, in child psychology, including nature-nurture issues and issues of cross-sectional versus longitudinal designs.

Culture

Cross-cultural Variation Child rearing practices vary considerably from place to place Environment Traditions Beliefs about children Does this result in different attachment patterns? - Universal vs. culturally specific

Van Ijzendoorn & Krooneneberg 1988: Cross-cultural variations in attachments. Aims Procedure Van Ijzendoorn & Krooneneberg 1988 Findings Criticisms Conclusions

A meta-analysis (overview of studies) of previous studies of the SS. Van Ijzendoorn & Krooneneberg 1988: Cross-cultural variations in attachments. Aims Do cross-cultural differences really exist? Are there intracultural differences in attachment? Procedure A meta-analysis (overview of studies) of previous studies of the SS. Van Ijzendoorn & Krooneneberg 1988 Findings Differences were small between countries. Secure was the most common attachment type in all countries. Insecure-avoidant - most common in Germany. Insecure-ambivalent – most common in Israel. Intra-cultural variation 1.5 more than Inter-cultural variation. Criticisms Does not take into account the differences between individualist and collectivist cultures. Also different country does not necessarily mean different culture. Conclusions Supports the idea that secure attachment is the best form of attachment for healthy social and emotional development. Cross cultural similarities might be the product of mass media.

Cross-cultural Research Secure Avoidant Resistant USA 65% 21% 14% Regular close contact Germany 57% 35% 8% Independence is valued Israel 64% 7% 29% Communal care in kibbutz Japan 68% 5% 27% Mother & child rarely separated

Other research on cross-cultural variations in attachment. Van Ijzendoorn & Krooneneberg 1988: Cross-cultural variations in attachments. Other research on cross-cultural variations in attachment. Cross-cultural differences Grossman & Grossman 1991 – German infants tended to be insecurely rather than securely attached. Possibly due to different childrearing practices. German culture requires keeping interpersonal distance, so infants do not engage in proximity seeking behaviour in SS and appear to be insecurely attached. Cross-cultural similarities Tronick et al. 1992 -Studied an African group from Zaire. The children are cared for, even breastfed by different woman, but slept with their own mother at night. The infants still show one primary attachment. Fox (1977) Studied infants raised on Israeli kibbutzim who spent most of their time being cared for in a communal children’s home. They were most closely attached to their mothers. Secure attachments was the most common attachment in all 8 countries. Cross-cultural differences in child-rearing styles may explain the differences in types of insecure attachments found. High levels of distress shown by Japanese infants may not reflect insecure attachment but rather the extreme strangeness of the situation. Therefore it may be invalid to use the SS measurement in cultures for which it was not devised (imposed etic) There is greater variations within than between cultures (Social classes).

Other Research in Cross Cultural Variations Grossman and Grossman (1991) Aim: to see if the Strange Situation can be used to explore attachment types in German infants and to explore the relationship between maternal sensitivity and attachment type Method: use 49 German families using the Strange Situation and measure attachment type and controlled and naturalistic observation. Findings: Most infants were insecurely attached (anxious avoidant) rather than securely attached. If the mothers were sensitive to their child’s needs, the child was more likely to have a secure attachment. Over 10 years, 80% of children kept the same attachment type. Secure children enjoyed close friendships later in childhood, anxious avoidant children reported having no or few friends. Conclusion: the different attachment types compared to Ainsworth’s findings may be due to different child-rearing practices. German children are typically taught to be independent so may be more used to being left by their parents and this led to them being classified as being insecurely attached.

Other Research in Cross Cultural Variations Takahashi (1990) Takahashi (1990) compared attachment types in 60 middle class Japanese infants aged under 12 months with American infants using the strange situation. The findings were that 68% of Japanese infants were securely attached, 32% were insecure-resistant, and no infants were insecure-avoidant. When the Japanese infants were left alone they were so distressed that the ‘leaving the infant alone’ stage of the strange situation had to be abandoned, however if they had not been so distressed then as many as 80% of Japanese infants would have been classed as securely attached. One question that Takahashi’s study raises is why there were no insecure-avoidant children. Japanese cultural values…………………….. A second question is why infants were so extremely distressed when left alone. Japanese infants spend ……………………………………. The strange situation measures separation distress, but as Japanese children are hardly ever separated from they mothers then being left alone is extremely unusual for them and leads to extreme distress that the strange situation incorrectly judges as insecure-resistant behaviour.

One question that Takahashi’s study raises is why there were no insecure-avoidant children. Japanese cultural values make it extremely impolite to avoid interacting with other people and children are taught this from a very early age, which could account for the lack of insecure-avoidant infants in the study. A second question is why infants were so extremely distressed when left alone. Japanese infants spend almost 100% of their time in contact with their mothers for the first 2 years of their lives. They are carried around on the mother’s back, and usually sleep and bathe with their parents. The strange situation measure separation distress, but as Japanese children are hardly ever separated from they mothers then being left alone is extremely unusual for them and leads to extreme distress that the strange situation incorrectly judges as insecure-resistant behaviour.

What do the differences in attachment suggest? Such figures would seem to indicate significant differences in attachment types across these different cultures and so would appear to undermine Bowlby and Ainsworth’s beliefs that attachment is universal, an evolutionary trait which owes more to nature than to nurture. However, it could be that it is the technique rather than the theory which is culture-bound.

Cross-cultural Research Reliable findings? Grossman & Grossman (1991) - high proportion of ‘avoidant’ children in Germany Takahashi (1990) - 32% of children resistant; none avoidant From US/UK point of view such findings might seem alarming

Theory or technique that’s flawed? Takahashi (1990) has suggested that differences in maternal behaviour make the ‘strange situation technique’ inappropriate in certain cultures. For example, Japanese children had no opportunity to show avoidant behaviour in the final stage of the strange situation as mothers inevitably went straight to them. It is not done in the Japanese culture to leave a child crying. Grossman and Grossman (1990) suggest attachment has different meanings in different cultures. What is called ‘avoidant’ in Britain and America might be called ‘independent’ in Germany. As independence in children is valued more highly in Germany than in Britain or America this may explain the higher proportion of type A attachment.

Cross-cultural Research Important not to judge other cultures from our own perspective Japan – children rarely separated from mother – find SS very stressful ‘Avoidant’ behaviour very rude – actively discouraged Germany – greater personal distance is the norm; proximity seeking not encouraged

The child’s reaction in the Strange Situation reflects the methods of child rearing prevalent in that culture. E.g. 1..................................................................................... 2...................................................................................... 3...................................................................................... Cross cultural similarities may not be due to innate biological influences but because .......................................................... ............................................................................................. Large intra cultural variation could be due to .......................................................................................... The strange situation is an invalid method to compare cultures as……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Biases in Attachment Theory

Assess Cultural Variations in attachment s (12 marks) AO1 – Describe cultural variations in attachments – AO3 – Evaluate cultural variations in attachments – Comprehensive study based on a meta-analysis – reliable A problem with using the Strange Situation as way of measuring attachment globally is that it is culturally biased. It could be the child’s reaction to the strange situation reflects the methods of child-rearing prevalent in that culture, rather than assuming the ways babies are reared in one part of the world is somehow superior to the others. Therefore the strange situation is an invalid method to compare cultures as it is an imposed etic (a technique designed in one culture but imposed on another). Another weakness of the cross-cultural findings are that research compares countries, however within a country there may be many cultures and sub-cultures. For example,……This therefore can explain the large intra-cultural variations found in the meta-analysis.

Let’s assess this essay – what are the strengths and weaknesses? Many different psychologists have carried out research into cultural variations in attachment. Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg conducted a meta analysis using the findings of 32 different studies into attachment. They found that in German infants were mostly avoidant and in Japan and Israel infants were more resistant in attachment which shows a difference in attachment across cultures. However, they also found out that the United States had the most securely attached infants which is a similarity as Ainsworth found that a secure attachment was the most common. Takahashi's research also found a difference in attachment across cultures. Middle class Japanese infants and mothers were studied. They showed high rates of insecure-resistant attachment, the opposite to what Ainsworth found.  Grossman and Grossman also found that German infants were generally classified as insecurely attached which supports the idea that there are cultural variations in attachment because insecurely attached is usually the minority. Fox found a similarity in attachment across cultures by studying children in a children's home. It was found that infants had a greater attachment to their mothers, despite spending most of their time with nurses. This supports the idea of monotropy and that attachment is innate as Bowlby suggested. Tronik et al also found support for monotropy and primary attachment figure in other cultures. They studied African Tribes where infants were breastfeed by different women but always slept with their mother at night and when the infants were 6 months they still showed their mother as the primary attachment figure. However, Rosenbaum argued that attachment theory research is not relevant to other cultures. He used the idea of the sensitivity hypothesis to argue that it only reflects Western culture ideas and in Japan sensitivity is about promoting dependence. Showing that sensitivity has the opposite aim in the two cultures. Therefore we can not generalise sensitivity from one culture to another. A validity issue of the research into cultural variations in attachment is that it may be difficult to make generalisations about cultures because of subcultures. For example, rural cultures may be different to urban cultures in the same society and social class may also cause a difference in behaviour. Therefore caution should be taken in assuming that an individual sample is representative of one culture. Another validity issue is surrounding the results of the strange situation in Japan which may be due to imposed etic to measure attachment. Japanese children may appear to be insecurely attached according to Western criteria, but they may be securely attached according to Japanese criteria. This therefore shows that it may be the "tool" (the strange situation in this case) used to measure attachment which may cause the validity issues when conducting research across cultures.

Exam Practice

Debates!!! Nature Vs. Nurture Longitundinal Vs. Cross sectional