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

	Created by Caitlyn Grayston about 7 years ago

AS level Psychology (Attachment) Note on Cultural Variations of Attachment, created by Caitlyn Grayston on 12/05/2017.

Cultural Variations of Attachment