Studies of cultural
variations in attachment
Complete one of the tables with the information below.
Ainsworth (1967) wanted to find out if there were cultural differences in attachment between an infant and its mother, so she travelled to Uganda in Africa. Ainsworth studied Ugandan babies from 4 months of age to 2 years of age and observed them every 2 weeks for a period of 2 years in their natural environment. Ainsworth also interviewed the Ugandan mothers about the relationships they had with their baby. The Ps were 26 mothers and their infants.
Ainsworth found that most infants in Uganda were cared for by several adults (not only the mother) and therefore formed multiple attachments. The higher the mother’s sensitivity, the more secure the attachment was.
She concluded that in other cultures, multiple attachments occur and that the more sensitive the mother, the more securely infants were attached.
However, the research in Uganda studied mother’s in their natural environment. It was therefore not possible to control extraneous variables and Ainsworth has been accused of observer bias in her research.
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Complete one of the tables with the information below.
Fox (1977) wanted to see if there were cultural differences in the amount of attachment children made. Fox studied infants who lived on an Israeli Kibbutz (a communal farm), which is run according to the principle that work should be of equal value and shared between all members of the group. Fox investigated attachment type by using the Strange Situation.
Fox found that although the children spent the majority of their time being cared for in a children’s home by a nurse, they were attached to both their mother and the nurse. However, the children showed a preference for the mother in reunion behaviour.
Fox concluded that although children can form multiple attachments, the mother remains the primary attachment figure, despite the shared care.
However, it may be difficult to compare Fox’s research with other research on attachment, because this data was collected on a subculture within Israel – within a rural community and only representing a small sample of the population. Findings may be different in an urban sample of the population.
Work in a group of 3 to exchange information and complete the remaining two tables.
Complete one of the tables with the information below.
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) were interested to see if there were evidence of inter-cultural differences in attachment – differences between countries.
They conducted a meta-analysis (a review) of over 32 studies conducted in 8 countries, all of which had followed the Strange Situation procedure.
The results showed that differences between countries were small; secure attachment was the most common classification in every country. Insecure-avoidant attachment was the next most common in every country except Israel, China and Japan, in which insecure-resistant attachment was the second most common attachment type.
They concluded that secure attachment is the ‘norm’ in most cultures and support the view that attachment is an innate and biological process.
This research has been criticised because the Strange Situation may not be a valid measure in all countries as the values in each country are different. In the West (US and UK) we value independence (individualist culture), but in other cultures dependence is more valued (collectivist culture). Takahashi (1990) states that Japanese infants are not often separated from their mothers before 2 years of age and this explains why they were more distressed in the Strange Situation experiment.
Work in a group of 3 to exchange information and complete the remaining two tables.
Attachment The Beauchamp College