Attachment - Attachment Styles

Question 1

Aim
Ainsworth (1969) The Strange Situation

Answer 1

Mary Ainsworth (1969) developed the Strange Situation as a method to assess the quality of a child’s attachment to a caregiver.

It is a controlled observation procedure in a lab (controlled environment) with a two-way mirror through which psychologists can observe an infant’s behaviour.

Question 2

Procedure (categories)

Ainsworth (1969) The Strange Situation

Answer 2

Five categories are used to judge attachment quality:

1. Proximity seeking: well-attached infants stay close to caregiver.
2. Exploration and secure-base behaviour: good attachment makes a child confident to explore, using the caregiver as point of safety.
3. Stranger anxiety: displayed by well-attached infants.
4. Separation anxiety: displayed by well-attached infants.
5. Response to reunion with the caregiver after separation for a short period of time: well-attached infants are enthusiastic.

Question 3

Procedure (episodes)

Ainsworth (1969) The Strange Situation

Answer 3

The procedure has seven ‘episodes’, each lasting three minutes.

1. The child is encouraged to explore by caregiver (tests exploration and secure base).
2. Stranger enters and tries to interact with the child (tests stranger anxiety).
3. Caregiver leaves the child and stranger together (tests separation and stranger anxiety).
4. The caregiver returns, the stranger leaves (tests reunion behaviour and exploration/secure base).
5. The caregiver leaves the child alone (tests separation anxiety).
6. The stranger returns (tests stranger anxiety).
7. The caregiver returns (tests reunion behaviour).

Question 4

Findings and Conclusions

Ainsworth (1969) The Strange Situation

Answer 4

Ainsworth found distinct patterns in the way infants behaved. She identified three main types of attachment.

Secure Attachment (Type B: 60-75% of British toddlers):

• Child happy to explore but seeks proximity with caregiver (secure base).
• Shows moderate separation anxiety and stranger anxiety.
• Requires and accepts comfort from caregiver on reunion.

Insecure-Avoidant Attachment (Type A: 20-25% of British toddlers):

• Child explores freely but does not seek proximity (no secure base).
• Shows little/no separation and stranger anxiety.
• Does not require comfort at the reunion stage.

Insecure-Resistant Attachment (Type C: 3% of British toddlers):

• Child explores less and seeks greater proximity.
• Shows considerable stranger and separation anxiety.
• Resists comfort when reunited with caregiver.

Question 5

What are the strengths of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?

Answer 5

• there is predictive validity of attachment types in the Strange Situation (stable across time, Mary Main)
• it shows very good inter-rater reliability
• standardised procedure, high replicability

Question 6

What are the weaknesses of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?

Answer 6

• may be a culture-bound test (lacks generalisability)
• low population validity, can’t be generalised
• low ecological validity because of controlled laboratory conditions
• temperament may be a confounding variable
• there may be other attachment types
• ethical concerns (children put under distress)

Question 7

Why is there being predictive validity of attachment types a strength?

Answer 7

Attachment type predicts later development. For example, secure babies typically have greater success at school and more lasting romantic relationships.

In contrast, insecure-resistant attachment is associated with the worst outcomes, e.g. bullying (Kokkinos 2007) and adult mental health problems (Ward et al. 2006).

This is evidence for the validity of the concept because it can explain future outcomes.

Question 8

Why is the Strange Situation showing very good inter-rater reliability a strength?

Answer 8

Different observers watching the same children generally agree on attachment type. Bick et al. (2012) found 94% agreement in one team.

This may be because the Strange Situation takes place under controlled conditions and because the behavioural categories are easy to observe.

So we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant identified in the Strange Situation does not just depend on who is observing them.

Question 9

Why is it being a culture-bound test a weakness?

Answer 9

The test might not have the same meaning in countries outside Western Europe and the USA. Cultural differences in children’s experiences mean they respond differently. Also caregivers from different cultures behave differently.

Takahashi (1990) notes that Japanese mothers are rarely separated from infants, thus the infants show high levels of separation anxiety. This means the study lacks generalisability.

Question 10

Why is temperament being a confounding variable a weakness?

Answer 10

Ainsworth assumed that the main influence on separation and stranger anxiety was the quality of the attachment.

But Kagan (1982) suggests that temperament (the child’s genetically influenced personality) is a more important influence on behaviour in the Strange Situation.

This challenges the validity of the Strange Situation because its intention is to measure the quality of attachment, not the temperament of the child (i.e. a confounding variable).

Question 11

Why is there being other attachment types a weakness?

Answer 11

Ainsworth identified three attachment types: insecure-avoidant, secure, and insecure-resistant.

Main and Soloman (1986) pointed out that some children display atypical attachments that do not fit these types. This is disorganised attachment - a mix of avoidant and resistant behaviours. This challenges Ainsworth’s initial notion of attachment types and could question whether the Strange Situation is a useful method to identify these types.

Question 12

What is secure attachment?

Answer 12

Generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. In the Strange Situation, this is shown by moderate stranger and separation anxiety and ease of comfort at reunion.

Question 13

What is insecure-avoidant attachment?

Answer 13

An attachment type characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment. In the Strange Situation, this is shown by low stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion - an avoidance of the caregiver.

Question 14

What is insecure-resistant attachment?

Answer 14

An attachment type characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety. In the Strange Situation, this is shown by high levels of stranger and separation anxiety and by resistance to be comforted at reunion.

Question 15

Procedure

van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) Meta-Analysis

Answer 15

The researchers looked at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant 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 found 32 studies of attachment where the Strange Situation had been used. These were conducted in eight countries, 15 in the USA. Overall the studies yielded results for 1,990 children.

The data were meta-analysed, results being combined and weighted for sample size.

Question 16

Findings and Conclusions

van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) Meta-Analysis

Answer 16

Secure attachment was the most common classification in all countries, but ranged from 50% in China to 75% in Britain.

In individualist cultures rates of insecure-resistant attachment were similar to Ainsworth’s original sample (all under 14%) but this was not true for the collectivist samples from China, Japan and Israel where rates were above 25% (and where rates of insecure-avoidant attachment were reduced). This suggests that there were cultural differences in the distribution of insecure attachment.

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

Germany had the highest percentage of insecure-avoidant attachment. The UK had the highest percentage of secure attachment. Israel has the highest percentage of insecure-resistant attachment.

Question 17

Procedure

Simonelli et al. (2014) An Italian Key Study

Answer 17

These researchers assessed 76 12-month-olds using the Strange Situation to see whether the proportion of attachment types still matched previous studies in Italy.

Mothers were reasonably varied in terms of their education levels (57% university degree, 40% high school, 2% did not finish high school) and their professions (48% employees, 13% professionals, 39% did not work or worked part-time).

Question 18

Findings and Conclusions

Simonelli et al. (2014) An Italian Key Study

Answer 18

Simonelli et al. found that 50% were secure, with 36% insecure-avoidant. This was a lower rate of secure attachment than found in previous studies.

The researchers suggested this was due to the increasing numbers of mothers working long hours and using professional childcare. Cultural changes can make dramatic differences in the patterns of attachment.

Question 19

What are the strengths of the cultural variations in attachment?

Answer 19

• a strength of the meta-analysis is that you can end up with very large samples

Question 20

What are the weaknesses of the cultural variations in attachment?

Answer 20

• the samples used may not be representative of cultures
• the strange situation method may be biased towards American/British culture
• there is an alternative explanation for the similarities found between cultures
• temperament may be a confounding variable in the strange situation

Question 21

Why are the large samples a strength?

Answer 21

In van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis there was a total of nearly 2000 babies and their primary attachment figures.

Even Simonelli et al.’s study had large comparison groups from previous research, although their own samples were smaller.

This is a strength because large samples increase internal validity by reducing the impact of biased methodology or very unusual participants.

Question 22

How may the samples not be representative of cultures?

Answer 22

van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis made comparisons between countries, not cultures. Within any country, there are different cultures each with different child-rearing practices. The fact that Kroonenberg found that there were 1.5 times greater variations within cultures than between cultures suggests that we need to avoid overfocusing on variations presented in this research.

For example, van Ijzendoorn and Sagi (2001) found attachment types in urban Tokyo in similar proportions to Western studies. A more rural sample over-represented insecure-resistant individuals.

This means that comparisons between countries (such as Italy or Korea) may have little meaning. The particular cultural characteristics (and thus caregiving styles) of the sample need to be specified.

Question 23

Why is the Strange Situation method biased towards American/British culture?

Answer 23

The Strange Situation was designed by an American researcher (Ainsworth) based on a British theory (Bowlby). This theory and assessment may not be applicable to other cultures.

Trying to apply a theory or technique designed for one culture to another is known as imposed etic (etic means cultural universals) which disregards the notion of cultural emic (cultural uniqueness).

The idea that a lack of pleasure on reunion indicates insecure attachment is an imposed etic. In Germany, this behaviour might be seen more as independence than avoidance and not a sign of insecurity.

Question 24

What alternative explanations are there for the similarities found between cultures?

Answer 24

Bowlby’s explanation for cultural similarities was that attachment is innate and universal so produces the same kind of behaviours all over the world.

van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg proposed an alternative possibility. They suggest that small cross-cultural differences may reflect the effects of the mass media.

Many books and TV programmes are broadcast around the world and create parenting norms, so similarities in child-rearing have become more common.

Question 25

How is temperament a confounding variable in the Strange Situation?

Answer 25

Ainsworth assumed that the main influence on separation and stranger anxiety was the quality of attachment. Kagan (1982) suggests that temperament (the genetic personality of the child) is a more important influence on behaviour in the Strange Situation. The Strange Situation may actually be measuring genetic differences in temperament between cultures rather than attachment/parenting style.