Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2025
07:56
Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
10.2K
Development in context: What we need to know to assess children's attachment relationships
Wiebke Johanna Schmidt1, Heidi Keller1, Mariano Rosabal Coto2
1Faculty of Human Sciences, Osnabrück University.
Developmental Psychology
|December 20, 2021
Summary
Attachment research requires culturally sensitive methods. This study highlights diverse caregiving contexts and attachment figure concepts across three Costa Rican cultural groups, moving beyond Western models.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cross-Cultural Psychology
- Anthropology
Background:
- Attachment theory predominantly uses Western middle-class frameworks.
- Non-Western caregiving contexts and attachment figure concepts are under-researched.
- Cultural context is a crucial, yet often neglected, factor in attachment studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze attachment research in non-Western contexts.
- To investigate caregiving arrangements and cultural concepts of attachment figures in Costa Rica.
- To emphasize the need for culturally sensitive approaches in attachment research.
Main Methods:
- Literature analysis of attachment research in non-Western settings.
- Empirical investigation of caregiving in three Costa Rican cultural groups (rural Guanacaste, urban San José, indigenous Bribri).
- Semistructured interviews with 179 individuals involved in caring for 65 infants (7-20 months).
Main Results:
- Urban Costa Rican sample showed Western middle-class similarities, emphasizing maternal roles.
- Rural samples exhibited extensive, but differently composed, caregiving networks.
- Culturally specific concepts of attachment figures were identified across the three groups.
Conclusions:
- Attachment research must adopt culturally sensitive conceptual and methodological approaches.
- Caregiving contexts and cultural understandings of attachment figures vary significantly.
- Findings challenge the universal applicability of Western-centric attachment models.
Related Concept Videos
01:20Attachment
172
Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that...
172
01:28Relationship with Parents: Attachment
17
Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
17
03:34Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
45.3K
Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships.
45.3K
01:24Attachment Styles
16
Jeffrey Simpson's attachment theory suggests that early caregiver relationships shape lasting patterns of behavior and emotional regulation, known as attachment styles. These patterns are organized along two key dimensions: self-esteem and interpersonal trust. The intersection of these dimensions produces four primary attachment styles that typically persist throughout life and significantly influence how individuals form and maintain relationships.Secure Attachment StyleIndividuals with a...
16
01:28Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Styles
37
Attachment theory, developed initially to explain infant–caregiver bonds, has been extended to illuminate patterns of intimacy in adult romantic relationships. Psychologists Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver proposed that the attachment styles observed in infancy form a framework for how individuals approach emotional closeness and conflict in adulthood. These attachment styles—secure, avoidant, and anxious—are linked to enduring patterns of behavior and emotional regulation in...
37
01:30Socioemotional Development during Infancy
182
Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Primary Temperament Types
182