... reunion. Anxious/resistant attachment was characterized by ambivalence and inconsistency, as the infants were very distressed at separation but resisted the caregiver on reunion. Anxious/avoidant attachment was characterized by detachment as the infants did not seek contact with the caregiver and showed little distress at separation. The Strange Situation was created and tested in the USA, which means that it may be culturally biased as it will reflect the norms and values of American culture. The Strange Situation test assumes that behaviour has the same meaning in all cultures, when in fact social constructions of behaviour differ greatly. Thus, the usefulness of the Strange Situation in assessing attachment across cultures may be limited by the subjectivity inherent in observation and interpretation of behaviour. This lack of being able to generalize means that the ecological validity of the Strange Situation must be questioned. Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg aimed to investigate cross-cultural variation ...

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