American Journal of Applied Psychology

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The Strange Situation Procedure: The Role of the Attachment Patterns in the Italian Culture

Received: 05 March 2014    Accepted: 05 May 2014    Published: 10 May 2014
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Abstract

The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, Wall, 1978) is the most widely used procedure to assess attachment in early childhood (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980). Indeed, this method finds very large application in many fields of research and, particularly, in the intercultural study of attachment. The intercultural applications of the SSP, are referred to various Western cultures and cultures other than the Western one, such as, for instance, the African, Chinese, Japanese and Israeli ones. In this research 76 12-month-old infants were observed in the SSP in order to assess the distribution of infant-mother attachment in the Italian culture, and to compare the pattern classification with other national (Ammaniti et al., 1994; Tambelli et al. 2008) and international non-clinical samples (van IJzendoorn et al., 1992; Schuengel et al., 1999). Results: Results show a significant lower proportion of Secure attachment and more Insecure Avoidant one in the Italian group than in US samples of meta-analytic studies. From a socio-cultural perspective, a possible explanation for the obtained results can be found in the peculiar changes which have come about in child-rearing procedures, especially in first infancy. This behavioral organization could show an adjustment strategy within a context which is not exclusively dyadic anymore, but which requires an ability to find resources even in a condition characterized by daily separations, multiple interactions and repeated caregiving micro-modifications.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajap.20140303.11
Published in American Journal of Applied Psychology (Volume 3, Issue 3, May 2014)
Page(s) 47-56
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Strange Situation Procedure, Attachment Bond, Secure Attachment, Cultural Issues in Attachment

References
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Author Information
  • Department of Developmental and Socialization Psychology, University of Padua, Padova Pd Italy

  • Department of Developmental and Socialization Psychology, University of Padua, Padova Pd Italy

  • Department of Developmental and Socialization Psychology, University of Padua, Padova Pd Italy

  • Department of Developmental and Socialization Psychology, University of Padua, Padova Pd Italy

  • Department of Developmental and Socialization Psychology, University of Padua, Padova Pd Italy

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    Alessandra Simonelli, Francesca De Palo, Marilena Moretti, Paola Merlin Baratter, Alessio Porreca. (2014). The Strange Situation Procedure: The Role of the Attachment Patterns in the Italian Culture. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 3(3), 47-56. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140303.11

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    Alessandra Simonelli; Francesca De Palo; Marilena Moretti; Paola Merlin Baratter; Alessio Porreca. The Strange Situation Procedure: The Role of the Attachment Patterns in the Italian Culture. Am. J. Appl. Psychol. 2014, 3(3), 47-56. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20140303.11

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    AMA Style

    Alessandra Simonelli, Francesca De Palo, Marilena Moretti, Paola Merlin Baratter, Alessio Porreca. The Strange Situation Procedure: The Role of the Attachment Patterns in the Italian Culture. Am J Appl Psychol. 2014;3(3):47-56. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20140303.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajap.20140303.11,
      author = {Alessandra Simonelli and Francesca De Palo and Marilena Moretti and Paola Merlin Baratter and Alessio Porreca},
      title = {The Strange Situation Procedure: The Role of the Attachment Patterns in the Italian Culture},
      journal = {American Journal of Applied Psychology},
      volume = {3},
      number = {3},
      pages = {47-56},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajap.20140303.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140303.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajap.20140303.11},
      abstract = {The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, Wall, 1978) is the most widely used procedure to assess attachment in early childhood (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980). Indeed, this method finds very large application in many fields of research and, particularly, in the intercultural study of attachment. The intercultural applications of the SSP, are referred to various Western cultures and cultures other than the Western one, such as, for instance, the African, Chinese, Japanese and Israeli ones. In this research 76 12-month-old infants were observed in the SSP in order to assess the distribution of infant-mother attachment in the Italian culture, and to compare the pattern classification with other national (Ammaniti et al., 1994; Tambelli et al. 2008) and international non-clinical samples (van IJzendoorn et al., 1992;  Schuengel et al., 1999). Results: Results show a significant lower proportion of Secure attachment and more Insecure Avoidant one in the Italian group than in US samples of meta-analytic studies. From a socio-cultural perspective, a possible explanation for the obtained results can be found in the peculiar changes which have come about in child-rearing procedures, especially in first infancy. This behavioral organization could show an adjustment strategy within a context which is not exclusively dyadic anymore, but which requires an ability to find resources even in a condition characterized by daily separations, multiple interactions and repeated caregiving micro-modifications.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    T1  - The Strange Situation Procedure: The Role of the Attachment Patterns in the Italian Culture
    AU  - Alessandra Simonelli
    AU  - Francesca De Palo
    AU  - Marilena Moretti
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    AB  - The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, Wall, 1978) is the most widely used procedure to assess attachment in early childhood (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980). Indeed, this method finds very large application in many fields of research and, particularly, in the intercultural study of attachment. The intercultural applications of the SSP, are referred to various Western cultures and cultures other than the Western one, such as, for instance, the African, Chinese, Japanese and Israeli ones. In this research 76 12-month-old infants were observed in the SSP in order to assess the distribution of infant-mother attachment in the Italian culture, and to compare the pattern classification with other national (Ammaniti et al., 1994; Tambelli et al. 2008) and international non-clinical samples (van IJzendoorn et al., 1992;  Schuengel et al., 1999). Results: Results show a significant lower proportion of Secure attachment and more Insecure Avoidant one in the Italian group than in US samples of meta-analytic studies. From a socio-cultural perspective, a possible explanation for the obtained results can be found in the peculiar changes which have come about in child-rearing procedures, especially in first infancy. This behavioral organization could show an adjustment strategy within a context which is not exclusively dyadic anymore, but which requires an ability to find resources even in a condition characterized by daily separations, multiple interactions and repeated caregiving micro-modifications.
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