Relations between strange situation behavior and stranger sociability among infants on Israeli Kibbutzim

Abstract

Eighty-six kibbutz-reared infants were observed in the Strange Situation with their mothers, fathers, and metaplot on three separate occasions between 11 and 14 months of age. Prior to each Strange Situation, sociability with male and female strangers was assessed. A-group and B-group infants were significantly more sociable than B 4- and C-group infants. Relations with stranger sociability were strongest for Strange Situation classifications of infant-parent attachement. It was also necessary to abbreviate many of the Strange Situation sessions: usually the infants whose sessions were abbreviated obtained very low sociability scores and were classified in the B 4- and C-groups. Findings confirmed previous relations between Strange Situation classifications and stranger sociability, but cast doubt on the appropriateness of considering the B 4 subgroup as part of the “secure” B group. They also suggest that variations in stranger sociability (or its extreme negative pole, stranger distress) may in some cases determine variations in Strange Situation classifications, rather than the reverse.