A. Scholmerich et Mag. Vanaken, ATTACHMENT SECURITY AND MATERNAL CONCEPTS OF IDEAL CHILDREN IN NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN GERMANY, International journal of behavioral development, 19(4), 1996, pp. 725-738
The degree of attachment security and the concept of an ''ideal child'
' were investigated by asking 83 mothers to describe the secure-base b
ehaviour of either their own children or of an imagined ''ideal child'
' using a German translation of Waters' (1987) Attachment Q-Set. Addit
ionally, II German experts generated a ''maximally secure'' criterion
sort, which was virtually identical with the established US criterion
sort. Attachment security is highly desirable, as shown by the similar
ity between the profiles of the ideal descriptions and the security cr
iterion sort. Two subsamples from Northern and Southern Germany showed
similar intercorrelations of Attachment Q-Set subscales. We identifie
d small differences in Northern and Southern mothers' perceptions of a
n ''ideal'' child in items relating to activity and independence. Howe
ver, Northern and Southern mothers' descriptions of their toddlers did
not differ in attachment security or dependence.