Influence of early attachment on later relationships

• What is the continuity hypothesis?

  • Based on the internal working model
  • There is consistency between early emotional experiences and later relationships
  • Sees children's attachment types being reflected in later relationships
• How does the internal working model act as a template for future relationships?

  A baby whose first experience is of a loving relationship and a reliable attachment figure will assume this is how relationships are meant to be. So will seek out functional relationships and act functional within them

  Complete opposite for a child with bad experiences of their first attachment figure
• How might an Insecure Avoidant person act within a relationship?

  • Distant
  • Emotionally not as close
  • Uninvolved
• How might and Insecure Resistant person act within a relationship?

  • Controlling
  • Argumentative
• Relationships in Childhood:

  Closely associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood
• Relationships in childhood: Research

  Kerns (1994) - Securely attached infants form the best quality relationships in childhood, whereas insecurely attached go on to have difficulty forming friendships
• Describe the research of Myron Wilson and Smith into relationships in childhood:

  • 196 children aged 7 - 11 from London
  • Assessed using standard questionnaires about attachment type
• What were the results of Myron Wilson and Smith research?

  • Securely attached - unlikely to be involved in bullying
  • Insecure avoidant - most likely to be victims
  • Insecure resistant - Most likely to be bullies
• Which researchers carried out the love quiz experiment?

  Hazan and Shaver
• What was the aim of Hazan and Shaver's research?

  They wanted to see if there was a correlation between the infant's attachment type and their future approach to romantic relationships
• What was the procedure to Hazan and Shaver's research?

  • Devised a 'love quiz' to asses 3 components:

  -Attachment type

  -Respondent's current and most important relationship

  -General love experiences

  • Quiz printed in local newspaper and readers were asked to send in response
  • 620 replies from ages between 14 - 82
  • Classified respondents according to secure, insecure avoidant, and insecure resistant attachment types
• Results from Hazan and Shaver's research:

  Found a high correlation between child attachment types and their adult romantic love styles:

  • 56% securely attached
  • 25% insecure avoidant
  • 19% insecure resistant

  Secure were the most likely to have good and longer romantic relationships, avoidant tended to be jealous and feared intimacy
• Conclusions of Hazan and Shaver's research:

  • Evidence to support the internal working model having a life long effect
  • They did admit that not everyone stayed true to their infant attachment style and changed as they got older
• Limitation - Internal working model:

  • Internal working models are unconscious so we are not directly aware of their influence on us
  • People can only self report what they are aware of
  • Relying on the conscious awareness of those relationships
  • Social desirability bias
• Limitation - Conflicting evidence:

  Zimmerman (2000):

  • Assessed infant attachment types and adolescent attachment to parents
  • There was very little relationship between the quality of both attachment types
• Limitation - Retrospective

  • Many studies assessed the quality of infant parent attachment using self report techniques years later
  • May lead to inaccurate recollection
  • Relies on respondents being honest - Social desirability bias
• Limitation - Confounding Variables

  Other variables such as temperament may affect both infant attachment and the quality of later relationships
• Limitation - Too deterministic

  • Research suggests very early experiences have a permeant effect on later adult experiences
  • Deterministic
  • Overall research does not suggest that a persons past determines the future cause of their relationships