early attachment on childhood & adult relationships

• what is the continuity hypothesis?

  • according to bowlbys theory we form our primary attachment & also make mental representation of what a relationship is
  • we use iwm as template for all other relationships in future
  • implies we should find relationship between quality of primary attachment & later attachments due to iwm being template for future relationships
• influence of early attachment on childhood?

  • attachment type is associated with quality of peer relationships in childhood
  • according to kern 1994 securely attached infants tend to go onto form best quality friendships in chilhood
  • insecure avoidant & resistant children tend to have friendship difficulties
• early attachment linked to bullying behaviour?

  • insecure avoidant children more likely to be victims of bullying
  • insecure resistant children more likely to be bullies
  • secure children likely to not be involved in bullying at all
  • shows early attachments have direct influence on childhood friendships
• hazan & shaver 1987 love quiz aim?

  • to see if there was a correlation between infants attachment type & future approach to romantic relationships
• hazan & shaver 1987 method?

  • devised love quiz
  • asked questions about current attachment experiences & attachment history
  • printed in local newspaper the rocky mountain news
  • readers asked to send in responses
  • analysed first 620 replies
  • 205 males & 415 females
• hazan & shaver 1987 results?

  • found that 56% had secure attachments
  • 25% had insecure avoidant attachments
  • 19% had insecure resistant attachments
  • strong positive correlation between attachment type & adult romantic relationships
  • those with secure attachments more likely to have good long lasting romantic experiences
  • those with insecure avoidant tended to be jealous & fear on intimacy
  • those with insecure resistant tended to experience love as an obsession
• hazan & shaver 1987 conclusion?

  • results support continuity hypothesis in that early attachment types were reflected in later adult relationships
  • better to have secure early attachment as this is associated with good long lasting romantic experiences
• parenting?

  • internal working model might affect childs ability to parent their own children
  • people tend to base their own parenting style on style they had in childhood
  • early attachment is good predictor of parenting ability
  • good parents will have had secure attachment
  • insecurely attached infants will go onto be less responsive to childs needs
• 5 X of influences of early attachment on childhood?

  1. unscientific
  2. research into iwm is deterministic
  3. correlational
  4. uses self report techniques
  5. data is retrospective
• X unscientific?

  • idea of iwm is abstract (not physical)
  • not something we can physically see/prove
  • based on bowlbys opinion not factual so its subjective
  • no empirical evidence
  • ? internal
  • iwm not objective meaning cannot prove/disprove it (unfalsifiable)
• X research into iwm is deterministic?

  • suggests behaviour is pre determined& do not have control over it
  • pro: allows us to predict & determine future behaviour
  • e.g can predict person with insecure att is more likely to bully
  • can prevent this from happening by ensuring secure att
  • con: ignores persons free will & choice
  • e.g in later life person may choose to form secure romantic relationship
  • does not take into account that people can choose how to behave
  • means cannot say issues in early att will always affect later relationships
• X correlational?

  • cannot establish cause & effect relationship between early att & later relationships
  • cannot control other factors that may have effect on childhood/adult relationships
  • e.g if partner is unfaithful to you
  • ? internal
  • cannot be certain that early att is only thing that affects our later adult relationships
• X uses self report techniques

  • participants completing questionnaire/being interviewed suffer form social desirability
  • happens when they answer questions to make themselves appear certain way
  • e.g someone may lie about bullying during childhood to make themself look like a better person
  • ? internal
  • results may not be accurate
  • cannot be certain that early att will affect later relationships
• X data is retrospective?

  • in most studies (hazen & shaver) involves having to look back & answer questions about childhood
  • problem with this is they may not be able to recall childhood exactly & forget aspects of how they were raised
  • may miss important info
  • may also change/ make up behaviour they displayed if cannot remember
  • ? internal
  • data less likely to be accurate & could subject to bias
  • individuals may only remember extreme good/bad moments
  • means its difficult to determin extent to which these att behaviours influence adulthood
• what were the 3 sets of questions in the love quiz trying to measure?

  1. attachment style as an infant
  2. current attachment style
  3. attitudes towards love