influence of early attachment

• secure attachment

  • internal working model - positive, good self esteem, feel worthy of love
  • behaviour in childhood relationships - infants have higher social competence with peers
  • behaviour in adult relationships - more expressive + emotionally attached, relationships last longer, believe in love
• insecure avoidant

  • internal working model - avoid love / emotion, feel unworthy of love
  • behaviour in childhood relationships - more likely to be bullied
  • behaviour in adult relationships - more likely to have one night stands
• :( research is correlational - there could be a third variable in causing later love styles

  • kagan suggested childs personality
  • maybe miserable babies become miserable adults, despite parenting
  • however most research suggests attachment is caused by parents behaviour
• :( hazan and shavers data was retrospective

  • relied on by memory, didnt know their Ps as infants and had to rely on their memories of childhood to classify them
• :( hazan and shavers sample was unrepresentative

  • all american volunteer sample
  • doesnt represent other cultures
• :( research in this area is deterministic

  • it claims bad attachments = bad internal working model = bad future
  • however there are examples of people who recover from abuse (neglect) so maybe change is possible
• insecure resistant

  • internal working model - negative self image, clingy / fear rejection, trust issues
  • behaviour in childhood relationships- more likely to be bullies
  • behaviour in adult relationships - fear that their partner will leave them, will over exxagerwte emotions