The Influence of Early Attachment on Relationships

• What is the Internal Working Model?

  Our mental representations of the world
• How does the Internal Working Model affect future relationships?

  It carries our perception of relationships
• What impact does a baby's first attachment have on future relationships?

  The quality affects the nature of future relationships
• What assumption does a baby with a loving first attachment make about relationships?

  Relationships are meant to be loving
• How do babies with loving attachments behave in relationships?

  They seek functional relationships and behave functionally
• What happens to babies with negative first attachment experiences?

  They struggle to form relationships later
• What type of attachment may insecurely attached babies display?

  Insecure-avoidant or insecure-resistant attachment
• What are childhood relationships defined as?

  Affiliations with other people in childhood
• What type of friendships do securely attached babies tend to form?

  Best quality childhood friendships
• How do insecurely attached babies fare in friendships?

  They later have friendship difficulties
• Who conducted research on attachment type and bullying involvement?

  Myron-Wilson & Smith (1998)
• How can attachment type influence bullying behavior?

  Attachment type can determine bullying involvement
• What was the sample size in Myron-Wilson & Smith's study?

  196 children aged 7-11
• What was the finding regarding securely attached children and bullying?

  They were unlikely to be involved in bullying
• Which group of children were most likely to be victims of bullying?

  Insecure-avoidant children
• Which group of children were most likely to be bullies?

  Insecure-resistant children
• What do adult relationships refer to?

  Relationships the child has later in life
• What two adult experiences does the Internal Working Model affect?

  Romantic and parental relationships
• What was the aim of Hazan & Shaver's study?

  To identify if early attachments predict later relationships
• How many replies were collected in Hazan & Shaver's love quiz?

  620 replies
• What were the three sections of the love quiz?

  Current relationship, love experiences, attachment type
• What percentage of respondents were securely attached in Hazan & Shaver's study?

  56%
• What percentage of respondents were insecure-avoidant in Hazan & Shaver's study?

  25%
• What percentage of respondents were insecure-resistant in Hazan & Shaver's study?

  19%
• What relationship experiences do securely attached individuals tend to have?

  Good and long-lasting romantic experiences
• What behaviors are associated with insecure-avoidant individuals?

  Jealousy and fear of intimacy
• How does attachment type influence parenting style?

  It tends to be passed on through generations
• What did the majority of women in the Strange Situation show?

  The same attachment classification to their babies
• What does research support regarding early attachment and later development?

  • Early attachment predicts later attachment
  • Insecure-avoidant attachment has mild disadvantages
  • Secure attachment conveys advantages for future development
  • Disorganized attachment is linked to mental disorders
• What are the evidence against early attachment continuity?

  • Becker-Stoll et al (2008) found no continuity
  • Quality of early attachment may not predict later development
  • Other factors may influence attachment and development
• What are the validity issues with retrospective studies on attachment?

  • Most studies are not longitudinal
  • Participants recall relationships with parents
  • Measures may be confounded with other factors
• What are confounding variables in attachment studies?

  • Parenting style may influence attachment quality
  • Genetically-influenced personality may affect both factors
  • Uncertainty about early attachment's influence on later development
• What is a strength for the Internal Working Model?

  Research Support

  • Reviews of studies linking attachment to later development have concluded that early attachment consistently predicts later attachment and attachment to own children
  • Insecure-avoidant attachment seems to convey mild disadvantages for any aspect of development, while disorganised attachment is strongly associated with later mental disorder
  • This means that secure attachment as a baby appears to convey advantages for future development while disorganised attachment appears to seriously disadvantage children
• What is a limitation for the Internal Working Model?

  Evidence Against

  • Not all evidence supports the existence of close links between early attachment and later development
  • Becker-Stoll et al (2008) followed 42 individuals from age 1, and at 16 attachment was assessed using the adult attachment interview and there was no evidence of continuity
  • This means that it is not clear to what extent the quality of early attachment really predicts later development and there may be other factors
• What is a limitation for the Internal Working Model?

  Validity Issues with Retrospective Studies

  • Most research on the link between early attachment and later development are not longitudinal and researchers instead ask participants questions about their relationship with their parents and identify their attachment type from that
  • This results in questions about the validity of the research
  • This means that the measures of early attachment used in most studies may be confounded with other factors making them meaningless
• What is a limitation for the Internal Working Model?

  Confounding Variables

  • While the assessment of early attachment is valid, some studies that assessed attachment in infancy may have validity problems, as well as development may be affected by confounding variables
  • For example, parenting style may influence both attachment quality and later development, but genetically-influenced personality may be an influence on both factors
  • This means that we can never be sure that it is early attachment and not another factor that is influencing later development