The influence of early attachment

• Key Study - The influence of early attachment

  • Hazan & Shaver
  • Aim: to find how the internal working model affects adult behaviour
  • Placed a 'love quiz' in a local newspaper which asked questions about attachment history, current attachment experiences & attitudes to love
  • 620 responses
  • Findings : securely attached individuals had longer, happy, trusting love experiences
  • seurely attached individuals have a more postive internal working model
• Behaviours influenced by the internal working model:

  • Childhood friendships
  • Parenting
  • Romantic relationships
  • Mental health - attachment disorder
• The influence of early attachment AO3:

  • ❌ Correlational research - can't establish cause & effect - other factors (e.g. child's temperament )
  • ❌ Retrospective - relies on memory - lacks validity
  • ❌ Overly determinist - insecurely attached infants are still able to have happy relationships
  • ✅ Supports Bowlby's monotropic theory - early attachment influences expectations in later relationships
• The influence of early attachment AO3:

  • ❌ Correlational research
  • ❌ Retrospective
  • ❌ Overly deterministic
  • ✅ Supports Bowlby's monotropic theory