The Influence of Early Attachment on Later Relationships

• Bowlby's Attachment Theory

  - he proposed that the quality of an infant's primary attachment would have a positive correlation with the quality of their later relationships

  - the child's interactions with the primary attachment figure help them acquire an internal working model

  - the IWM tells them what relationships are, how to feel about the other person, what to expect back etc

  - this is an operable model because it can be used to predict the behaviours of others in the future

  - they apply their IWM to subsequent relationships with friends' partners and even their own children
• What do early childhood attachments and the IWM have effects on?

  - childhood friendships

  - involvement in bullying

  - romantic relationships

  - parenting
• Effects of early children attachments and the IWM on childhood friendships

  - Sroufe found children who were secure as infants were rated as more socially competent in childhood

  - this is because their IWM gave them higher expectations of others as friendly and trusting
• Effects of early children attachments and the IWM on involvement in bullying

  - Myron-Wilson and Smith assessed attachment type and bulling involvement using questionnaires to 196 children age 7-11

  - secure children were likely to be involved in bullying and resistant children were most likely to be bullies
• Effects of early children attachments and the IWM on romantic relationships

  - Hazan and Shaver asked pps to report on their attachments and their most successful relationships as adults

  - they found a positive correlation between attachment type and views on love
• Effects of early children attachments and the IWM on parenting

  - supported by Harlow and Quinton

  - Quinton compared 50 women who were in children's homes. They were experiencing difficulties as parents and their children were more likely to be in care too

  - Harlow's research with monkeys showed a link between poor attachment and parenting difficulties
• STUDY - Hazan and Shaver

  - placed the 'love quiz' in the Rocky Mountain News. The quiz had 3 sections:

  -> current or most important relationship

  -> general love experiences

  -> attachment type

  - they analysed 620 responses from a representative cross section of people

  - they found the prevalence of attachment styles was similar to that found in infants by Ainsworth (56% secure, 25% avoidant. 19% resistant)

  - there was a strong positive correlation between attachment type and views on love. Those with secure attachments were happy and trusting in relationships

  - securely attached people as infants also reported more enduring relationships (10 years average).

  - avoidant revealed more jealousy
• STRENGTH of continuity hypothesis and IWM - lots of research support

  EVIDENCE - Sroufe found continuity between early attachment and later social behaviour. Hazan and Shaver found a positive correlation between attachment type and views on love

  EXP - both of those studies support the idea that the IWM and continuity hypothesis are correct and there is a correlation between childhood attachment and later adult relationships

  EVAL - Simson assessed infants' attachment type at 1 year old, which shows there is support from non-retrospective research. However, Zimmerman assessed infant and adolescent attachment and found there is little relationship between the two
• WEAKNESS of continuity hypothesis and IWM - correlation does not equal cause

  EVIDENCE - it is possible that both attachment and later love style are both caused by another factor e.g. innate temperament

  EXP - this research is only correlational, rather than experimental. We cannot claim the relationship is one of cause and effect

  EVAL - Kagan's temperament hypothesis suggests that an infant's attachment style is based on their innate personality (temperament). Personality may also explain their success in adult relationships
• WEAKNESS of continuity hypothesis and IWM - retrospective classification relies too heavily on memory

  EVIDENCE - Hazan and Shaver's study is purely asking pps to retrospectively answer questions on their early lives. Such recollections may be flawed

  EXP - however, they found similar percentages to Ainsworth, which offers validity to the research

  EVAL - additionally, longitudinal research supports Hazan and Shaver e.g. Simson
• WEAKNESS of continuity hypothesis and IWM - the idea is too deterministic

  EVIDENCE - the research suggests that early experiences have a fixed effect on later adult relationships

  EXP - this is fortunately not the case as there is plenty of evidence of instances where pps had an insecure attachment but went on to have happy adult relationships

  EVAL - an individual's past does not determine the definite future course of their relationships