The Influence of Early Attachment

• The Internal Working Model suggests our first attachment(s) provide a schema for all other relationships that will form later in life.
• 3 main features of the Internal Working Model:

  • a model of others as being trustworthy
  • a model of the self as valuable
  • a model of the self as effective when interacting with others.
• The Internal Working Model guides our feelings of self-worth & our expectations of how others will treat us.
• Internal Working Model:

  • Indicates that the quality of a child's first attachment is crucial because this template (Internal Working Model) will powerfully affect the nature of their future relationships- otherwise known as continuity.
  • Eg, child's first experience being a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to assume that's how relationships are meant to be- will seek functional relationships. But a child with bad experience as first attachment will bring these bad experiences to bear on later life relationships- may struggle to form relationships.
• Key Study- Hazan & Shaver (1987):

  • Aim= to investigate whether attachment type predicts later relationship outcomes.
  • Love Quiz placed in the local newspaper of a small American town, 620 PPs.
  • Study involved 2 questionnaires, 1 to determine their early relationships with parents, the 2nd being their later, adult romantic attachments.
• Key Study Hazan & Shaver (1987) Findings:

  1. PPs split into 3 categories, corresponding well to the childhood attachment types.
  2. Positive correlation between attachment type and experience of love, eg secure adults had positive & happy experiences of love- had longer lasting relationships.
  3. Positive relationship between attachment type & concept of love, eg avoidant adults didn't believe love could last & resistant adults were preoccupied with finding 'true love'.
• 1. Type of bond: Secure, Childhood experience with parent: close & warm relationship with parents. Adult experience with partner & attitudes towards love: secure, stable & loving relationship with partner, trust others & believe in lasting love, % adult sample: 56%, divorce: 6%.
• 2. Type of bond: Avoidant, Childhood experience with parent: mother was cold & rejecting. Adult experience with partner & attitudes towards love: fear of intimacy, jealousy & love is not lasting nor necessary for happiness, % adult sample: 25%, divorce: 12%.
• 3. Type of bond: Resistant, Childhood experience with parent: father was perceived as unfair. Adult experience with partner & attitudes towards love: preoccupied by love, obsessive & jealous, fall in love easily but have trouble finding true love, % adult sample: 19%, divorce: 10%.
• Romanian Orphan Studies- effects of institutionalisation:

  • Institutionalisation= the impact of living in an institution (like an orphanage) for a period of time, often whilst awaiting adoption.
  • The Romanian orphan crisis of the 1990's offered a naturally existing opportunity to study the impact of institutionalisation (children rarely get high quality emotional care, so can study the effects of deprivation).
• Key Study: The English & Romanian Adoption Study- Rutter:

  • Longitudinal study of 165 Romanian orphans- 111 adopted by 2 years old & 54 adopted by 4 years old.
  • The orphans were assessed on social, emotional, cognitive & physical development at regular intervals (aged 4,6,11,15).
  • This development was compared against 52 British controls (also adopted orphans).
• Rutter- English & Romanian Adoption Study Findings:

  1. At the time of adoption, Romanian children had subnormal development compared to British controls, eg smaller size, cognitive impairment.
  2. If the Romanian child adopted before 6 months old, then they were able to catch up with British children in all areas of development by 4 years old.
  3. If Romanian child adopted after 6 months old, they were unable to catch up to the progress of their British counterparts & had ongoing issues such as attachment disorder & peer problems- confirmed in all follow ups.
• Rutter- English & Romanian Adoption Study Conclusion:

  • Institutionalisation beyond the age of 6 months may cause long term, irreversible consequences.
• Main effects of institutionalisation:

  1. Poor parenting- if raised in an institution, it can lead to later issues with parenting their own children. Quinton et al (1984) compared 50 women who had been reared in institutions with a control group & found ex-institutionalised women had extreme difficulties acting as parents & their children had poor outcomes, eg spent time in care.
  2. Intellectual under-functioning- lower IQ often found in institutionalised children. Skodak & Skeels (1949) found lower IQ in children in institutions- could be improved with the provision of substitute emotional care.
• Main effects of institutionalisation:

  3. Physical underdevelopment- lack of emotional care can cause deprivation dwarfism, ie being physically mean.

  4. Disinhibited attachment- a form of attachment disorder, over-friendliness to strangers & attention seeking, which can lead to serious relationship issues.
• Evaluation of Effects of Institutionalisation- Strength:

  • Real life application; studying Romanian orphans has enhanced understanding of the effects of institutionalisation which has led to improvements in way institutions work. Singer et al, 1985
  • Eg, child has key worker at institutions, so have chance to develop normal attachments & historically child's natural mother was encouraged to nurse baby for long as possible prior to adoption- has now changed & babies usually adopted within 1st week of birth & evidence indicates they can have attachments as strong as non-adopted families. Gives credi
• Evaluation of Effects of Institutionalisation- Strength:

  • Use of longitudinal studies is a methodological strength.
  • Studies followed lives of children over many years & therefore allows us to make more reliable conclusions about the effects of institutionalisation.
• Evaluation of Effects of Institutionalisation- Weakness:

  • It's difficult to know how long is long enough to study the PPs.
  • Eg, may be that institutionalisation just slows development & children may recover if given long enough to- would go against the implication that the effects are irreversible.
  • Supported by Le Mare & Audet's (2006) findings that developmental dwarfism could be reversed.
• Evaluation of Effects of Institutionalisation- Weakness:

  • Research does not account for individual differences in the outcomes of the children.
  • Not all of the children were negatively affected by institutionalisation.
  • Maybe some children are more resilient or have features which evoke better quality care.
  • This means that it isn't possible to conclude that institutionalisation inevitably leads to an inability to form attachments.
• The Influence of Early Attachment:

  1.Peer relationships in childhood- evidence exists of continuity between attachment type & social competence in childhood.

  2.Quality of parenting- a link between poor attachment & later parenting problems- thought to stem from the lack of an Internal Working Model on how to form a relationship with offspring.

  • 3.Mental health- attachment disorder- mental illness characterised by emotional & social difficulties arising from a failure to form normal attachments to primary caregiving figures in early childhood.
• Evaluation for Influence of Early Attachment- Weakness:

  • Issues with the sample in Hazan & Shaver's study.
  • As PPs volunteered, the sample may have been biased & therefore not representative, eg people with extreme experiences or opinions may have been more likely to respond.
  • May lead to a reduction in validity.
• Evaluation for Influence of Early Attachment- Weakness:

  • Use of questionnaires in Hazan & Shaver's study may be an issue.
  • People are not always truthful, especially with sensitive subjects like parenting & relationships due to the pressure of social desirability.
  • Also, people's memory of past experiences such as infant attachment are likely to be flawed due to retrospective recall.
  • This methodology may have compromised the validity of the results.
• Evaluation for Influence of Early Attachment- Weakness:

  • Evidence on early influence of early attachment type is mixed.
  • Some studies do appear to support continuity & so provide evidence to support internal working models.
  • However, Zimmerman (2000) assessed infant attachment type & adolescent attachment to parents.
  • The findings indicated that there was very little relationship between quality of infant & adolescent attachment.
  • This is a problem because this outcome is not what would be expected if the internal working models were important in development.
• Evaluation for Influence of Early Attachment- Weakness:

  • The conclusions from the research are overly deterministic.
  • The suggestion is that very early experiences have a fixed effect on later adult relationships, ie those who are insecurely attached are doomed to experience emotionally unsatisfactory relationships.
  • However, there are many instances that demonstrate this is not necessarily the case.
  • Indicates that the importance of the early attachment may have been over-emphasised, and may be we can choose our internal working model.