Influence of early attachment on later relationships

• [AO1](Influence of early attachment on later relationships)How does the Internal working model work and its affects on future relationships?

  • The first attachment acts as a template for future relationships.
  • Therefore a child whose first experience is of a good relationship w/ a reliable caregiver then they will seek out functional relationships and behave functionally in them. And vice versa with their first relationship being bad.
• [AO1](Influence of early attachment on later relationships)The Internal working models affect on childhood relationships:

  • Securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships(Kerns 1994).
  • Securely attached children are less likely to be involved in bullying whereas insecure-avoidant children are most likely to be victims and insecure-resistant are most likely to be bullies(Myron-Wilson and Smith 1998).
• [AO1](Influence of early attachment on later relationships)The internal working models affect on parenting style and romantic relationships:

  • People base their parenting style on their internal working model. Bailey et al.(2007) found the majority of mothers had the same attachment classification to their babies as they had to their own mothers.
  • Hazan and Shaver found a link between attachment type and quality of adult romantic relationships.
• [AO1](Influence of early attachment on later relationships)Hazan and Shaver(1987) The love quiz Procedure:

  • The researchers analysed 620 replies to a 'love quiz' printed in an American local newspaper.
  • The quiz assessed three different aspects of relationships:

  1. Current and most important relationship.
  2. General love experiences.
  3. Attachment type.
• [AO1](Influence of early attachment on later relationships)Hazan and Shaver(1987) The love quiz Findings:

  The respondents' attachment type was reflected in their romantic relationships:

  • Secure respondents were the most likely to have good and longer-lasting romantic relationships.
  • Avoidant respondents tended to be jealous and fear intimacy.
• [AO3](Influence of early attachment on later relationships)One strength is strong research support:

  • There are many studies showing a link between infant attachment type and later development, including bullying, success in romantic relationships and parenting.
  • A review by Fearon and Roisman(2017) concluded that infant attachment influenced development in many ways. Disorganised attachment was the most predictive e.g. of later mental disorder.
  • This means that insecure attachment appears to convey a disadvantage for children's development.
• [AO3](Influence of early attachment on later relationships)A weakness is that not all evidence is supporting:

  • Not all evidence supports the link between infant attachment and later development.
  • For example, the Regensburg longitudinal study(Becker-Stoll et al. 2008) found no evidence of continuity of attachment type from age 1 to 16 years.
  • This means it is not clear how strongly attachment influences later development.
• [AO3](Influence of early attachment on later relationships)One limitation is validity issues with retrospective studies:

  • Most studies assess participants' attachment type in adulthood(not in infancy) using questionnaires. These rely on honest answers.
  • A further problem is that these studies assess attachment in late childhood or adulthood and assume it has remained the same since infancy.
  • This means that the measures of attachment may not be valid.
• [AO3](Influence of early attachment on later relationships) Another limitation is possible confounding variable:

  • Some studies do make assessments of infant attachment and follow up children, assessing their later development.
  • However, these studies may be affected by confounding variables. For example, parenting style and personality might affect both attachment and later development.
  • This means that we can never be entirely sure that it is infant attachment and not some other factor that is influencing later development.
• [AO3](Influence of early attachment on later relationships)Another limitation/support is balancing opportunity and risk:

  • Knowing that insecure infant attachment leads to increased risk of later developmental problems can provide opportunities to intervene.
  • However this may lead to overly pessimistic expectations and create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
  • This means that knowing someone's attachment status may do more harm than good.