Internal Working Model

• Bowlby suggested that a baby's first relationship with their primary caregiver and attachment figure leads to a mental representation of this relationship: this model acts as a template/blueprint for future relationships - childhood or adult.
• The quality of a baby's first attachment is crucial; this template will powerfully affect the nature of their future relationships. A baby whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable attachment figure will tend to assume this is how relationships are meant to be: they'll tend to seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them.
• A child with bad experiences of their first attachment will bring these bad experiences to later relationships. This may mean they'll struggle to form relationships in the first place or they may not behave appropriately within the relationship, displaying insecure-avoidant or insecure-resistant behaviour.