Later Relationships

• IWM:

  • According to Bowlby, the attachment a child has with its primary caregiver provides the infant with a schema and template for future relationships
  • This will determine if the child loves, trusts and relies on others and the health of future relationships
• • 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀: future relationships will follow the pattern based on childhood attachment, impacting childhood relationships, adult relationships and relationships with one's own children
  • 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩: when a child has a secure loving relationship with their primary caregiver, they will assume all relationships should be like that and will seek out functional relationships and be functional within these relationships
• • When a child does not have a loving relationship with their primary caregiver, they are more likely to be unable to function in their relationships and be:
  • 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙚-𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙩: emotionally closed and/or uninvolved in their relationships, making it difficult to form secure attachments
  • 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙚-𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩: controlling and argumentative in their relationships, making it difficult to form secure attachments
• 𝗛𝗮𝘇𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿 (𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟳):

  • Conducted a 'love quiz' study, they asked people to respond to a love quiz in the newspaper, the quiz examined feelings in a romantic relationship
  • Participants also completed questions on their childhood relationships with their parents and their attachment types 
• Hazan and Shaver had 728 participants split into 2 groups:

  • 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝟭: 205 men and 415 women 
  • 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝟮: 38 men and 50 women 
• Hazan and Shaver categorised the participants from their responses into three categories:

  • 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲: Balanced (equally and when relevant) between closeness and independence  
  • 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗻𝘁: Avoiding closeness 
  • 𝗔𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀: Clingy, does not cope with their own independence
• 𝙁𝙄𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎:

  • Hazan and Shaver found a correlation between adult relationships and attachment types:
  • Securely attached adults believe in long-lasting love and were less likely to get divorced
  • Whereas insecure types were more likely to report loneliness 
  • This suggests there is a link between childhood attachment and adult relationships 
• 𝘾𝙃𝙄𝙇𝘿𝙃𝙊𝙊𝘿 𝙍𝙀𝙇𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙋𝙎:

  • Myron-Smith and Wilson (1998) studied 198 children from London aged 7-11, completing a questionnaire
  • Insecure-avoidant children were more likely to be bullied, whereas insecure resistant were more likely to be bullies
  • The children who had insecure attachments would have more issues with fitting in and this could lead to bullying (perceived as different)
  • Children with secure attachments have a positive Internal Working Model and so have a healthy outlook on relationships helping them stay away from bullies and bullying
• Self-report techniques, which were used,  can be less valid as participants may under or over-exaggerate.