Influences of early attachment on later relationships

• AO1 - internal working model

  • The quality of a child’s first attachment is crucial as it provides a template that will affect the nature of their future relationships.
  • This is due to the influences of the internal working model created by the first attachment.
• AO1 - reliable attachment figure

  • A child whose first experience is a loving relationship with a reliable attachment figure assume this is how all relationships are meant to be.
  • They will seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them.
• AO1 - bad experiences on their first attachment

  • A child with bad experiences of their first attachment will bring these experiences to bear on later relationships.
  • May mean they struggle to form relationships in the first place or they don’t behave appropriately in them.
• AO1 - bullying

  • Attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood.
  • Securely attached babies tend to form the best quality childhood friendships.
  • Myron-Wilson and Smith assessed attachment type and bullying using standard questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from London.
  • Secure children were less likely to be involved in bullying.
  • Insecure-avoidant children were most likely to be victims of bullying.
  • Insecure-resistant children were most likely to be the bullies.
• AO1 - Bailey et al

  Bailey et al studied 99 mothers to their babies and their own mothers and found that majority of mothers has the same attachment type to their babies as they had to their own mothers.
• AO1 - Hazen and Shaver procedure

  • Hazen and Shaver found a link between attachment type and quality of adult romantic relationships.
  • They analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’.
  • The quiz assessed current and most important relationship, general love experiences, and attachment type.
• AO1 - Hazen and Shaver findings

  • Hazen and Shaver found that secure respondents‘ were more likely to have good and long-lasting romantic relationships.
  • Avoidant respondents tended to be jealous and fear intimacy.
• AO3 - ✔️strong research support


  • Many studies showing the link between infant attachment type and later development, including bullying, success in romantic relationship, and parenting.
  • Fearon and Roisman concluded that infant attachment influences development in many ways.
  • Means that insecure attachment appears to convey a disadvantage for children’s development.
• AO3 - counterpoint; strong research support


  • Not all evidence supports the link between early attachment and later development.
  • In the Regensbury longitudinal study, Becker-Stoll followed 43 people from the age of 1.
  • At 16 years old, there was no evidence of continuity of attachment type.
  • Means it‘s not clear how strongly attachment influences later development.
• AO3 - ✖️validity issues with retrospective studies


  • Most studies on the link between early attachment and later development are not longitudinal.
  • They used questionnaires and interviews which relies on honest answers.
  • It also means its very hard to know whether early attachment or adult attachment is being assessed.
  • Means the measures of early attachment may be confounded with other factors making them meaningless and invalid.
• AO3 - ✖️confounding variables 


  • Some studies do assess attachment in infancy meaning the assessment of early attachment is valid.
  • However, even these studies may be affected by confounding variables.
  • E.g. parenting style and personality may affect both attachment and later development.
  • Means we can’t be sure that it’s infant attachment and not other factors influencing later development.