early attachment on childhood and adult relationships

• Influence of early attachment on later relationships:

  • Bowlby's internal working model (suggested that early attachment provides the template for later relationships)
  • children form a mental representation (schema) of their first attachment. This impacts later relationships as well as the child's own success as a parent
  • continuity hypothesis sees a child's attachment type as being reflected in later relationships
• Relationships in later childhood:

  • attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships
  • Kerns found that securely attached infants have high quality relationships in childhood where as insecurely attached infants have friendship difficulties in childhood
• Relationships in later childhood: Myron-Wilson and Smith

  • questionnaires to under 200 children aged 7-11 based on attachment type and experiences of bullying
  • secure - unlikely to be bullied or bully
  • insecure avoidant - more likely to be bullied
  • insecure resistant - more likely to be a bully
  • suggesting bullying behaviour can be predicted from attachment type
• Adult attachment: secure

  • stemmed from secure in childhood
  • find it easy to become emotionally close with people
• Adult attachment: anxious preoccupied

  • stemmed from insecure resistant
  • want to become emotionally close but doubt whether people want to have a relationship with them
• Adult attachment: dismissive avoidant

  • stemmed from insecure avoidant
  • view close relationships as having little importance
• Adult attachment: fearful avoidant

  • stemmed from insecure avoidant
  • feel uncomfortable getting close to people, may be linked to loss or trauma
• Hazen and Shaver: 'Love Quiz'

  • 'love quiz' published in local paper in USA
  • collected info about: early attachment experiences and current romantic attitudes and experiences
  • 620 responses from varying ages
• Hazen and Shaver's findings:

  • Findings were similar to Ainsworth's in Strange Situation
  • 56% adults were securely attached
  • 25% insecure avoidant
  • 19% insecure resistant
  • different attachment types had different experiences and attitudes to relationships as identified by the adult attachment styles
• Hazen and Shaver concluded that there is a correlation between early attachment type and later adult relationships.