Bowlby suggested that a child having their first relationship with their primary attachment figure forms a mental representation of this relationship
This internal working model acts as a template for future relationships. The quality of the child's first attachment is crucial because this template will powerfully affect the nature of their future relationships.
More on the internal working model:
A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to assume that this is how relationships are meant to be.
They will then seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them
Type A behaviour would likely be being uninvolved or being too attached
Type C behaviour would likely be controlling and argumentative
A child with bad experiences of their first attachment will bring these bad experiences to later relationships. This may mean they struggle to form relationships in the first place or they may not behave appropriately when they are in them, displaying type A or C behaviour towards friends and partners
Relationships in later childhood:
Attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood
Securely attached infants tend to go onto form best quality childhood friendships
Insecurely attached infants later have friendship difficulties
Bullying and attachment type:
Bullying behaviour can be predicted by attachment type. Myron-Wilson and Smith assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using standard questionnaires i 196 children aged 7-11 from London
Secure children were very unlikely to be involved in bullying
Insecure-avoidant children were the most likely to become victims of bullying
Insecure- resistant children were most likely to be bullies
Relationships in adulthood with romantic partners - McCarthy
McCarthy studied 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were infants to establish their early attachment type
Those assessed as securely attached infants had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships
Adults classed as insecure-resistant as infants had particular problems maintaining friendships
Those classed as insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships
Relationships in adulthood with romantic partners (Hazan and Shaver) - findings
Analysed 620 replies to a 'love quiz' printed in a local American newspaper
The quiz had three sections
The first had assessed respondents' current or most important relationship
The second part assessed general love experiences such as number of partners
The third section assessed attachment type by asking respondents to choose which of three statements best described their feelings
Relationships in adulthood with romantic partners (Hazan and Shaver) - findings
56% of respondents were identified as securely attached, 25% insecure-avoidant and 19% insecure resistant
Those reporting secure attachments were the most likely to have good and longer lasting romantic relationships/experiences
The avoidant respondents tended to reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy. These findings suggest that patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships