influence of early attachment - 'love quiz'

• internal working model

  • first attachment is a template for future relationships
  • quality of first attachment is crucial as it provides template affecting nature of future relationships.
  • this is due to the influence of internal working model created by the first attachment
• good attachment

  • good attachment = good relationship expectations.
  • if child's first experience is a loving relationship with a reliable attachment figure = assumes how all relationships are meant to be
  • will then seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them
• bad attachment

  • bad attachment = bad relationship expectations
  • child with bad experience with first attachment will bring these expectations on future relationships
  • meaning they may struggle to form relationships or not behave appropriately in them
• childhood

  • link with friendships and bullying
  • securely attached babies tend to form best quality childhood friendships (Kerns 1994)
  • with children, less likely involved in bullying whereas insecure-avoidant likely to be victim
  • with insecure-resistant most likely to be bullies (Myron-Wilson + Smith 1998)
• adulthood

  • link with parenting style and romantic relationships
  • style based on their IWM
  • Bailey et al. (2007) found majority mothers had same attachment classification to their babies as to mothers
  • Hazan + Shaver found link between attachment type and quality of adult romantic relationships
• love quiz - Hazan and Shaver, 1987 - procedure

  • placed a 'love quiz' in the Rocky Mountain News
  • questions asked about current and past attachment experiences to identify current and childhood attachement types. also asked about attitudes on love, an IWM assessment
  • analysed 620 responses, 205 from men and 415 from women, from a far cross-section of the population
• findings

  • attachment styles were similar to infancy - 56% classified as secure, 25% avoidant, 19% resistant
  • also found a positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences
  • securely attached adults described love as happy, friendly and trusting and able to support partner despite faults
  • such relationships were enduring - 10 years on average compared to 5 and 6 years for resistant + avoidant participants respectively
• conclusion

  • found a relationship between the conception of love (IWM) and attachment type
  • securely attached individuals tended to have a positive IWM.