the influence of attachment on relationships

• what may our early experience in childhood and adolescence shape?

  our experiences of adult relationships. some psychologists suggest that we form certain kinds of relationships as children and this influences how we approach relationships for the rest of our lives
• what is the internal working model?


  a mental model of the world which enables individuals to predict and control their environment. in the case of attachment the model relates to a person’s expectations about relationships
• what did simpson et al (2007) do?

  conducted an interesting longitudinal study, which brings together a number of factors
• who were the participants in simpson et al (2007)?

  78 participants who had been studied from infancy until their mid-20s
• what were simpson et al (2007) investigating?

  how early childhood attachment, relationships in school and those during adolescence might all affect our experiences as adults
• how did simpson et al (2007) assess the children at 12 months?

  strange situation
• how did simpson et al (2007) assess the children at 6-8 years?

  social competence in peer groups was measured via ratings from the classroom teacher
• how did simpson et al (2007) assess the children at 16 years?

  quality of behaviours with close friends (trust, disclosure etc) was assessed, based on a detailed interview
• how did simpson et al assess the participants at 20-23 years?

  experience and expression of emotions in romantic relationships was measured via a rating scale and an observation
• what did simpson et al (2007) find?

  early attachment security at 12 months predicted the children’s competence with peers at age 6. school competence at age 6 predicted the closeness of friends at age 16. friendships at 16 predicted emotional experiences in adult relationships. this appears to show that early attachment experiences with caregivers influence our relationship experiences in childhood, through to adolescence and adulthood
• what are the evaluations of simpson et al (2007)?

  triangulation and methodological issues (issues of self report, observer bias, ratings are subjective)
• what is triangulations?


  the use of a variety of methods and different types of data to cross-check that the results obtained by one particular method are valid, and reliable
• what did hazan and shaver (1987) do?

  analysed over 600 adult ‘love-style’ questionnaires from an american newspaper. it assessed current / most important relationship, general love experiences and attachment type
• what are the findings of hazan and shaver (1987)?

  secure 56%, insecure avoidant 25%, insecure resistant 19%
• what is the conclusion of hazan and shaver (1987)?

  this is evidence for the influence of the internal working model and for the continuity hypothesis - our attachment styles remain very similar throughout our lives
• whoat did myron-wilson and smith (1998) want to investigate?

  attachment type and bullying in childhood
• how did myron-wilson and smith (1998) investigate?

  assessed the link between attachment type and involvement in bullying. method - questionnaires. participants - 196 children (7-11 years old) in london
• what were the results of myron-wilson and smith (1998)?

  securely attached children unlikely to be involved in bullying (positive internal working model so healthy view of relationships which helps to stay away from bullying). insecure-avoidant children were most likely to be victims of bullying. insecure-resistant children were most likely to be the bullies. those with insecure attachments less likely to fit in which could lead to bullying
• what is the support of early attachments?


  research evidence (simpson, hazan and shaver)
• what are the counters of early attachments?

  validity issues related to methodology, correlational research and the scores are often low
• what are the alternatives of early attachments?

  temperament may be responsible for continuity, rather than internal working model
• what are the issues and debates of early attachments?

  deterministic