AO3

• • Weakness - Research is correlational – this means that cause and effect cannot be established. It is possible that attachment style and later love styles are caused by another factor e.g. temperament hypothesis = issue because researchers are unable to conclude IWM determines later relationships
• Weakness - Low correlations found – Fraley conducted a review of 27 samples where infants were assessed in infancy and later reassessed (20 years later) and found correlations as low as .5-.1. These correlations do not suggest attachment types are very stable = this matters because correlational research does not show a cause and effect relationship and low correlations indicate the relationship found is weak/unstable
• Weakness – research relies on retrospective data – Hazan and Shaver relied on asking adults about their childhood experiences. Such recollections may be flaws because our memories of the past are not always accurate and parents might be inclined to lie = research findings may not be valid. Longitudinal studies may provide a better representation
• • Weakness – theories and findings are deterministic – Hazan and Shaver suggest that very early experiences have a fixed effect on later adult relationships; therefore, a child who is insecurely attached at one year of age is doomed to experience negative relationships as an adult. = however this is not always true, Simpson concluded that the research does not suggest that an individual’s past unalterably determines the future course of his/her relationships