influences of attachment on later relationships

• discuss research into the influence of early attachment on adult relationships (8 marks) plan

  Bowlby's internal working model, Hazan and Shaver study, including its findings

  2. LIMITATION- most studies use self-report techniques to assess infant-parent relationship- validity is limited, respondent may not accurately recall, may not be honest, internal working model is unconscious so findings are limited
• Bowlby's internal working model, Hazan and Shaver study, including its findingsBowlbyproposed that infants formed aninternal working model, which is a mental representation of their attachment with their primary attachment figure. The internal working model acts as atemplate for future relationships, which means thatthe quality of the attachment with their primary attachment figure is crucial because it will affect the nature of their future relationships.Hazan and Schafferconducted a study into therelationship between early attachment types and romantic relationshipsusing aself-report questionnaire called a love quiz.Hazan and Shaverfound that56%of the respondents weresecurely attachedand25% were insecure avoidant. The56% securely attached were the most likely to have a good and lasting romantic relationship. Theavoidantrespondents werethe most likely to show jealousy and fear of intimacy. This shows how the quality and type of attachment influences the nature of your adult relationships.
• LIMITATION- most studiesuse self-report techniques to assess infant-parent relationship- validity is limited.A limitation of studies into the influence of early attachment on adult relationships, such as the study conducted by Hazan and Shaver, is the use of self-report techniques to assess the quality of infant-parent attachment. The validity of the self-report techniques is limited because the validity depends on the respondents being honest and having a realistic view of their own relationships, and social desirability bias may affect results. The validity of the results also relies on how accurately respondents can recall their relationship with their primary attachment figure. Therefore, using self-report techniques such as interviews and questionnaires may lack validity.
• Discuss research into the influence of early attachment on childhood and/or adult relationships. [16 marks]-

  PLAN1. bowlby internal working model

  
  

  2. Hazan and Schaffer- love quiz

  
  

  3. LIMITATION- use of self-report techniques for assessing infant-parent attachment and assessing internal working model

  
  

  4. LIMITATION- research is correlation, cause and effect can't be established. Alternative explanation of relationship between early attachment and adult relationships- Kagan's temperament hypothesis

  
  

  5. LIMITATION- research has a deterministic view on behaviour- Alternate view from Anna Clarke and Alan Clarke- influence is probabilistic
• 1. bowlby internal working model

  Bowlby proposed that infants formed an internal working model, which is a mental representation of their attachment with their primary attachment figure. The internal working model acts as a template for future relationships, which means that the quality of the attachment with their primary attachment figure is crucial because it will affect the nature of their future relationships. For example, a child who has a loving and reliable relationship with their caregiver will expect future relationships to be loving and reliable, so are likely to seek functional relationships and be functional in them.
• 2. Hazan and Schaffer- love quiz


  Hazan and Schaffer conducted a study into the relationship between early attachment and romantic relationships using a self-report questionnaire called a love quiz. Hazan and Shaver found that 56% of the respondents were securely attached and 25% were insecure avoidant. The 56% securely attached were the most likely to have a good and lasting romantic relationship. The avoidant respondents were the most likely to show jealousy and fear of intimacy. This shows how our early attachment influences our later romantic relationships.
• 3. LIMITATION- use of self-report techniques for assessing infant-parent attachment and assessing internal working model


  Alimitationof studies into the influence of early attachment on adult relationships is theuse of self-report techniques to assess the quality of infant-parent attachment. Thevalidity of the self-report techniques is limitedbecause thevalidity depends on the respondents being honestandhaving a realistic view of their own relationships, andsocial desirability biasmay affect results. The validity of the results also relies onhow accurately respondents can recall their relationshipwith their primary attachment figure. Therefore, using self-report techniques such as interviews and questionnairesmay lack validity. In addition, there is an issue using self-report techniques in research related to the internal working because the internal working modelis unconscious, so we are not aware of the influence our internal working model has on our relationships. This means that the results of the self-reports are limited as it can only collect what the respondents are aware of.
• LIMITATION- research is correlation, cause and effect can't be established. Alternative explanation of relationship between early attachment and adult relationships- Kagan's temperament hypothesis


  The research into the relationship of early attachment and adult relationships arecorrelational rather than experimental, therefore acause and effect cannot be establishedbetween the attachment type and later adult relationships. Analternative explanationof therelationship between early attachment and later adult relationships is Kagan’s temperament hypothesis, which is the idea that an infant’s temperament (innate emotional personality) explains their attachment behaviour, as infants with an easy temperament or easier to interact with and form a secure attachment, whereas the infants with a difficult temperament tend to be insecurely attached. Therefore,it may be the individual’s temperament that explains the nature of their adult relationships.
• 5. LIMITATION- research has a deterministic view on behaviour- Alternate view from Anna Clarke and Alan Clarke- influence is probabilistic


  Research into the influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships have adeterministic view on behaviour, as it suggests thatvery early experiences have a fixed effect on later relationships. However,Anne Clarke and Alan Clarkeproposed that the influence of early attachment isprobabilistic, which suggests that people with bad quality early attachment are not doomed but they havea higher risk of problems. Therefore, they believe thatearly attachment does not determine adult relationships, but it makes certain behaviour more likely.