discuss research into the influence of early attachment on adult relationships (8 marks) plan
Bowlby's internalworking model, Hazan and Shaver study, including its findings
2. LIMITATION- most studies use self-reporttechniques to assess infant-parent relationship- validity is limited, respondent may not accuratelyrecall, 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 aninternalworkingmodel, 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 primaryattachmentfigure is crucial because it will affect the nature of their futurerelationships.Hazan and Schafferconducted a study into therelationship between earlyattachment types and romanticrelationshipsusingaself-reportquestionnaire called a love quiz.Hazan and Shaverfound that56%of the respondentsweresecurelyattachedand25% were insecure avoidant.The56%securely attached were the most likely to have a good and lastingromanticrelationship. Theavoidantrespondents werethe most likely to showjealousy and fear of intimacy. This shows how the quality and type of attachmentinfluences the nature of your adultrelationships.
LIMITATION- most studiesuse self-reporttechniques to assess infant-parentrelationship-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-reporttechniques to assess the quality of infant-parentattachment. The validity of the self-reporttechniques is limited because the validitydepends on the respondents being honest and having a realisticview of their own relationships, and social desirabilitybias may affect results. The validity of the results also relies on how accuratelyrespondents can recall their relationship with their primary attachment figure. Therefore, using self-report techniques such as interviews and questionnaires may lackvalidity.
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-reporttechniques for assessing infant-parentattachment and assessing internal working model
4. LIMITATION- research is correlation, cause and effect can't be established.Alternativeexplanation 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
Bowlby proposed that infantsformed an internal working model, which is a mentalrepresentation of their attachment with their primary attachmentfigure. The internal working model acts as a template for futurerelationships, which means that the quality of the attachment with their primary attachmentfigure is crucial because it will affect the nature of their futurerelationships. For example, a child who has a loving and reliable relationship with their caregiver will expectfuture relationships to be loving and reliable, so are likely to seekfunctionalrelationships and be functional in them.
Hazan and Schaffer conducted astudy into the relationship between earlyattachment and romanticrelationships using a self-reportquestionnaire called a love quiz. Hazan and Shaver found that 56% of the respondents were securely attached and 25% were insecureavoidant. The 56% securelyattached were the most likely to have a good and lastingromanticrelationship. The avoidantrespondents were the most likely to showjealousy and fear of intimacy. This shows how our earlyattachmentinfluences our laterromanticrelationships.
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-reporttechniques to assess the quality of infant-parentattachment.Thevalidity of the self-report techniques is limitedbecause thevalidity depends on the respondents being honestandhaving a realisticview of their ownrelationships, andsocialdesirabilitybiasmay affect results. The validity of the results also relies onhow accuratelyrespondents can recall their relationshipwith their primaryattachment figure. Therefore, using self-reporttechniques such as interviews and questionnairesmay lack validity. In addition, there is an issue using self-reporttechniques in research related to the internalworking because the internalworking modelis unconscious, so we are notaware 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 earlyattachment and adultrelationshipsarecorrelational rather than experimental, therefore acause and effect cannot be establishedbetween the attachmenttype and later adultrelationships. Analternative explanationof therelationship between early attachment and later adult relationships is Kagan’s temperament hypothesis, which is the idea that an infant’stemperament (innateemotionalpersonality) explains their attachmentbehaviour, as infants with an easytemperament or easier to interactwith and form a secureattachment, whereas the infants with a difficulttemperament tend to be insecurelyattached. Therefore,it may be the individual’stemperament 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 earlyattachment on childhood and adult relationships have adeterministic view on behaviour, as it suggests thatvery earlyexperiences have a fixed effect on laterrelationships. However,Anne Clarke and Alan Clarkeproposed that the influence of early attachmentisprobabilistic, which suggests that people with badquality early attachment are not doomed but they havea higherrisk of problems. Therefore, they believe thatearly attachment does not determine adult relationships, but it makes certainbehaviour more likely.