Influence of early attachment on childhood/adult relations

• •The notion of an internal working model was proposed by Bowlby (1969). It is a template of expectations, like a schema, about how to relate to others formed by early experiences with the primary caregiver and the type of attachment formed. 
• •The internal working model of an infant is thought to predict the likely outcomes of behaviour in childhood and adulthood. For example, an infant that has experienced sensitive responsiveness from their caregiver (being aware of alert phases, engaging in reciprocity and interactional synchrony) will likely form a secure attachment type and come to expect functional, reliable and loving relationships in the future.
• How does secure attachments impact childhood/adult relations?

  Securely attached children tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships – for example, they are less likely to be involved in bullying and have long-lasting loving adult relationships
• How does insecure-avoidant attachment impact later relations?

  • Children being more likely to be bullied in childhood
  •  Fear of intimacy in adult relationships
• How does insecure-resistant attachment impact later relations?

  • Problem relationships with other children – such as bullying others.
  • Feeling insecure and being attention seeking in relationships. 
  • Poor adult relationships; experiencing jealousy and having shorter relationships
• How does the internal working model impact later relations?

  Parenting styles are also thought to be linked to their internal working model, so attachment types tend to be passed on through generations in a family.
• who did the 'Love Quiz'?

  Hazan & Shaver (1987)
• what was the aim of Hazan & Shaver's study?

  analysed responses to a questionnaire termed the ‘Love Quiz’. It was designed to see if attachment types in infancy influence friendships and adult relationships
• what was the procedure of Hazan & Shaver's study?

  • The 'Love Quiz' comprised three sections and was published in a local American newspaper.
  • It received 620 volunteer responses (205 males and 415 females). 
  • The first section looked at the respondents' current or most important relationship. 
  • The second part assessed general love experiences such as number of partners. 
  • The third section assessed attachment type by asking respondents to choose which of three statements best described their feelings
• what was the findings of Hazan and Shaver's study?

  • 56% of respondents were identified as securely attached, 25% insecure-avoidant and 19% insecure-resistant.
  • Those reporting secure attachments in childhood were the most likely to have loving and longer lasting romantic relationships.
  • The insecure-avoidant respondents tended to reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy.
  • Those with an insecure-resistant type were more likely to have shorter relationships in adulthood, approximately six years compared to secure respondents who averaged 10 years or more. 
• what was the conclusions of Hazan & Shaver's study?

  • The findings analysed from the 'Love Quiz' indicate that specific attachment type behaviours are reflected in adult romantic relationships because of an internal working model formed in infancy that guides expectations. 
  • This supports Bowlby's theory of the internal working model and monotropic theory.
• How is Hazan & Shaver's study supportive research?

  Hazen and Shaver (1987)'s 'Love Quiz' questionnaire results supports the idea that early attachment does have an impact on later relationships. 
• how is methodological issues a limitation of Hazan & Shaver's study?

  • Hazen and Shaver (1987) used a questionnaire (the love quiz). People may not have answered truthfully about their relationship experiences and early attachment types, meaning we cannot suggest there is any connection between the two. 
  • Self-reports  potentially unreliable due to their retrospective assessment - difficult to recall, with accuracy, events from childhood. 
• How is Kerns (1994) study supportive evidence?

  Research support for impact on childhood relationships:

  • Kerns (1994) found that securely attached infants are more inclined to have good quality peer relationships during childhood whilst infants with insecure attachment types are likely to have difficulties with making or maintaining friendships.
• How is Myron-Wilson & Smith (1988) supportive evidence?

  Myron-Wilson and Smith (1988) assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using questionnaires with 196 children aged 7-11 from London. Secure children were very unlikely to be involved in bullying; insecure-avoidant were most likely to be victims of bullying and insecure-resistant were most likely to be bullies.
• How is Bailey et al (2007) study supportive evidence?

  • Bailey et al (2007) looked at the attachments of 99 mothers to their babies and to their own mothers.
  • Mother-baby attachment was assessed using the strange situation and mother's attachment to their own mother was assessed using an adult attachment interview.
  • The majority of women had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mother. 
• How is correlation not causation a limitation of these theories?

  • Effects of early attachment type on later relationships are correlational, so we cannot make statements of cause and effect. 
  • Kagan (1982) suggests that temperament (the child’s genetically determined personality) is a more important influence on behaviour in the strange situation rather than their attachment type, and so it could be that the link between early attachment type and later relationships is also mediated by temperament. 
  • This challenges the validity of theory