A03 ATTACHMENT THEORY

• * evidence frome cole & leets 1999 - att theory?

  • found that adolescents with insecure resistant attachment were more likely to have ps rs with tv personalities than those with secure & insecure avoidant attachments
  • supports idea that insecure resistant attachments are linked to formation of ps rs
• * evidence from mccutcheon 2006 - att theory?

  • measured attraction to celebrities
  • those who had insecure attachments had more positive attitude to obsessive & stalking behaviour
  • shows those who had insecure resistant were more likely to engage in stalking behaviour of celebs
  • this research suggests that theory is accurate & people with insecure att are more likely to absorb themselves into celebs life & form ps rs
• X does not explain all types of parasocial rs - att theory?

  • research has shown that having insecure resistant attachment type only explains intense form of ps rs
  • research has not explained mild ps rs
  • cannot generalise it to ps rs so other explanations may be more accurate & applicable
  • some people may have alternative att style yet may still enter into ps rs
• X use of questionnaires - att theory?

  • pro - lots of info can be collected in short period of time so its an efficient method of gathering data
  • con - suffer from social desirability & may lie about their obsession with celebs/understate it due to embarrassment & fear of judgement
  • although it enables range of data to be collected efficiently may lead to theory being based on false info
  • means its difficult to draw conclusions about role of att type on formation of ps rs
• X correlational - att theory?

  • pro - variables can be measured that cant be manipulated in research such as att type so its more ethical rather than create conditions of ps rs/att type to test them
  • con - cause & effect cannot be established
  • not possible to state whether having insecure resistnat att leads to ps rs/theres another factor affecting formation of ps rs
  • conclusions are unclear about c&e relationship between att type & ps rs
• X retrospective - att theory?

  • as it involves looking back at upbringing to find out what attachment person has in childhood could lead to inaccurate info/people may have forgotten details & schema may fill in blanks/lie to create more positive reflection of childhood
  • theory may be based on false/inaccurate info so we cannot be certain insecure resistant att in early childhood does lead to ps rs in later life