Influences of early attachment on later relationships

• The evidence on continuity of attachment is mixed
• Attachment type in infancy

  Usually the same as that characterising the person's future relationships
• Zimmerman assessed infant attachment type and adolescent attachment to parents, there was very little relationship between quality of infant and adolescent attachment
• This is a limitation because it is not what we would expect if internal working models were important in development
• Most studies of attachment do not use the strange situation but assess infant-parent attachment using interviews
• The validity of questionnaires and interviews is limited because they are dependent on respondents being honest and having a realistic view on their own relationships
• Parents may lie to avoid embarrassment
• Several studies indicate associations but this is not the same as causation
• The child's temperament may influence both infant attachment and quality of later relationships
• This is a limitation because it is counter to Bowlby's view that the internal working model caused these outcomes
• The influence of infant attachment on future relationships is exaggerated
• Clarke and Clarke describe the relationship between infant attachment and future relationships as probabilistic, people aren't always going to be doomed to have bad relationships, they just have a greater risk
• This is a limitation because it means people may be too pessimistic about people's futures