Attachment - Influence of early attachment on later relationships Flashcards
State and explain the first stage of the internal working model
First attachment is a template for future relationships
Quality of a child’s first attachment is crucial - it provides a template that will affect the nature of their future relationships
Due to the influence IWM created by that first attachment
State and explain the second stage of the internal working model
Good attachment = good relationship expectations
A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a relaiable attachment figure assumes this is how all relationships are meant to be
Seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them
State and explain the second stage of the internal working model
Good attachment = good relationship expectations
A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a relaiable attachment figure assumes this is how all relationships are meant to be
Seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them
State and explain the third stage of the internal working model
Bad attachment = bad relationship expectations
Child with bad experiences of their first attachment will bring these experiences to bear on later relationshios
May mean they struggle to form relationships in the first place or they do not behave appropiately in them
State and explain the fourth stage of the internal working model
Childhood - the link with friendships and bullying
Securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships
Securely attached children are less likely to be involved in bullying whereas insecure avoidant children are more likely to be victims and insecure resistant are most likely to be bullies
State and explain the final stage of the internal working model
Adulthood - the link with parenting styles and romantic relationships
People base their parenting style on their internal working model. Bailey found the majority of mothers had the same attachment classification to their babies as they had to their own mothers
Describe the procedure of Hazan and Shaver - The love quiz
Analysed 630 replies to a love quiz printed in an american local newspaper
The quiz assessed three different aspects of relationships:
- current and most important relationship
-general love experiences
- attachment type
Describe the findings and conclusions of Hazan and Shaver - The love quiz
The respondants attachment type was reflected in their romantic relationships:
-secure respondants were most likely to have good and longer lasting romantic relationships
-avoidant respondants tended to be jealour and fear intimacy
One strength is strong research support
Many studies showing a link between infant attachment type, and later development, including bullying, sucess in romantic relationships and parenting
Review by Fearon and Roisman concluded that infant attachment influenced development in many ways. Disorganised attachment was most predicitve
Meaning insecure attachment appears to convey a disadvantage for children’s development
One limitation is validity issues with retrospective studies
Most studies assess participants attachment type in adulthood, using questionnaires or interviews. These rely on honest answers
A further problem is that these studies asssess attachment in late childhood or adulthood and assume that it has remained the same since infancy
Meaning that the measures of attachment may not be valid
Another limiation is possible confounding variables
Some studies do make assessments of infant attachment and follow up children, assessing their later development
However these studies may be affected by confounding variables e.g parenting style and personality might affect both attachment and later development
Never be entirely sure that it is infant attachment and not some other factor that is influencing later development
