Chapter 3: Attachment Flashcards
Define attachment.
A close two-way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security.
How can attachment be recognised?
With 3 behaviours; proximity, separation distress and secure-base behaviour.
Explain proximity as a behaviour of attachment.
People may try to stay physically close to their attachment figure.
Explain separation distress as a behaviour of attachment.
People show signs of anxiety an attachment figure leaves their presence.
Explain secure-base behaviour as a behaviour of attachment.
Babies display secure-base behaviour when they regularly return to their attachment figure while playing.
Define reciprocity.
A description of how two people interact. Caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both caregiver and baby respond to each other’s signals and elicits a response from the other.
Define interactional synchrony.
Where the caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a coordinated (synchronised) way.
Explain the two aspects of reciprocity.
Alert phrases- babies have periodic ‘alert phrases’ in which they signal that they are ready for a spell of interaction.
From around 3 months, this interaction tends to become increasingly frequent and involves both mother and baby paying close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions.
Active involvement- both caregiver and baby can initiate interactions and they appear to take turns in doing so. They both take on an active role.
Explain the two aspects of interactional synchrony.
Synchrony begins- Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks. An adult displayed one of 3 facial expressions to babies. The baby’s response was filmed and it showed that baby’s gestures and expressions were more likely to mirror those of the adults.
Importance for attachment- Isabella et al (1989) observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony. They also assessed the quality of mother-baby attachment, where they found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment; the emotional intensity of their relationship.
What key study was used to determine each stage of attachment?
Schaffer and Emerson’s Stages of Attachment
What was the AMRC of Schaffer and Emerson’s Stages of Attachment?
Aim: to investigate how early attachments were formed in particular at which age they developed, their emotional intensity and to whom they were directed to.
Method: the study involved 60 babies (31 male and 29 female) from Glasgow with the majority being from skilled working class families.
The babies and their mothers were visited at home every month for the first year and again at 18 months.
The researchers asked the mothers questions about the kind of protest the babies showed in 7 everyday separations, e.g the adult leaving the room. This was designed to measure the infants attachment.
The researchers also assessed stranger anxiety, the infants anxiety response to unfamiliar adults.
Results: between 25-32 weeks of age, about 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult, usually the mother.
Attachment tended to be the caregiver who was most interactive and sensitive to infant signals and facial expressions; this was not necessarily the person who spent the most time with the infant.
Conclusion: this led to the development of 4 stages of attachment.
What are the 4 stages of attachment?
Stage 1: asocial attachment.
Stage 2: indiscriminate attachment.
Stage 3: specific attachment.
Stage 4: multiple attachments.
what is the asocial stage of attachment?
the first few weeks.
this is where the baby recognises and forms bonds with carers.
the baby’s behaviour towards non-human objects and humans are quite similar.
babies show some preference for familiar adults in that those individuals find it easier to calm them.
babies are happier when in the presence of other humans by the end of this stage.
what is the indiscriminate attachment stage?
2-7 months.
this is where babies display more observable social behaviour.
they have a preference for people rather than inanimate objects.
they recognise and prefer familiar adults.
they usually accept cuddles and comfort from any adults.
they don’t show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety.
what is the specific attachment stage?
7-12 months.
where babies experience anxiety towards strangers.
they experience separation anxiety when separated from specific attachment.
their specific attachment is their primary attachment figure; this is the person who often has the most interaction and responds to the signals the most.
what is the multiple attachment stage?
around 10 months.
this is where babies soon start to show attachment to more than one adult. this can be adults who they regularly spend time with. they are known as secondary attachments.
These form quite quickly after specific attachment.
why is the topic of role of the father often neglected in attachment studies?
this is because mothers seem to be the primary care-givers of a baby.
mothers have the characteristics of nurturing and showing more emotional connection towards a babe than fathers. and so researchers often focus on mother-baby interactions rather than father-baby.
what research is used to show lack of babies attachment to fathers?
research by schaffer and emerson found that the majority of babies first become attached to their mother at around 7 months. in only 3% of cases is where the father was the sole object of attachment.
this shows that fathers are much less likely to become their babies’ first attachment figure compared to mothers.
what research is used to show babies showing primary attachment to their fathers?
research from schaffer and emerson where 75% of the babies in the study formed an attachment with their father at the age of 15 months. this was evident where babies protested when their father walked away - a sign of attachment.
what is seen as a distinctive role for fathers in their child’s early development?
a father still has a impact on the play and stimulation of their child.
they are more playful, physically active and generally better at providing challenging situations for their children.
what changes occur in fathers when they take on the role as the primary care-giver and why?
they spend more time smiling, imitating and holding babies than secondary caregiver fathers.
this is because a study showed that smiling, imitating and holding babies are all part of reciprocity and interactional synchrony, which are key parts of attachment formation.
a father doing these actions shows that they are able to provide the responsiveness required for a close emotional attachment when given the role of a primary care-giver.
what are the 2 animal studies used to explain attachment?
lorenz’s geese study.
harlow’s monkeys study.
explain lorenz’s animal study. use AMDSP. (aim, method, design, sample and procedure).
Aim: to investigate imprinting in Greylag geese.
Method: field experiment.
Design: independent groups.
Sample: a clutch of Greylag goose eggs.
Procedure: lorenz placed half of the eggs under a goose mother and the other half in an incubator.
he ensured that he was the first moving object the newly hatched goslings in the incubator saw.
to test whether the goslings had imprinted on lorenz, he placed the incubator goslings and the mother goose goslings in a box together.
what were the variables in lorenz’s animal study?
independent variable- whether they were hatched by their mother or in an incubator.
dependent variable- who they imprinted on.
what were the findings of lorenz’s animal study?
when lorenz took the goslings from the box, half of them went to their goose mother and the other half went to lorenz, practically ignoring their biological mother. the goslings with lorenz had imprinted on him.
lorenz believed that once a gosling had imprinted on something, then it couldn’t be reversed.
imprinting, however, only occurred between 4-32 hours after the goslings hatched.
what were the conclusions of lorenz’s animal study?
imprinting is a form of attachment which has a survival advantage e.g if a predator approaches a goslings and its mother, the mother will protect it, leaving the gosling to have a higher survival chance.
It is also said that imprinting takes place within a critical period; this is the window in which an infant can form a bond.
define imprinting.
where a young animal forms a bond soon after birth with (usually) its mother, as she is the first moving object that it sees.
imprinting means that the infant animal will follow whatever it has imprinted on.
explain harlow’s animal study. use AMDS.
Aim: to investigate whether the development of affection or love in infant monkeys is more strongly related to feeding or comfort.
Method: laboratory experiement.
Design: independent groups.
Sample: 8 macaque monkeys that were separated from their mothers 6-12 hours after birth.
explain experiment one of harlows’s animal study. (P&F)
procedure: four of the infant monkey’s were fed from the wire monkey while the other four were fed by the clothed monkey.
individually, the monkeys were placed in cages which contained two cubicles, one with the cloth monkey and one with the wire monkey. they were all fed entirely by the monkey that they had been assigned to.
the monkeys were free at all times to be either on the floor (heated for the first 14 days) or with the cloth or wire monkey.
the time that the infants spent with each mother-substitute was automatically recorded.
findings: the infant monkeys spent significantly more time with the cloth monkey than the wire monkey regardless if it were the wire monkey providing food.
as the monkeys were fed by the wire monkey got older, they responded increasingly more to the cloth monkey.
explain experiment two of harlow’s animal study. (P&F)
procedure: the infant monkeys were presented with various fear-inducing stimuli, like a moving toy bear.
findings: the infant monkeys constantly sought out the cloth mother for support and comfort, regardless of the food condition.
what conclusions were made from harlow’s animal study?
infant monkeys favour the comfort of the cloth monkey over the wire monkey, regardless of which fed them. this idea that a monkey would rather bond to a mother who feeds them is incorrect but rather a mother who is seen as comfort is what forms the bond/connection.
comfort is important for an infant monkey’s development.
explain learning theory.
learning theory is a set of theories from behaviourists approach to psychology.
explanations for learning of behaviour include classical and operant conditioning.
learning theory is sometimes called ‘cupboard love’ in the topic of attachment. it emphasises the importance of the caregiver as a provider of food; the child only loves their caregiver because they provide the food.
explain classical conditioning.
this is learning to associate two stimuli together so that we begin to respond to one in the same way as we already respond to the other.
a caregiver starts as a neutral stimulus. this is because they emit a neutral response from the baby.
the food starts as an unconditioned stimulus which leads the baby to have an unconditioned response; they see the food and they’re happy.
once the caregiver and food are seen at the same time it produces an unconditioned response from the baby and allows the baby to associate food to the caregiver.
so now when the baby sees their caregiver, the caregiver is now the conditioned stimulus and the baby produces a conditioned response.
explain operant conditioning, in regards to attachment.
this is learning to repeat behaviour, or not, depending on its consequences. if a behaviour produces a pleasant consequence, that behaviour is likely to be repeated again. the behaviour has been reinforced. if a behaviour produces an unpleasant consequence, it is less likely to be repeated.
this is used in attachment as if a baby cries it receives comfort. when a baby wishes for comfort, it will now cry as it will illicit a response from the caregiver.
as long as the caregiver provides the correct response, crying is reinforced.
this reinforcement is a 2-way process; where as the baby is reinforced for crying, the caregiver receives negative reinforcement because the crying stops.
escaping something unpleasant is reinforcing.
mutual reinforcement strengthens an attachment.
explain attachment as a secondary drive.
with a primary drive, such as hunger, it is an innate, biological motivator — we are motivated to eat to reduce our hunger.
Sears suggested that, as caregivers provide food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them. attachment is thus a secondary drive learned by association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive — where because the caregiver reduces hunger, the attachment to them becomes the ‘secondary drive’ for the infant.
define monotropic
a term sometimes used to describe Bowlby’s theory.
‘mono’ means one and indicates that one particular attachment is different from all others and is one of central importance to the child’s development.
explain Bowlby’s monotropic theory.
bowlby placed great emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver. he believed that the child’s attachment to this one caregiver is different and more important than others.
bowlby called this person the mother but made it clear that it does not have yo be the biological mother.
what did bowlby believe in regarding his monotropic theory?
bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this mother figure or primary attachment figure, the better.
what were bowlby’s two principles?
the law of continuity
the law of accumulated separation
what is the law of continuity?
this is the idea that the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment
what is the law of accumulated separation?
this is the idea that the effects of every separation from the mother add up ‘and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose’
what are social releasers?
babies are born with a set of innate, ‘cute’ behaviours like smiling, cooling and gripping that encourage attention on adults. their purpose is to activate the adult attachment system.
what is the critical period?
this refers to the time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all.
bowlby proposed that there is a critical period around two years when the infant attachment system is active — bowlby viewed this as a sensitive period. if a child’s attachment is not formed at the age of two, a child will find it much harder to form one later.
what is the internal working model?
the mental representation we all carry with us of our attachment to our primary caregiver. they are important in affecting our future relationships because they carry our perception of what relationships are like.
what does the internal working model say about a child who experiences a loving relationship with their caregiver?
a child whose first experience of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are as loving and reliable and they will bring these qualities to future relationship.
what does the internal working model say about a child who experiences a poor relationship with their caregiver?
a child whose first relationship involves poor treatment will tend to form further poor relationships in which they expect that treatment or they treat others in that way.
how does the internal working model affect a child’s later ability to parent?
people tend to base their parenting behaviour on their own experiences of being parented — it explains why children from functional families tend to have similar families themselves.
what is the aim, research method and sample of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?
aim: to be able to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a child’s attachment to a caregiver.
research method: controlled observation
sample: 56 babies with white middle-class parents who were originally contacted through paediatricians in private practice.
23 of the babies had been observed since birth and were seen in the ‘strange situation’ when they were 51 weeks old.
the remaining 33 babies were part of a different project and were observed at 49 weeks old.
list the behaviours in the ‘strange situation study’ were used to judge attachment?
proximity seeking
exploration and secure-base behaviour
stranger anxiety
separation anxiety
response to reunion
what is proximity seeking?
an infant with a good attachment will stay fairly close to the caregiver
what is exploration and secure-base behaviour?
good attachment enables a child to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base
what is stranger anxiety?
one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches
what is separation anxiety?
another sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from the caregiver
what is response to reunion?
a reunion with the caregiver after separation for a short period of time under controlled conditions
what are the 7 episodes of the procedure of the strange situation study?
firstly, the child and caregiver enter an unfamiliar playroom with a two-way mirror which allows the psychologists to observe infant behaviour.
ep1: the child is encouraged to explore. this tests exploration and secure base.
ep2: a stranger comes in and tries to interact with the child. this tests stranger anxiety.
ep3: the caregiver leaves the child and stranger together. this tests separation and stranger anxiety.
ep4: the caregiver returns and the stranger leaves. this tests response to reunion and exploration and secure base.
ep5: the caregiver leaves the child alone. this tests separation anxiety.
ep6: the stranger returns. this tests stranger anxiety.
ep7: the caregiver returns and is reunited with the child. this tests response to reunion.
what were Ainsworth et al’s. findings?
Ainsworth et al. found that there were distinct patterns in the way that infants behaved. the three main types of attachment are:
secure attachment (type B)
insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)
insecure-resistant attachment (type C)
what is secure attachment (type B)?
these children explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver. they visually show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety. securely attached children require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage.
what is insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)?
these children explore freely but do not seek proximity or show base behaviour. they show little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves and they make little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns. they show little stranger anxiety and do not require comfort at the reunion stage.
what is insecure-resistant attachment (type C)?
these children seek greater proximity than others and so explore less. they show huge stranger and separation distress but they resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver.
what does Ainsworth et al. conclude on from the study?
– the mother provides a safe base from which an infant can explore its environment. attachment behaviour is heightened in situations that the infant sees as threatening, e.g. ‘separation from mother’
– babies who experience more intense attachment behaviour are much less likely to explore the environment around them. attachment behaviour may reduce or disappear if the baby is separated from its attachment figure for a significant length of time. though it is likely to reappear once the child reunites with its attachment figure.
– infants who show contact resisting behaviour and proximity-avoiding behaviour are a reflection of the idea that attachments between infant and attachment figures are different from one pair to another.
what was the aim of the key study: Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)?
they conducted a study to look at the proportions of secure, insure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries. they also looked at the differences within the same countries to get an idea of variations within a culture.
what was the procedure of the key study: Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)?
procedure:
the researchers located 32 studies of attachment where the ‘strange situation’ had been used to investigate the proportions of infants with different attachment types.
the studies were conducted in 8 countries; 15 in the USA. the data for these 32 studies, including 1990 children, were meta-analysed, the results being combined and weighted for a sample size.
what were the findings of the key study: Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)?
there was wide variation between the proportions of attachment types in different studies. in all countries, secure attachment was the most common classification. insecure-resistant attachment was overall the least common type although the proportions ranged from 3% in Britain to around 30% in Israel. insecure-avoidant attachment was observed most commonly in Germany and least commonly in Japan.
an interesting finding was that variations between the results of studies within the same country were actually 150% greater than those between countries.
what conclusions were drawn from the key study: Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)?
the conclusion to be drawn from this meta-analysis is that the global pattern across cultures appears to be similar to that found in the US. secure attachment is the ‘norm’ – it is the most common form of attachment in all countries. this supports the idea that secure attachment is ‘best’ for healthy, social and emotional development. these cultural similarities support the view that attachment is an innate and biological process.
explain an italian study: simonella et al (2014), on attachment types
– they conducted a study in Italy to see whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still match those in previous studies. the researchers assessed 76, twelve month olds using the strange situation.
– they found 50% were secure, with 36% insecure-avoidant. this is a lower rate of secure attachment that has been found in many studies.
– the researchers suggest this is because increasing numbers of mothers of very young children, work long hours and use professional childcare.
– these findings suggest that cultural changes can make a dramatic difference to patterns of secure and insecure attachment.
explain a korean study: Jin et al. (2012), on attachment types
– they conducted a study to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies. however, more of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one was avoidant.
– this distribution is similar to the distribution of attachment types found in Japan.
define maternal deprivation
the emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their mother or mother substitute.
what is the idea about separation and deprivation on attachment?
separation means the child is not being in the presence of the primary attachment figure. this only becomes an issue for development if the child is deprived. extended situations can lead to deprivation, which by definition causes harm.
define the critical period
a certain length of time which an event has to occur. if this event fails to happen during this period, then its unlikely to happen after.
explain bowlby’s explanation of the critical period
Bowlby saw the first 30 months of life as a critical period for psychological development.
if the child is separated from their mother in the absence of suitable substitute care and so is deprived of her emotional care for an extended period during this critical period then Bowlby believed that psychological damage was inevitable.
what are the 2 effects maternal deprivation has on development?
intellectual development
emotional development
explain the consequence of maternal deprivation on intellectual development
Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they would suffer delayed intellectual development, characterised by abnormal IQ.
explain the consequence of maternal deprivation on emotional development
Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others. this prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality. affectionless psychopaths cannot appreciate the feelings of victims and so lack remorse for their actions.
what was the name of Bowlbys’ study on maternal deprivation?
Bowlby’s 44 thieves study (1944)
what was the aim of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
to examine the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation.
what research method was used in Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
case studies
what sample was used in Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
44 Thieves
– 44 children (31 boys, 13 girls) referred to london child clinic for stealing.
– they were aged 5 years 7 months to 16 years 2 motnhs.
– they were either referred by their school, parent, court or probation officers.
– 22 of the cases had demonstrated chronic and serious thieving.
– 10 of the cases had been caught stealing only a few times
– 4 of the cases had been caught stealing once.
control group
– 44 children (34 boys, 10 girls) who had been referred to the london clinic for failing to cope with the demands of a normal environment but did not steal.
explain the procedure of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study
– all ‘thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy; characterised as a lack of affection, lack of guilt about their actions and lack of empathy for their victims.
– their families were also interviewed in order to establish whether the ‘thieves’ had prolonged early separations from their mothers.
– a control group of non-criminal but emotionless, disturbed young people was set up to see how often maternal separation/deprivation occurred in the children who were not thieves.
explain the findings of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study
– 14 of the thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths. of the 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of their lives.
– of the control group, only 2 out of 44 had experienced long separations. it was concluded that prolonged early separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy.
explain the conclusions of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study
– it was concluded that a large proportion of the children who had been stealing for a significant period of time had also experienced a prolonged period of separation from their mothers or foster mothers during their early childhood.
– Bowlby suggested that this maternal separation or deprivation was the cause of their affectionless personality.
what is the PDD model of separation?
3 stages:
stage 1- protest
stage 2- despair
stage 3- detachment
what is ‘stage 1- protest’ of the PDD model of separation?
it’s the immediate reaction to separation which involves crying, screaming, kicking and struggling to escape, or clinging to their mother to prevent her from leaving. this is an outward, direct expression of the child’s anger, fear, bitterness and confusion.
what is ‘stage 2- despair’ of the PDD model of separation?
protest is replaced by calmer behaviour. anger and fear are still felt inwardly. there is little response to offers of comfort; instead the child comforts itself.
what is ‘stage 3-detachment’ of the PDD model of separation?
the child engages with others and appears sociable. when the caregiver returns, the child shows indifference or anger at the caregiver for leaving. this suggests the child may have been masking their feelings with outward sociability.
define institutionalisation
a term for the effects of living in an institutional setting. the term ‘institution’ refers to a place like a hospital or an orphanage where children live for long, continuous periods of time. in such places there is often very little emotional care provided.
what is the aim of Rutter ERA (English and Romanian Adoptee) Study?
to examine the recovery made by Romanian orphans who had been adopted into UK families following a period of privation to see whether the prior cognitive and physical delay was due to the early environment of deprivation.
what research methods were used for Rutter’s ERA Study?
natural experiment, longitudinal
what was the procedure of Rutter’s ERA Study?
Rutter and colleagues (2011) followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain. physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years. a group of 52 British children were adopted at around the same time and served as a control group.
what were the findings of Rutter’s ERA study?
– when having first arrived in the UK, half of the adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development and the majority were severely undernourished.
– at age 11, the adopted children differential rates of recovery that were related to their age of adoption.
– the mean IQ of those children adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years and 77 for those adopted after 2 years. differences remained at age 16.
– children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment where symptoms included attention seeking, clinginess and social behaviour towards all adults, whether familiar or unfamiliar with them.
– children adopted before the age of 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.
what is the procedure of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project?
Zeanah et al. (2005) assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care. they were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution. their attachment type was measured using the strange situation. the carers were also asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy, attention-seeking behaviour directed inappropriately at all adults.
what were the findings of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project?
74% of the control group came out as securely attached, whereas 19% of the institutional group were securely attached, with 65% of them being classified with disorganised attachment. the description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of the institutionalised children as opposed to less than 20% of the controls.
what are the 2 effects of institutionalisation has on attachment?
disinhibited attachment
mental retardation
explain the effect of institutionalisation on disinhibited attachment
children are equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know well or who are strangers that they have just met. this is highly unusual behaviour as most children aged 2 show stranger anxiety.
explain the effect of institutionalisation on mental retardation
– in Rutter’s study, most children showed signs of retardation when they arrived in Britain. those who were adopted before the age of 6 months caught up with the control group by the age of 4.
– damage to intellectual development, like emotional development, as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of 6 months.
explain the internal working model in regards to explaining the influence of early attachment on later relationships
– the mental representations we all carry with us of our attachment to our primary caregiver. they are important in affecting our future relationships because they carry our perception of what relationships are like.
– the quality of the child’s first attachment is crucial because this template will powerfully affect the nature of their future relationships.
– a child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to assume that this is how relationships are meant to be. they will seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them.
– a child with bad experiences of their first attachment will bring these bad experiences to bear on later relationships. this may mean that they struggle to form relationships in the first place or don’t behave appropriately in them, displaying type A or C behaviour to friends and partners.
what is the effect of early attachments on relationships later in childhood?
securely attached infants tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships.
insecurely attached infants later have friendship difficulties.
who conducted the study of the association between attachment and adult relationships?
Hazan and Shaver (1987)
what was the procedure of the Hazan and Shaver (1987) study?
they analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’ printed in a local newspaper.
the quiz had 3 sections: section 1 = current or most important relationship, section 2 = general love experiences such as a number of partners, section 3 = attachment type by asking respondents to choose which of the three statements best described their feelings.
what were the findings of Hazan and Shavers (1987) study?
– 56% were identified as securely attached
– 25% were insecure-avoidant
– 19% were insecure-resistant
– those with reported secure attachments were most likely to have good and longer lasting romantic experiences.
– insecure-avoidants tended to reveal jealousy and a fear of intimacy.
these findings suggest that patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships.
what did the internal working model suggest on relationships in adulthood as a parent?
the internal working model suggests that a child’s early attachment experience can affect the child’s ability to parent their own children. people tend to base their parenting style on their internal working model, so attachment type tends to be passed on through generations of a family.
