early attachment effect on later relationship

Question 1

How does attachment types acossiate with childhood?

Answer 1

Securely - go and form quality childhood friendships
Insecure - have friendship difficulties

Question 2

Bullying behaviour and attachment study

Answer 2

• assessed attachment type and bullying using standard questionnaires
• 196 children
• Age 7-11 from London
• Secure children unlikely to be involves
• Insecure avoidant → victims * insecure - resistance → bullies

Question 3

Hazan and Shaver study of adult hood with romantic partners
procedure and aim

Answer 3

conducted study between attachment and adult relationships

Procedure
* Analysed 620 replies to love quiz printed in an american newspaper
* Quiz had sections
Current attachment experiences / attachment history / childhood attachment / attitudes towards love

Question 4

Findings of Hazan and shaver

Answer 4

• Avoidant - reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy / doesn’t like to get to close
• Secure - good long lasting romantic experiences
• Resistant - worry partner doesn’t love them, wants to merge with others / scares them tho

Suggests attachment types are reflected in romantic relationships later on in life.

Question 5

poor parenting study

Answer 5

Compared a group of women who had been reared in an institutions x control group in homes

Institutional women experienced difficulties as a parent themselves - many put their children in care

Lack of IWM means they lack a reference poit to be able to form relationship with their own child.

Question 6

childhood friendship study

Answer 6

Minnesota child - parent study

Supports Bowlby continuity finding a relationship between early attachment and layer social and behaviour

Securely attached infants have higher expectations that others are friendly - able to have easier relationships

Question 7

how does attachment affect mental health

Answer 7

Lack of attachment in critical period would result in lack of IWM

Could lead to an attachment disorder of
no preferred attachment
An inability to interact and relate to others
Experience severe neglect or frequent change of caregivers

Question 8

strengths

Answer 8

• Supporting evidence of continuity
  IWM suggests continuity between infant attachment and later relationships
• Longitudinal research supports their findings

Assessed infant attachment types at 1 and found those who were secure → higher social competence and were more expressive and emotionally attached to partners

Question 9

limitations

Answer 9

• Zimmerman - assessed infant attachment type and adolescent attachment to parents

Little relationship between quality of infant and adolescent attachment
Issue as not what would be expected if IWM were important in development Early attachment on later attachment

• Issues of validity
  Most studies of attachment to primary caregiver and other significant people do not make use of the strange situation but assess interviews or questionnaires in later years.

Creates validity problems
Self report techniques ie questionnaires and interviews is limited because they depend on honest and realistic views on own relationships

SO being reliant on recollection from ones early attachment lacks validity

• Issue with retrospective research
  HAZAN AND SHAVER - ppt asked questions about early life but these recollections may not be accurate
• Association does not mean causality
  Research involves correlations lacking causational evidence so unable to claim that later relationships is one cause and affect

Alternative explanations exist ie
parental style may have a direct effect on attachment and ability to form relationships with others

Temperament may influence both infant and quality of later relationships
This limitation as it is counter to Bowlby’s view of the internal working model caused these later outcomes

• Highly deterministic
  As is correlational - can be seen as too prescribed and lacking consideration of other variables → is it doomed if not secure attachment
  → many do go own to have happy relationships despite not having one in infancy