Effects of early childhood on future romantic relationships

Question 1

Parent-child relationships:

Study/ theory: Hazan and Shaver et al

Answer 1

Shaver et al. outlined three systems that are acquired during infancy which are related to adult relationships.
1) The first is the attachment system which is related to the internal working model where
aspects of an early attachment style continue to affect the later relationships during adulthood.
This is due to the infant’s primary attachment figure causing the child to develop a particular internal
working model of relationships, leading the infant to expect in later life that it will have similar
relationships to that of their relationship with their attachment figure.
2) Additionally the child will eventually model the caregiving behaviour of the attachment figure from
whom they will obtain knowledge about how to care for the person they are in the relationship with.
3) A sexuality system also relates to their early attachment style, where for example an avoidant
relationship may result in them finding it pleasurable to have sex without the involvement of love.

Question 2

Shaver et al: What is the first system acquired during infancy?

Answer 2

The internal working model= aspects of early attachment with the primary caregiver continue to affect later relationships depending on how good the attachment was

Question 3

Shaver et al: what is the second system acquired during infancy?

Answer 3

the child will eventually model the care giving behaviour of the attachment figure from whom they will obtain knowledge on how to care for someone in a relationship

Question 4

Shaver et al: What is the third system acquired during infancy?

Answer 4

A sexuality system also relates to their early attachment style, where for example an avoidant
relationship may result in them finding it pleasurable to have sex without the involvement of love.

Question 5

Support study: Fraley (1998)

Answer 5

Meta-analysis displayed
correlations between early attachment types and
later relationships ranging from 0.1 to 0.5. Even
though there was variability in the correlations,
this is likely to be caused by the insecure anxious
attachment type bringing about unstable
behaviour, making it more difficult to record
accurately

Question 6

Support study: Kirkpatrick and Hazan (1994)

Answer 6

Relationship breakups
are associated with a shift from secure to
insecure attachments with significant early
relationship experiences affecting current
attachment types.

Question 7

Support Study: Simpson et al (2007)

Answer 7

earlier social development
may affect the expression of emotions in adult
romantic relationships. This study was longitudinal
displaying an effective causal relationship where
the effects of childhood experiences were
observed over time.

Question 8

Disavantages of the early childhood attachment effects later relationships theory

Answer 8

Population bias: only US citizens
included who are not representative of the
parent-child relationships in other cultures,
making it difficult to generalise reliably from
such results.

Beta bias: gender differences between how
males and females are influenced by parents in
future relationships is not considered, where the
effects are assumed to be the same for both
genders.

It could be that the attachment type is
determined by the current relationship, where
for example happily married couples develop
secure attachments.

Only nurture considered: effect of nature upon
future relationships is ignored. Influence of
hormones and differences in brain structures
could affect their behaviour within relationships
at particular times in their lives.