Influencd Of Early Attachment On Later Relationships

Question 1

Childhood relationships def

Answer 1

Affiliations with other people in childhood including friends and class mates, and with adults such as teachers

Question 2

Adults relationships def

Answer 2

Those relationships the child goes on to hav later in life as an adult. These include friendships and working relationships but most critically relationships with romantic partners and the persons own children

Question 3

Internal working model def

Answer 3

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 o what relationships are like

Question 4

Relationships in later childhood research

Answer 4

KERNS 1994
Infants tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached infants later have friendship difficulty

Question 5

Relationships in adulthood with romantic partners research

Answer 5

GERARD MCCARTHY 1999
Procedure- 40 adult women who had been assessed for attachment toe when younger
-those securely attached had the best friend and romantic relationships
-adults insecure resistant has problems maintaining friendships
-love quiz

Findings- 56% of respondents were identified as secure attached with 25% insecure avoidant 19% insecure resistant

PATTERNS OF ATTACHMENT REFLECT ON ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Question 6

Relationships in adulthood as a parent

Answer 6

Internal working models also affect child’s ability to parent their own children. Tend to base parenting style on their internal working model so attachment type tends to be passed through generation of a family
Bailey et al
Mothers had same attachment classification to their babies and own mothers

Question 7

Evaluation- evidence on continuing of attachment type is mixed

Answer 7

Internal working models predict continuity between the secret of an infants attachments and that of its later relationships McCarthy support this

Zimmerman assessed infant attachment type and adolescent attachment to parents. There was very little relationship between quality of infant and adolescent attachment.

Conflict with predictive value of internal working model for development

Question 8

Evaluation - most studies have issues of validity

Answer 8

A problem concerns the retrospective nature of assessment of infant attachment. Looking back in adulthood at ones early relationships to a primary attachment figure probably lacks validity because it relies on accurate recollections

Question 9

Evaluation- association does not mean causality

Answer 9

In those studies where infant attachment type is associated with the quality of later relationships the implication is that infant attachment type causes the attachment. However there are alternative explanations for the continuity. A third environmental factor such as prentjng style might have a direct effect on both attachment and the child’s ability to form relationships with others