Influence Of Early Attachment

Question 1

Outline bullying involvement study into influence of early attachment on child and adult relationships

Answer 1

Myron-Wilson and Smith
- assessed attachment type and bullying involvement with questionnaires
- 7-11 year olds in London
- found:
secure = unlikely to be involved in bullying
insecure avoidant = likely to be victim of bullying
insecure resistant = likely to bully others

Question 2

Outline 99 mothers study into influence of early attachment on relationships

Answer 2

Bailey 99 mothers
- interviewed mothers about attachment to their mothers, then observed mothers with own child and conducted standardise interviews abt child attachment
- found early attachment and current attachments w children highly correlated
= supports IWM

Question 3

Outline romantic relationship study into early attachments influence on relationships

Answer 3

Love quiz - Hazan and Shaver
- 620 people replied to newspaper quiz, answered 3 sections:
- attachment type in romantic relationship; features of romantic relationships + characteristics of ppt; childhood attachment style

Question 4

What we’re thr findings of the Love Quiz study?

Answer 4

Secure attachment (56%) –> positive relationships; trust others and believe in enduring love; positive image of mother as dependable + caring
Resistant (19%) –> preoccupied by love; fall in love easily but struggle to find true love; conflicting memory of mother as positive + rejecting
Avoidant (25%) –> fearful of closeness; love not durablem not necessary for happiness; remember mothers as cold and rejecting

Question 5

Evaluate methodology of studies into early attachment on relationships

Answer 5

– Retrospective - recall of childhood relationships may be innacurate
– Self report data social desirability bias
– Population validity - bullying study only took place in London
– Conscious recall despite IWM being unconscious

Question 6

Evaluate influence of early attachment on child and adult relationships

Answer 6

– Unfalsifiable IWM is a internal mental process, cannot be directly measured/observed, must make inferences
– Environmentally deterministic states early attachment determines later relationships, ignores power of free will; unrealistic explanation
– Correlational research cannot be sure early attachment causes impact on later relationships ; may be third variable
- Zimmerman found no correlation in child + adolescent attachment, but environmental factors like illness/divorce had greater impact