Influence Of Early Attachment Flashcards
What is an internal working model?
A schema based on a person’s expectations of relationships as a result of their attachment with their primary caregiver.
What are 3 types of relationships in later life that early attachment can have an impact on?
- Romantic Relationships
- Childhood relationships
- Relationship with own child as parents.
Describe a study which has shown a link between romantic relationships and early attachment.
Hazan and Shaver (1987).
Gave participants a “love quiz” which assessed
1. Current/most important relationship
2. Attitudes towards love (assessment of IWM)
3. Current and childhood attachments.
What were the findings of Hazan and Shaver’s study?
A positive correlation between attachment type and experiences of love. Secure attachment= Romantic relationships lasted on average 10 years.
Insecure-resistant= 5 years.
Insecure-avoidant= 6 years.
State 2 studies which have shown a link between childhood relationships and early attachment.
- Minnesota parent-child study
- Myron-Wilson & Smith (1998).
Describe the Minnesota parent-child study (2005).
Followed participants from infancy to late adolescence. Securely attached infants- highest rated for social competence, less isolated and more popular in later childhood.
Describe the study carried out by Myron-Wilson & Smith (1998).
(Myron Wilson & smith have a combined age of 196 and have kids aged 7-11) Assessed link between attachement and bullying by issuing questionnaires to 196 children aged 7-11 from London .
Found secure children= less likely to be involved in bullying.
Insecure-resistant= more likely to be bullies
Insecure-avoidant= more likely to be victims of bullying.
Describe the study which has shown a link between poor parenting and early attachment.
Bailey et al. (2007).
Assessed 99 mothers with 1-year I old baby on quality of attachment using Strange Situation.
Also assessed quality of attachment of mothers with their own mothers when they were a child using an interview (adds to 100)
What were the findings of Bailey et al.’s study?
Mothers who had poor attachments with their own mothers= more likely to have poor attachments with their own child.
2 Strengths (and counter) for early attachment on later relationships
Real-world application:
Understanding how early attachment influences adult relationships can be useful as it can lead to interventions for those with poorer quality relationships with parents.
E.G. Relationship counselling is available to help prevent issues with adult relationships research can lead to
programmes that improve the life of those who may have had insecure attachments as a child.
Research support
McCarthy (1999)- Wanted to see if there was a relationship between an infant’s attachment type and their adult relationships. They found that securely attached
individuals had the best friendships and relationships. This increases the validity and reliability. COUNTER - Zimmerman (2000) longitudinal study of German children. Found that infant attachment type was not a good
predictor of attachments in adolescence.
More important was the impact of life events -
suggests that continuity may only apply when serious life events have not had an impact on the child
2 Limitations (and counter)of early attachment on later relationships
Correlation:
Can’t claim that the relationship between early attachment and later love style is cause and effect as it could be due to other factors.
Use of Questionnaires and interviews:
Depends on the respondent being honest and having a realistic view of their own relationships. Also requires them to be retrospective (look back to early relationships in infancy) which may also lack validity as their memories may not be entirely accurate. COUNTER - Some longitudinal studies have shown results consistent with Hazan and Shaver. Simpson (Simpson, Hazan and Shaver had a threesome) et al (2007): Research investigated participants who were securely attached as infants- found they were rated as having higher social competence as children, were closer to their friends at age 16 and were emotionally attached to their romantic partners in early adulthood. These longitudinal studies support the view that attachment type does predict relationships in adult life u
