Influence of early attachment evaluation

Question 1

Name one limitation of the influence of early attachment

Answer 1

It is deterministic. For example, the research conducted by Hazan and Shaver suggest that very early experiences have a fixed effect on later adult relationships : children who are insecurely avoidant at an age of two are doomed to experience emotionally unavailable relationships. This is not the case as researchers have found evidence to suggest participants have experienced happy adult relationships despite not being securely attached as an infant

Question 2

Name an evaluation point

Answer 2

There are other explanations. Feeny in 1999 argues that adult attachment is linked to the property of the relationship rather than the individual. Feeny argues that adult relationships are a product of a self-verification process - the tendency to seek others who confirm your expectations of relationships. Therefore it is the adult secure relationship that is causing the adult attachment type

Question 3

Name an evaluation point

Answer 3

One limitation is that not all researchers have found a positive correlation between early attachment and later relationships. Fraley in 2002 conducted a review of 27 samples where infants were assessed in infancy and then later reassessed ranging from one month to 20 years later. He found correlations ranging from .50 to as low as .10. Fraley suggested that one reason as to why correlations were low is due to the fact that insecure-resistant attachment is more unstable.

Question 4

Name an evaluation point

Answer 4

One criticism of early attachment is the use of retrospective classification. When adults are asked questions about their childhood they are likely to be flawed because our memories are not always accurate.

Question 5

Name an evaluation point

Answer 5

Longitudinal studies support Hazan and Shaver’s findings. For example, Simpson et al in 2007 found that participants who were classified as securely attached infants were rated as having higher social competence as children, were closer to friends at age 16 and were more expressive and emotionally attached to their romantic partners in early adulthood. This supports that notion that early attachment does indeed affect later attachment types