influence of early attachment on later relationships Flashcards
what did bowlby suggest an internal working model was?
the idea that a baby’s first relationship with their primary attachment figure leads to a mental representation of this relationship
why is the quality of a baby’s first attachment crucial?
because it affects the nature of their future relationships
- a baby whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable attachment figure will tend to assume this is how relationships are meant to be and so seek out functional relationships
- children with bad first experiences with their first attachment figure may struggle to form relationships in the first place, or may not behave appropriately within relationships
what did kerns (1994) find?
- securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships
- insecurely attached babies later have friendship difficulties
how can bullying behaviour be predicted by attachment type?
- myron-wilson and smith (1998) assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using standard questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from london
- secure children were very unlikely to be involved in bullying
- insecure-avoidant children were most likely to be victims
- insecure-resistant children were most likely to be bullies
what two major adult experiences do internal working models affect?
romantic relationships and parental relationships with your own children
what was the procedure of hazan and shaver’s (1987) love quiz?
- analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’ printed in an american local newspaper
3 sections:
1. assessed respondents’ current or most important relationship
2. assessed general love experiences such as number of partners
3. assessed attachment type by asking respondents to choose which of the three statements best described their feelings
what were the findings and conclusions of hazan and shaver’s (1987) love quiz?
- 56% of respondents were identified as securely attached
- 25% insecure-avoidant
- 19% insecure-resistant
- those reporting secure attachments were most likely to have good and longer-lasting romantic experiences
- avoidant respondents tended to reveal jealously and fear of intimacy
- these findings suggest that patters of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships
what did gerard mccarthy (1999) study?
- 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were babies to establish their early attachment type
- those assessed as securely attached babies had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships
- those assessed as insecure-resistant as babies had particular problems maintaining friendships
- those classed as insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships
how do internal working models affect the child’s ability to parent their own children?
people tend to base their parenting style on their internal working model so attachment type tends to be passed on through generations of a family
what did heidi bailey et al (2007) find?
- they considered the attachments of 99 mothers to their babies and to their own mothers
- mother-baby attachment was assessed using strange situation
- mother’s attachment to own mother was assessed using an adult attachment interview
- majority of women had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers
evaluation: research support
- fearon and roisman (2017) reviewed studies linking attachment to later development
- they found that early attachment consistently predicts: later attachment, emotional well-being and attachment to own children
- insecure-avoidant attachment = fairly mild disadvantages for any aspect of development
- disorganised attachment is strongly linked with later mental disorder
- secure attachment as a baby = advantages for future development
- disorganised attachment appears to seriously disadvantage children
evaluation: not all evidence supports the existence of close links between early attachment and later development
- regensburg longitudinal study (becker-stoll et al. 2008) followed 43 individuals from one year of age
- at age 16, attachment was assessed using the adult attachment interview and there was no evidence of continuity
- it is not clear to what extent the quality of early attachment really predicts later development; there may be other factors
evaluation: validity issues with retrospective studies
- most research is not longitudinal (ie. they don’t assess attachment early in life and then revisit same person later)
- researchers usually ask adolescent or adult participants questions about their relationship with parents and identify attachment type from this
- this causes 2 validity problems
> asking questions relies on the honesty and accurate perception of the participants
> it is very hard to know whether what is being assessed is early attachment or adult attachment (eg. regensburg study)
evaluation: confounding variables
- some studies do assess attachment in infancy (eg. mccarthy) which means that it is valid
- even these studies may have validity problems as associations between attachment quality and later development may be affected by confounding variables
> parenting style may influence both attachment quality and later development - genetically-influenced personality may be an influence on both factors
- we can never be entirely sure that it is early attachment and not some other factor that is influencing later development
evaluation: balancing opportunity and risk
- influence of early attachment is probabilistic (clarke and clarke 1998)
- insure attachment does not invariably cause increased risk of later developmental problems
- a whole host of other factors may also be involved
- by knowing someone’s attachment status we have an opportunity to intervene and help their development
- we may also become too pessimistic and create a self-fulfilling prophecy
