influence of early attachment on later relationships

Question 1

who suggested that a baby’s first relationship with their primary attachment figure leads to a mental representation of this relationship

Answer 1

bowlby (1969)

Question 2

what does the internal working model act as

Answer 2

template for future childhood & adult relationships

Question 3

what leads to an individual having fulfilling & functional relationships

Answer 3

the quality of a babies first attachment must be of a loving relationship with a reliable attachment figure

Question 4

who created the ‘love quiz’

Answer 4

hazan & shaver 1987

Question 5

aim of hazar & shaver 1987

Answer 5

to investigate if there was a correlation between an infant’s early attachment type & their future approach to romantic relationships

Question 6

procedure of hazar & shaver 1987

Answer 6

• developed love quiz consisting of 2 components:
  1. measure of attachment type = simple adjective checklist of childhood relationships w/ parents & parents’ relationship
  2. love experience questionnaire = assessed individual beliefs on romantic love eg. if lasted forever
• printed in local newspaper (‘rocky mountain news’) & readers sent responses
• analysed first 620 replies from people aged 14-82
• classified respondents accorded to mary ainsworth’s attachment types & looked for corresponding adult love styles

Question 7

findings for securely attached (type B) of hazar & shaver 1987

Answer 7

• love experiences described as happy, friendly & trusting
• accept partner regardless of faults
• more enduring relationships
• initial passion reappears time-to-time
• ‘romantic love’ never fades
• happy to be dependent on others/depended on
• happy to be close to others

Question 8

findings for insecure-avoidant (type A) of hazar & shaver 1987

Answer 8

• feared intimacy
• emotional highs/lows
• jealous
• believed they didn’t need love to be happy
• uncomfortable being close &/or depending on others

Question 9

findings for insecure-resistant (type C) of hazar & shaver 1987

Answer 9

• love was involving obsession
• desire for reciprocation
• emotional highs/lows
• extreme sexual attraction & jealousy
• worry that partners didn’t love them/would abandon them
• desire for intense closeness could frighten others away

Question 10

conclusion of hazar & shaver 1987

Answer 10

evidence to support the concept of internal working model having a life-long impact. however, they concluded that not everyone stayed true to their infant attachment style & some people grew as they got older.

Question 11

kerns (1994)

Answer 11

securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached babies later have friendship difficulties

Question 12

myron-wilson & smith (1998) procedure & results

Answer 12

bullying behaviour can be predicted by attachment type
procedure:
- assessed attachment type & bullying involvement using standard questionnaires
- 196 children aged 7-11 from london
results:
- secure children unlikely to be involved in bullying
- insecure-avoidant children most likely to be victims
- insecure-resistant children most likely to be bullies

Question 13

which 2 major adult experiences does the IWW effect

Answer 13

• romantic relationships
• parental relationships w/ own children

Question 14

who completed another study on the affect of IWW on adult relationships (other than hazan & shaver 1987)

Answer 14

McCarthy (1999)

Question 15

procedure of mccarthy (1999)

Answer 15

• studied 40 adult women who’d been assessed as babies to establish attachment type

Question 16

results of mccarthy (1999)

Answer 16

• those assessed as securely-attached had best adult friendships & romantic relationships
• those classed as insecure-resistant had problems maintaining friendships
• those classed as insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships

Question 17

who completed a study on the affect of IWW on the ability to parent their own children

Answer 17

bailey et al. 2007

Question 18

procedure of bailey et al. 2007

Answer 18

• considered attachments of 99 mothers to their babies & own mothers
• mother-baby attachment assessed via strange situation
• mother-mother attachment assessed via adult attachment interview

Question 19

results of bailey et al. 2007

Answer 19

• majority of women had same attachment type as their babies & mothers

Question 20

AO3

Answer 20

+)
P: research support for research into attachment & later relationships
E: reviews of studies linking attachment to later development (eg. fearon & roisman 2017) have concluded early attachment consistently predicts later attachment, emotional well-being & attachment to own children. the strength of the relationship between early attachment type & later development depends on which attachment type & aspects of later development. even though insecure-avoidant attachment doesn’t show many disadvantages for development, disorganised attachment is strongly associated with later mental disorders.
T: secure attachment as a baby seemingly conveys advantages for future development whilst disorganised attachments may be seriously disadvantageous to children
COUNTERPOINT
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P: not all evidence supports existence of close links between early attachment & later development
E: regensburg longitudinal study (becker-stoll et al. 2008) followed 43 individuals from 1 year old. at age 16, attachment was assessed using adult attachment interview & there was no evidence of continuity
T: it’s not clear to what extent the quality of early attachment really predicts later development - may be other important factors

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P: early attachment assessed retrospectively
E: most research on link between early attachment & later development aren’t longitudinal. instead, researchers usually ask adolescent/adult participants about their relationships with parents & identify attachment type. this causes 2 validity problems - for example, asking questions relies on honesty & accurate perception of participant. secondly, it’s very hard to know whether what is being assessed is early attachment or adult attachment.
T: measures of early attachment used in most studies may be confounded by other factors making them meaningless

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P: confounding variables
E: some studies assess attachment in infancy (eg. mccarthy) meaning assessment of early attachment is valid. however, these studies may have validity problems due to associations between attachment quality & later development being confounded. for example, parenting style may influence attachment quality & later development. on the other hand, genetically-influenced personality may be an influence on both factors
T: we can never be entirely sure it’s early attachment & not other factors influencing later development

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P: alternative explanations
E: temperament hypothesis (kagan 1982) argues some infants are born with an innate personality making them more friendly & so it’s easier for the mother/caregiver to be caring & nurturing whereas, other infants may have difficult personalities that will make it less likely for the mother to want to comfort them
T: thus, early attachment type may not be a valid explanation for impacts on later adult relationships