Influence Of Early Attachment On Later Relationships Flashcards
What is the attachment theory in early relationships
(Friendships)
A psychologist found that the attachment type in a child can impact the quality of peer relationships
Securely attachment children (formed from caregivers who are responsive and consistent) will make the “best quality” childhood friendships, and have healthy, trustworthy relationships
Insecurely attachment children (formed from caregivers who are neglectful and unresponsive) will tend to have difficulties with forming relationships
Bowlines theory on early relationships
Bowlby proposed that children create an internal working model based on their interactions on caregivers.
Bowlby’s concept of the “monotropy” principle suggests that one primary attachment figure, typically the mother, is the most influential in a child’s early development. The nature of this bond has a significant impact on the child’s ability to develop social and emotional competence in later relationships.
How does early attachment affect bulling
A psychologist suggested that bulling can be predicted by the attachment type of the child
They gave 186 children from London (aged 7-11) a questionnaire that assessed both their attachment type of bulling
Results showed that:
Secure attachment = unlikely to be invloved with bulling
Insecure-avoidant = likely to be the victim
Insecure-resistant = likely to be the bully
How does early attachment affect adult relationships
A psychologist studied 40 adult women, when they were babied to establish their attachment type and then observed their adult relationships
Secure= best adult relationships
Insecure-resistant = struggle to maintain their relationship
How does early attachment affect romantic relationships
Psychologist conducted a study called the ‘love quiz’ where he looked into the association between attachment and their relationship as an adult
They analysed 620 reply and printed this into a local American newspaper, the quiz had 3 sections
1. Assessing their most current/recent relationship
2. General love experiences (amount of partners)
3. Assessing their attachment type as
Results from the love quiz
Secure adults Avoidant adults Resistant adults
Different love experiences Positive relationships Fearful of closeness Preoccupied by love
Adult views on relationships Trust others and believe Love isn’t necessary. Fall in love easily but struggle to maintain
In enduring love. For happiness
Memories of mother Positive images Mothers were cold Conflicting messages of them being
In childhood And rejecting Positive and rejecting
Strength evaluation
P-strong supporting evidence
E- there are many studies that link attachment to later development and suggest that attachment does impact later relationships
E-predictive validity due to the supporting research findings
P- Improve later relationships
E- Attachment in childhood doesn’t determine our future relationships but it does increase the likely hood
E- knowing their attachment we can intervene to help their development in relationships
Limitation evaluation
P- possibility for data collected to be inaccurate
E-many of the assessments used to identify their attachment type were self reported therefore giving the participants the opportunity for social desirability bias
E- they are more likely to identify/ tell them about their positive relationships
P- retrospective
E-these questionnaires are asking the participants about their childhood to assess their attachment type as an infant
E-poor memory could lead to inaccurate data decreasing the validity
