Influence of early attachment on later relationships Flashcards
Influence of early attachment on later relationships
Internal working model
Person
Bowlby (1969)
Influence of early attachment on later relationships
Internal working model
└Bowlby (1969)- child having first relationship with primary attachment figure forms mental representation of relationship that acts as a template for future relationships
└A or C attachment types struggle with relationships with partners/children
Relationships in later childhood
People
Kerns (1994)
Smith and Wilson (1998)
Relationships in later childhood
└Kerns (1994)- securely attached have best friendships, insecurely have worst
└Smith and Wilson (1998)- secure not involved in bullying. Insecure avoidant= victims. Insecure resistant=bullies
Relationships in adulthood with romantic partners
Person
McCarthy (1999)
Relationships in adulthood with romantic partners
McCarthy (1999)
└study of attachment and both romantic relationships and friendships
└studied 40 adult women who were assessed as infants to establish their early attachment type
└secure= best both
└insecure resistant= bad at friendships (maintaining)
└insecure avoidant= bad at relationships (intimacy)
Relationships in adulthood with romantic partners love quiz
Person
└Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver (1987)
└620 replies to love quiz in newspaper- America
Findings
└56%- secure
└good and longer lasting romantic experiences
└25% insecure avoidant
└jealousy and fear of intimacy
└19% insecure resistant
└findings suggest patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships
Relationships in adulthood as a parent
└internal working models affect the child’s ability to parent own children
└people tend to base their parenting style on their internal working model so attachment type tends to be passed on through generations
Relationships in adulthood as a parent study
Person
Bailey et al (2007)
Relationships in adulthood as a parent study
└Bailey et al (2007)
└considered the attachments of 99 mothers to their babies and their own mothers
└mother-baby attachment assessed using strange situation
└mother-own mother attachment assessed using adult attachment interview
└most women had same attachment classification both to their babies and their won mothers
Influence of early attachment on later relationships
Limitations
Summary
Mixed evidence on continuity of attachment type – McCarthy, Zimmerman (2000)
Low validity of studies
Correlation doesn’t mean causation
Influence of early attachment is probabilistic- Bowlby, Anne and Alan Clarke (1998)
Self-report is conscious but internal working models aren’t
Influence of early attachment on later relationships
Limitations
Mixed evidence on continuity of attachment type
└internal working models predict the continuity between the security of an infant’s attachment and that of its later relationships (e.g. attachment type)
└McCarthy study supports continuity therefore supports IWMs
└Zimmerman (2000) doesn’t support
└assessed infant attachment type and adolescent attachment to parents
└found very little relationship between the quality of infant and adolescent attachment
Influence of early attachment on later relationships
Limitations
Low validity of studies
└most studies of attachment don’t use the strange situation, instead they use an interview or questionnaire to assess quality of attachment (older)
└self-report techniques less valid as rely on respondents being honest and having a realistic view of their own relationships
└retrospective nature of assessment of infant attachment
└low accuracy as looking back in adulthood to early relationships with primary attachment figure relies on accurate recollections
Influence of early attachment on later relationships
Limitations
Correlation doesn’t mean causation
└studies where infant attachment type is associated with the quality of later relationships implies that infant attachment type causes the attachment
└alternate explanations for the continuity between infant and later relationships
└3rd environmental factor like parenting style
└might have direct effect on attachment and child’s ability to form relationships with others
└temperament may influence both infant attachment and quality of later relationships
Influence of early attachment on later relationships
Limitations
Influence of early attachment is probabilistic
└it’s likely that quality of infant attachments influences later relationships
└attachment researchers e.g. Bowlby probably exaggerated significance of this influence
└Anne and Alan Clarke (1998)
└describe the influence of early attachment as probabilistic
└not definite, just have a greater risk of later problems
└more of an issue as too pessimistic about peoples futures
