Influence of early attachment on later relationships Flashcards
What is the internal working model?
A mental representation of their first relationship as a child, this acts as a template for future relationships.
What is the continuity hypothesis?
The (internal working) model predicts that there si continuity between the security of an infants’ attachment and that of later attachments.
The internal working model predicts that if a child’s first experience of a relationship is a loving one then what will happen for their adult relationships?
Their future attachments will be loving.
The internal working model predicts that if a child’s first experience of a relationship is a poor one then what will happen for their adult relationships?
Their future attachments will be poor.
How does attachment type affect relationships in later childhood?
Kerns (1994) - Securely attached infants tend to go on to form the most quality childhood friendships whereas insecure attached infants later have more difficulties.
Which aspects of later childhood friendships can be most predictable?
Bullying, Smith (1980) found secure children were unlikely to be involved in bullying, insecure-avoidant children were likely to suffer from bullying and insecure-resistant children were likely to be the bullies.
Smith (1980) found that which infant attachment type is least likely to be involved in bullying issues?
Secure, (Type B).
Smith (1980) found that which infant attachment type is most likely to be a bully in later childhood?
Insecure-resistant, (Type C).
Smith (1980) found that which infant attachment type is most likely to be bullied in later childhood?
Insecure-avoidant, (Type A).
How did Smith (1980) investigate the effects of attachment type on later childhood relationships?
He used standardised questionnaires on 196 children aged between 7 and 11 from London.
Kerns (1994) found that which infant attachment type is most likely to form the best childhood friendships?
Secure attachments.
Kerns (1994) found that which infant attachment type is most likely to form the worst childhood friendships?
Insecure attachments.
Who conducted a study on the influence of early attachment on adult romantic relationships?
Gerard McCarthy (1999).
Describe the procedure of McCarthy (1999):
Studied 40 adult women who had been assessed in their attachment as an infant.
What were the findings of McCarthy (1999)?
Those who had been categorised as secure attachments had the best adult romantic relationships, those classified as insecure-resistant struggled with maintaining friendships and those classified as insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships.
McCarthy (1999) found that which attachment type had the best romantic and adult relationships?
Secure, (Type B).
McCarthy (1999) found that which attachment type had maintaining friendships in their adult relationships?
Insecure-resistant, (Type C).
McCarthy (1999) found that which attachment type had intimacy in their adult relationships?
Insecure-avoidant, (Type A).
Who conducted the ‘love quiz’?
Hazan and Shaver (1987).
Describe the procedure adopted by Hazan and Shaver (1987):
They analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’ printed in an American magazine, the quiz had three sections; current relationships, general love experiences and their feelings.
What were the findings of Hazan and Shaver (1987)?
56% of respondents identified as securely attached with 25% insecure-avoidant and 19% insecure-resistant. Secure were most likely good long-lasting relationships, avoidant respondents tended to reveal jealousy and fear intimacy.
What did Hazan and Shaver find about securely attached adults in adult relationships?
- Held certain beliefs (love is enduring),
- Reported certain experiences (mutual trust),
- Less likely to become divorced.
What did Hazan and Shaver find about insecurely attached adults in adult relationships?
- Felt true love was rare,
- Fell in and out of love easily,
- Found relationships hard,
- More likely to become divorced.
Hazan and Shaver found that which type of attachment type was preoccupied by love?
Insecure-resistant, (Type C).
Hazan and Shaver found that which type of attachment type held a fear of closeness and intimacy?
Insecure-avoidant, (Type A).
Hazan and Shaver found that which type of attachment type held the view that relationships are a positive thing?
Secure, (Type B).
Hazan and Shaver found that which type of attachment type tended to fall in love easily but have trouble finding true love?
Insecure-resistant, (Type C).
Hazan and Shaver found that which type of attachment type tended to adopt the idea that love is not durable, nor is it required for happiness?
Insecure-avoidant, (Type A).
Hazan and Shaver found that which type of attachment type tended to remember mothers as cold and rejecting?
Insecure-avoidant, (Type A).
Hazan and Shaver found that which type of attachment type tended to remember their mother as being positive and rejecting?
Insecure-resistant, (Type C).
Hazan and Shaver found that which type of attachment type tended to remember their mother as being dependable and caring?
Secure, (Type B).
Hazan and Shaver found that which type of attachment type tended to trust others and believe in all-enduring love?
Secure, (Type B).
What are the three different parts of the ‘love quiz’?
- Attachment history,
- Adult attachment types,
- Mental models of relationships.
Explain how attachment styles can be handed down through generations:
(Must mention the internal working model!)
People tend to base their parenting style on their internal working model and therefore attachment styles can be carried through generations of a family.
AO3 -Self-report method.
Hazan and Shaver used a self-report questionnaire, this introduced an acquiescence bias and a social desirability bias as participants may desire to show demand characteristics, there are also limited options to answer (A, B and C). The data is also retrospective meaning it is non-reliable memory.
AO3 - Consciousness.
The self-report method is conscious, the internal working model is not. This means that the model is unseeable, unfalsifyable and untestible.
AO3 - Determinism.
The idea that early attachments affect later relationships is heavily deterministic, this means that we have no control or free-will and our choices are pre-determined.
AO3 - Correlation not causation.
Some research appears to show an association between early attachment style and later relationships, however, this is only an association and a causation cannot be drawn as there are many extraneous variables.
