Influence of Early Attachment on Relationships* Flashcards
What is the internal working model according to Bowlby?
When a child forms their first relationship with a primary caregiver they form a mental representation of that relationship which they then use as a template for future relationships.
Why is forming a first attachment crucial regarding the internal working model?
Internal working model acts as a template for all future attachments.
Secure primary attachments lead to better quality future attachments (Hazan and Shaver).
What did Myron-Wilson and Smith study?
The relationship between quality of early attachment and the quality of peer relationships as a child (using bullying to operationalise this).
Outline Myron-Wilson and Smith’s procedure.
- Sample: 196 children ages 7-11 from south-east London primary school.
- Separation Anxiety Test and a Parenting Styles Questionnaire was used to assess the quality of their relationship with their
parents. - The pps would then complete the Participant Roles Scale which separated their peers into either bully, victim of bully or uninvolved in bullying.
What did Myron-Wilson and Smith find?
Secure attachment = unlikely to be involved in bullying.
Insecure Avoidant = most likely to be victims of bullying.
Insecure Resistant = most likely to be bullies.
What does Myron-Wilson and Smith’s study support?
The IWM and continuity hypothesis (monotropic theory) - suggesting there is a link between quality of early attachment and quality of peer relationships as a child.
What does the continuity hypothesis state?
There is a link between the quality of the first attachment and the quality of future relationships.
What did Hazan and Shavers study?
They investigated Bowlby’s claim that early attachment styles would be reflected in adult romantic relationships.
What was Hazan and Shaver’s sample?
- Analysed 620 responses (205 males 415 females) to a ‘love quiz’ in a North American newspaper.
- Questionnaire asked pps to chose one of three statements that best described their feelings about romantic relationships.
- Also asked to complete a checklist describing childhood relationships with parents.
What did Hazan and Shaver find about attachment types in relations to Ainsworth? What does this mean?
The types of attachments displayed reflected the same proportions as Ainsworth (Secure - 56%, insecure avoidant - 25%, insecure resistant - 19%).
Supporting Ainsworth’s study
Also supports the accuracy of the statements in the ‘love quiz’ - they accurately reflect the attachment types.
What were Hazan and Shaver’s findings?
- 56% of adults with a secure attachment described their love experience as happy, friendly and trusting.
- 25% of insecure avoidant were doubtful of the existence or duration of romantic love - they claimed they didn’t need love partners to be happy.
- 19% of insecure resistant tended to fall in love easily, demonstrated jealousy and worries their partners might abandon them.
What did Hazan and Shaver find regarding sensitivity shown by mothers?
Found a correlation between attachment type and the sensitivity shown by the mothers based on their memories of parenting styles.
What conclusions can be drawn from Hazan and Shaver’s study?
Good quality primary attachment leads to good quality future attachments, supporting the IWM and continuity hypothesis.
Give two advantages of the influence of early attachments on adult relationships (Hazan and Shaver).
Advantages:
- Supporting evidence that an infant’s first attachment forms a mental representation - e.g. Simpson et al. - longitudinal study - assessed attachment at age 1 - gave questionnaires at age 23 - those with secure attachments regarded their friendships as close and their romantic relationships as loving and harmonious.
- Findings from Hazan and Shaver’s study support the accuracy of their methodology - e.g. the proportions of the three attachment types were highly similar to those found by Ainsworth - suggesting the three statements on the ‘love quiz’ were reliable and valid predictors of attachment type.
Give two disadvantages of the influence of early attachment on relationships (Myron-Wilson and Smith).
Disadvantages:
- Contradictory suggestions - e.g. Zimmerman - life events often altered secure attachments to an insecure attachment in adulthood - early attachments are not a good predictor - Waters - 44% of those who had experienced negative life events changed their attachment to become insecure in adulthood - lack of causation.
- Ethnocentric sample - 196 children from South-East London - cannot generalise to other areas of the UK, let alone the world. - East London is known for having a high concentration of BAMEs - e.g. Newham - 29% white.
