Influence of early attachments on later relationships

Question 1

explain the internal working model

Answer 1

Bowlby suggested that a child having their first relationship with their primary attachment figure forms a mental representation of this relationship. This internal working model acts as a template for future relationships. The quality of the childs first attachment is therefore crucial as this template will powerfully affect the nature of their future relationships.

Question 2

What are attachment types associated with?

Answer 2

the quality of peer relationships in childhood

Question 3

which infants tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships?

Answer 3

securely attached infants

Question 4

which infants later have friendship difficulties?

Answer 4

insecurely attached infants

Question 5

Who’s most likely to be a bully, a victim an least likely to be involved in bullying?

Answer 5

secure children were very unlikely to be involved in bullying
insecure-avoidant=victims
insecure-resistant=bullies

Question 6

Relationships in adulthood as a parent

Answer 6

internal working models also affect the child’s ability to parent their own children. people tend to base their parenting style based on their internal working model so attachment types tends to be passed on through generations of a family.

Question 7

Bailey et al.’s study

Answer 7

considered the attachments of 99 mothers to their babies and to their own mothers. Mother-baby attachment was assessed using the Strange Situation and mother-own mother attachment was assessed using an adult attachment interview. The majority of women had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers.

Question 8

AO3- association does not mean casuality

Answer 8

In those studies where infant attachment type is associated with the quality of later relationships the implication is that infant attachment type causes the attachment. However, there are alternative explanations that exist such as a third environmental factor -parenting style which might have a direct effect on both attachment and the child’s ability to form relationships.

Question 9

AO3- the influence of early attachment is probabilistic

Answer 9

It does seem very likely that the quality of infant attachments is an influence on later relationships. However, some attachment researchers, including Bowlby, have probably exaggerated the significance of this influence. Clarke and Clarke describe the influence of infant attachment on later relationships as probabilistic. People are not doomed to always have bad relationships just because they had attachment problems. They just have a greater risk of problems. There is further issue that by emphasising this risk we become too pessimistic about people’s futures.

Question 10

AO3-self-report is conscious but internal working models are not

Answer 10

There is a theoretical problem with most research related to internal working models. Internal working models are unconscious; we are not directly aware of their influence on us. We wouldn’t expect to get direct evidence about them by means of interviews or questionnaires because people can only self-report what they are aware of. When people self-report they are relying on their conscious understanding of those relationships. At best the self-report gives us indirect evidence about internal working models. This is a potential limitation of most research involving the concept of internal working models.