Influence of early attachments on later relationships

Question 1

What are the evaluations for influence of early attachment on later relationships?

Answer 1

Research support (McCarthy)
Counter (Zimmerman)
Validity issues
Deterministic
Main et al

Question 2

McCarthy

Answer 2

McCarthy assessed 40 adult women who had been assessed in childhood to establish their early attachment type. Those assessed as securely attached babies had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships. Adults classed as insecure-resistant as babies had particular problems maintaining friendships whilst those classed as insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships.

Question 3

Zimmerman study

Answer 3

Carried out a longitudinal study of 44 children in Germany.
Their attachment type as children was initially assessed between 12-18 months through response to separation and strangers.
Re-assessed at 16 years old using interviews focusing on their relationship with their parents.

Question 4

Zimmerman findings

Answer 4

Childhood attachment type was not a good predictor of attachments in adolescence, and that life events often altered secure attachments to an insecure attachment in adulthood.

Question 5

Validity issues

Answer 5

For example, many assessments of early attachments and current day attachments rely on the use of questionnaires and interviews
- data is retrospective [may be hard to accurately remember attachment to parents]
- there is a high chance that the data being collected in these studies is inaccurate
- ppts may not be a honest / might not have a realistic view of their relationships.

Question 6

Deterministic

Answer 6

Suggests that children who are insecurely attached during infancy are condemned to unsatisfactory relationships as adults. This is not always the case.

continuity decreases as individuals’ progress further into adulthood. The average person participates in several important friendships and romantic relationships, providing opportunities for revising mental models of self and others.

Question 7

Main et al

Answer 7

some adults who were insecure in their relationships with their parents produced securely attached children.
They had mentally worked through their unpleasant experiences and now had mental models of relationships more typical of the securely attached. This suggests the idea of an Internal Working Model is not as rigid as Bowlby first believed.

Question 8

However, a problem with research assessing the Internal Working Model is that association between early and later life attachments does not always mean causality.

Answer 8

there are alternative explanations for the continuity
A third environmental factor such as parenting style might have a direct effect on both attachment and the child’s ability to form relationships with others.
Alternatively, the child’s temperament may influence both infant attachment and the quality of later life relationships.