Influence of Early Attachments on Later Relationships Flashcards
What did Bowlby suggest about the influence of early attachments on later relationships?
Internal Working Model
That a child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver which become a template for future relationships
What did Glaser (2006) do and find?
Used a longitudinal study to find a link between early attachments and later social/emotional behaviour
Secure = more independence, ambitious
Avoidant = aggressiveness
Resistant = higher anxiety & withdrawn behaviour
How can the quality of first attachment affect future relationships?
Loving first attachment = functional relationships
Bad first attachment = struggle to form relationships
What are the 2 aspects of the influence of early attachments?
Childhood relationships
Adult relationships
Who performed studies on the influence of attachments on childhood relationships?
Sroufe et al (2005) - Minnesota child-parent study - development in school
Myron-Wilson & Smith (1998) - bullying
What did Sroufe et al (2005) find in his Minnesota child-parent study?
Found continuity between early attachments & later emotional/social behaviour
Securely attached infants were, during childhood:
- higher social competence
- Less isolated & more popular
- More empathetic
How can Sroufe et al’s (Minnesota) findings be explained?
Explained with the IWN as securely attached infants have higher expectations that others are friendly & trusting which makes it easier to form relationships
What did Myron-Wilson & Smith (1998) do?
Assessed attachment type & bullying involvement using questionnaires
Securely attached = not involved
Insecure-avoidant = victims
Insecure-resistant = bullies
What are the strengths of the influence of attachments on childhood relationships?
Research support
- Minnesota study (2005)
- Myron-Wilson & Smith (1998)
Minnesota study is longitudinal - lower chance of confounding variables - higher validity
What is the weakness of the influence of attachment on childhood relationships?
Flawed Methodology- Myron-Wilson & Smith sued a questionnaire to get data
- Social desirability bias
- Participants may have lied about the bullying
What is the main study showing the influence of attachments on adult relationships?
Hazan & Shaver (1987)
What did Hazan & Shaver do?
Created a love quiz in an American newspaper which asked questions about current attachments and previous attachments
What were the results of Hazan & Shaver’s study (1987)?
Over half were securely attached and had happier and longer-lasting relationships - could easily rely on others & form relationships
Insecure-avoidant participants doubted the existence of love and tended to be jealous - difficult depending on others
Both insecure types were vulnerable to loneliness
Insecure resistant worried about whether their partners truly loved them or not
What are the conclusions made from Hazan & Shaver’s study (1987)?
Similar distribution of attachments to strange situation studies
Correlation between adult attachments & their attachment during infancy is similar to Ainsworth’s findings where children attachment styles correlated with sensitivity shown by mothers
What behaviours are influenced by the internal working model?
Childhood friendships/development (Minnesota child-parent study)
Poor parenting (Harlow & Quinton)
Romantic relationships (Hazan & Shaver)
What are the weaknesses of the influence of early attachments on later relationships?
Evidence on continuity is mixed
Most supporting studies measuring the IWM lack validity (self-report)
Association doesn’t not mean causation - 3rd variable = temperament of child or parenting style
Influence of early attachments is probabilistic, not definite
How is evidence on continuity mixed?
IWM predicts continuity based on infant attachment however, researchers such as Zimmerman (2000) found little relationship between infant & adult attachments
How is the influence of early attachments probabilistic and not definite?
Researchers may have exaggerated
Clark & Clark (1998) said that people aren’t doomed to have bad relationships in the future due to bad infancy attachments
What are the 2 consequences of the Internal Working Model?
- Short term term = gives the child insight into the caregiver’s behaviour & enables the child to influence the caregiver’s behaviour - partnership
- Long term - acts as a template for all future relationships because it generates expectations about what intimate, loving relationships are like
