**L12 - The Influence of Early Attachment on Adult Relationships Flashcards
what is BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY? - PT 1
BOWLBY argued that INFANTS will have ONE SPECIAL EMOTIONAL BOND; he referred to this as MONTROPY.
this BOND is OFTEN WITH THE BIOLOGICAL MOTHER BUT NOT ALWAYS. The IMPORTANCE OF MONTROPY is that the INFANT USES THIS RELATIONSHIP to FORM a MENTAL VIEW OF RELATIONSHIPS called an INTERNAL WORKING MODEL.
SECURE RELATIONSHIPS in CHILDHOOD ENSURE A POSITIVE WORKING MODEL and means that CURRENT, FUTURE and ROMANTIC ADULT RELATIONSHIPS will be POSITIVE and SECURE
what is BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY? - PT 2
The CONTINUITY HYPOTHESIS proposes that individuals who are SECURELY ATTACHED in INFANCY CONTINUE TO BE SOCIALLY AND EMOTIONALLY COMPETENT .
This is because a SECURE CHILDHOOD
leads to a POSITIVE INTERNAL WORKING MODEL
- SCHAFFER AND EMERSON (EVALUATION OF BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY)
- SCHAFFER AND EMERSON suggest that MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS are MORE COMMON IN BABIES THAN MONTROPY.
They found that BY 18 MONTHS ONLY 13% OF THE INFANTS had ONLY ONE PERSON THEY WERE ATTACHED TO
- ERICA BURMAN (EVALUATION OF BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY)
- FEMINISTS like ERICA BURMAN have pointed out that the IDEA OF MONTROPY is SOCIALLY SENSITIVE.
It places a TERRIBLE BURDEN OF RESPONSIBILITY on MOTHERS, setting them up to TAKE BLAME FOR ANYTHING THAT GOES WRONG in their child’s life.
It also puts pressure on mothers to STAY AT HOME and GIVE UP THEIR CAREERS. BOWLBY also UNDERESTIMATED the ROLE OF THE FATHER - he saw the fathers role as PRIMARILY ECONOMIC.
This is an OUTDATED and SEXIST VIEW, MANY FAMILIES view both parents as EQUALLY RESPONSIBLE for CHILDCARE, and in many families the father is the PRIMARY CAREGIVER
- TIZARD AND HODGES (EVALUATION OF BOWLBY’S MONOTROPIC THEORY)
- TIZARD AND HODGES found that CHILDREN who had NEVER FORMED ANY ATTACHMENTS BY THE AGE OF FOUR, and were THEN ADOPTED, COULD STILL FORM ATTACHMENTS to their NEW ADOPTED PARENTS, even though they WOULD NOT HAVE HAD A POSITIVE INTERNAL WORKING MODEL
what did HAZAN AND SHAVER DO?
HAZAN and SHAVER designed a study to TEST THE CONNECTION BETWEEN a PERSON’S INFANT ATTACHMENT STYLE, THEIR INTERNAL WORKING MODEL, and THEIR ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLE
what was the PROCEDURE of HAZAN and SHAVER’s study?
HAZAN and SHAVER placed a ‘LOVE QUIZ’ in a SMALL TOWN NEWSPAPER. The quiz asked QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR PARENTS (to identify attachment style), ATTITUDES TOWARDS LOVE (to assess their INTERNAL WORKING MIDEL) and their CURRENT EXPERIENCES (to determine their adult attachment style)
They ANALYSED 620 RESPONSES, 205 FROM MEN and 415 FROM WOMEN, from a FAIR CROSS-SECTION OF THE POPULATION
what were the FINDINGS of HAZAN and SHAVER’s study? - PT 1
When analysing ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLE they found that the PREVALENCE OF ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLES was SIMILAR to INFANT ATTACHMENT STYLES.
56% were CLASSIFIED as SECURE, 25% INSECURE AVOIDANT and 19% INSECURE RESISTANT.
This suggests that MOST PEOPLES INFANT ATTACHMENT STYLES are the SAME AS THEIR ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLE
what were the FINDINGS of HAZAN and SHAVER’s study? - PT 2
They also found a RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AN INDIVIDUAL’s INTERNAL WORKING MODEL and their ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLE - adults with a POSITIVE INTERNAL WORKING MODEL tended to be SECURELY ATTACHED ADULTS
Finally, they found a POSITIVE CORRELATION between ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLE and LOVE EXPERIENCES.
what were the FINDINGS of HAZAN and SHAVER’s study? - PT 3
SECURELY ATTACHED ADULTS described their LOVE EXPERIENCES as HAPPY, FRIENDLY and TRUSTING. They emphasised being able to ACCEPT and SUPPORT THEIR PARTNER DESPITE THEIR FAULTS.
These relationships were MOST ENDURING - TEN YEARS ON AVERAGE compared to SIX YEARS FOR AVOIDANT and FIVE YEARS FOR RESISTANT
- UNRELIABLE, FRALEY (EVALUATION OF HAZAN AND SHAVER)
- this study is UNRELIABLE, SEVERAL OTHER STUDIES have FAILED TO FIND THE STRONG CORRELATION BETWEEN INFANT ATTACHMENT STYLE and ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLE.
FRALEY conducted a REVIEW of 27 SAMPLES where INFANTS WERE ASSESSED IN INFANCY and LATER REASSESSED (ranging from one month to 20 years later)
He found CORRELATIONS RANGING from 0.5 to AS LOW as 0.1
- CORRELATIONAL RATHER THAN EXPERIMENTAL (EVALUATION OF HAZAN AND SHAVER)
- this study is CORRELATIONAL rather than EXPERIMENTAL and therefore we CANNOT DETERMINE CAUSE AND EFFECT. It’s impossible to say that infant attachment styles determine adult attachment styles.
It could be that there is a THIRD VARIABLE that AFFECTS BOTH, such as a person’s INNATE TEMPERAMENT
- INVALID (EVALUATION OF HAZAN AND SHAVER)
- this study RELIES ON PARTICIPANTS’ MEMORIES ABOUT THEIR EARLY LIVES in order to ASSESS THEIR INFANT ATTACHMENT STYLE
Such RECOLLECTIONS are LIKELY TO BE FLAWED because our memories of the past are NOT ALWAYS ACCURATE, making the study NOT VALID
