L12 - The influence of early attachment on adult relationships

Question 1

What was Bowlby’s monotropic theory and why was it important?

Answer 1

• infants would have one special emotional bond - monotropy - usually with mother not always
• important because infant uses relationship to form mental view of relationships (internal working model)
• secure relationships in childhood = positive working model + means that current (with other children), future (such as those with individual’s own children) and romantic relationships will be positive and secure
• continuity hypothesis proposes that securely attached infants have higher social + emotional competency - because secure childhood lead to positive internal working model

Question 2

What are the weaknesses of Bowlby’s monotropic theory?

Answer 2

• Schaffer + Emerson found that multiple attachment more common in babies than monotropy - found that by 18 months only 13% of infants had only one person they were attached to
• socially sensitive - feminists like Erica Burman poimted out that montropy places burden on mother to take blame for anything that goes wrong in their children’s life + puts pressure on mothers to give up their careers and stay at home - Bowlby also underestimated role of father - saw fathers role as primarily economic - outdated and sexist view - many families view both parents as equally responsible for childcare + in many families the father is the primary caregiver
• Hizard + Hodges found that children hwo never formed any attachments by the age of 4 could still form attachment to adoptive parents even though they wouldnt have had positive internal working model

Question 3

What did Hazan + Shaver’s study test?

Answer 3

• designed study to test connection between infant attachment style, internal working model + adult attachment style

Question 4

What was Hazan’sa + Shaver’s procedure for their study?

Answer 4

• placed ‘Love Quiz’ in Rocky Mountain News (American small- town newspaper) - questions asked about relationship with their parents (infant attachment style), attittudes to love (internal working model) + current status of relationships (adult working model)
• analysed 620 responses - 205 from men + 415 women - from fair cross section of population

Question 5

What were the findings of Hazan + Shaver’s study?

Answer 5

• when analysing attachment style, they found that prevalence of adult attachment styles was similar to infant attachment styles - 56% classified secure, 25% insecure-avoidant + 19% insecure-resistant - suggests that most people’s infant attachment styles are same as adult attachment styles
• also found relationship between individual’s internal working model + adult attachment style - adults with postive internal working model tended to be more securely attached
• found positive correlation between adult attachment styles + love experiences - securely attached adults described their love experiences as happy, friendly + trusting - emphasised able to accept + support their partner despite faults - these relationships were most enduring 10 years on average compared to 6 for avoidant + 5 for resistant

Question 6

What were the weaknesses of Hazan + Shaver’s study?

Answer 6

• study = unreliable - several other studies failed to find strong correlation between infant attachment style + adult attachment style. Fraley (2002) conducted review of 27 samples where infants were assesed in infancy and later reassesed (ranging from 1 month to 20 years later) found correlations ranging from 5 to as low as 1
• study is correlational rather than experimental so hard to determine cause + affect - impossible to say that iinfant attachment styles determine adult attachment styles - perhaps other vairable that affects both - e.g person’s innate temperament
• study relies on participants’ memories about 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 study not valid