Lecture 17: Attachment Styles Flashcards
What stage of Erikson’s Psychosocial stages is attachment related to?
Autonomy (second stage)
What level of personality does attachment belong to?
Level 2
What are the types of attachments?
- secure
- avoidant
- dependent
What type of attachment do you think the following paragraph describes?
“I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to my partner; I find it difficult to trust them completely, difficult to allow myself to depend on them. I am nervous when they get too close, and often, love partners want me to be more intimate than I feel comfortable being.”
Avoidant
What percentage of people have a secure, avoidant, dependent attachment in romantic relationships?
- Secure: 60%
- Avoidant: 25%
- Dependent: 15%
What do we know when we know a person?
- Level 1: Big 5 traits
- Level 2: Personal concerns
- motives
- goals
- Status of Psychosocial stage resolution
- Attachment style
- Level 3: Identity as a Narrative
Is there a relation between attachment style and the Big 5 traits?
- Shaver 2006
- Meta-analysis of 12 of studies + 2 new studies with best measures
- Looked at attachment style and Big 5 of participants
- Results:
- There are clear links between attachment style and Big 5
-
Secure:
- Low N
- High E (especially Social Dominance)
- High A
-
Avoidant:
- Low A
- Low E
-
Anxious/dependent:
- Very high N
True or False
Big 5 traits predict relational outcomes better than attachment styles
False.
From Shaver 2006, we know that attachment styles can predict better outcomes than Big 5 traits.
According to John Bowlby what is attachment?
A complex, instinctually guided behavioural system that has functioned throughout human evolution to protect infants from predators.
What is a second proposition of why attachment is necessary?
For emotion regulation. It protects us from factors in the environment but also from negative emotions.
What does failure to attach mean?
- Genetic
- Serious developmental problem
What percentage of children will for an attachment with their parents/caregivers?
Almost 100% (99%)
What does it mean to have a secure attachment?
- trust
- exploration
- base
Children trust their parents. When they are close by they are most likely to explore. The parents are a secure base for the children while they explore.
What is stranger anxiety?
- Appears at 6 months of age
- Peaks at 1st year
What does it mean to have an insecure attachment?
- Distrust
- Anxiety
- Pessimism
The children do not trust their parents, they do not tend to explore and are anxious to be away from their parents.
How does attachment affect social functioning in 5 years old?
It positively affects social competence, popularity, social participation, attention, social dominance.
Describe the longitudinal study that looked into how mother-child attachment, affect’s the child’s romantic relationships later on.
- Simpson et al. 2007
- First, measured infant attachment
- Second:
- peer competence in teacher reports (grades 1,2 and 3)
- Third, at age 16 interview about security in closest friendships
- Fourth, at age 23 assessment with romantic partners
- Looked at:
- emotional tone or relationship
- observation during conflict resolution
- observation during collaborative task
- Looked at:
- Results:
- At age 23, security at age 16:
- correlation in romantic process and composite index
- At age 23, security at age 16:
- correlation in negative affect and emotional tone
Is there a link between childhood attachment and adult personality?
- Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation
- 271 first time mothers living below poverty line
- 48% teenagers, 65% single, 42% no highschool education
- 170 followed 32 years since birth
- Infant attachment assessed at 12 and 18 months
- 45% secure
- living conditions make it difficult
- 45% secure
- Measure Big 5 at 32
- Controlled for education levels of mother
- Results in image below:
