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 can we measure if an infant is securely attached or insecurely attached?
By putting the children in the strange situation where the parent leaves the room and the baby is left with a stranger. the behaviour of the baby is observed during the separation and during the reunion.
- Securely:
- Greet the parent when they return
- In the parent’s presence explores
- Insecurely:
- They just look at the parent when they return but do not seek comfort
- Mixed:
- Might seek parent but there is some hesitance in doing so
In a study in a community in Congo, researchers measured the attachment of children. What were the results?
- 80% of the children were securely attached
What is the percentage of children securely attached?
- Secure: 65%
- Insecure:
- Avoidant: 20%
- Anxious-Ambivalent: 15%
What is the other category of attachment that McAdams mentions?
-
Disorganized children
- Grow up in an abusive environment
- Less than 1%
- Worst outcome
What are some of the characteristics that a parent must have to form a secure attachment?
- Consistent
- Sensitive
- Responsive
- Attentive
- not interfering or controlling
Can we predict the style of attachment of a 2 month old from the mother’s behaviour?
False
It’s only at 3 months old that we can predict attachment style from the mother’s behaviour.
- Monitor reaction when crying and when feeding
What developmental outcomes are associated with security of attachment?
- Exploration
- Task Mastery
- Emotional adaptation
- Social adaptation
Describe the studies performed with monkeys to understand better infant’s attachment.
Young monkeys were removed from their mother and they were assigned to either a fluffy doll as their new mother or a metal wire mom that had the ability to feed them. They noticed that the monkeys preferred the fluffy doll so attachment didn’t have to do with food.
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
What was Simpson’s conclusion from the longitudinal study?
“Out experiences in adult relationships appear to be tied in significant and meaningful ways to experience rooted in earlier relationships and stages of development.”
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:
Is attachment stable?
- Over time r=0.30 so not too stable
- Across partners r=0.40
What type of partners does a securely attached person look for?
A securely attached person too
Does attachment affect our way of parenting?
Yes, secure attachment encourages secure attachment.
How do psychologists measure attachment in children?
Stange situation
What impact does attachment have on development?
- Attachment affects different aspects of life:
- Big 5 traits
- Relationships
- Parenting
Are our current relationships influence by the kind of attachment we had with our mother and father as infants?
yes
