Lesson 8: Influence of Early Attachment on Adult Relationships

Question 1

What did Bowlby refer to monotropy as?

Answer 1

The one special emotional bond that infants have. It would usually, but not always, be with the biological mother.

Question 2

What is the importance of the monotropic bond?

Answer 2

The infant uses this relationship to form a mental view of all relationships called an internal working model.

A secure monotropic bond results in a positive internal working model and means that current and future relationships will be positive and secure.

An insecure monotropic bond is associated with fear of intimacy and lack of commitment in adult relationships.

Question 3

What happens if an infant does not have an opportunity to form a monotropic bond?

Answer 3

-no adequate internal working model for later relationships->later emotional problems e.g. lack of intinimacy

Question 4

The continuity hypothesis

Answer 4

States that individuals who are securely attached in infancy will continue to be socially and emotionally competent. This is because a secure childhood leads to a positive internal working model.

Question 5

Hazan and Shaver (1987) procedure

Answer 5

• Designed a study to test the connection between a persons infant attachment style, their internal working model, and their adult attachment style. They placed a ‘love quiz’ in the Rocky Mountain News (newspaper).
• The quiz asked questions about their relationship with their parents (to identify infant attachment style), attitudes towards love (to assess their internal working model), and their current relationship 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.

Question 6

Hazan and Shaver findings

Answer 6

• 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 style are the same as their adult attachment style.
• They also found a relationship between an individuals internal working model and their adult attachment style- adults with a positive internal working model tended to be securely attached adults.
• They found a positive correlation between adult attachment style and love experiences. Securely attached adults described their love experience as happy, friendly and trusting. These relationships were most enduring- 10 years on average compared to 6 years for avoidant and 5 years for resistant.

Question 7

Hazan and Shaver evaluation

Answer 7

• The study is unreliablesince several other studies have failed to find the strong correlation between infant attachment style and adult attachment style. Fraley (2002) conducted a review of 27 samples where infants were assessed in infancy and later reassessed. He found correlations ranging from 0.5 to as low as 0.1.
• This study is correlational rather than experimental and therefore we cannot determine cause and effect. It is not plausible 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 persons innate temperament.
• Study relies on participant 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, reducing the study’s validity.