The effect of early attachment on later attachment

Question 1

Outline what an internal working model is.

Answer 1

• a infants first relationship with their primary attachment figure leads to a mental representation of this relationship and acting as a template for future adult relationships

Question 2

How do relationships in childhood affect attachment types

Answer 2

• securely attached babies go on to form better quality childhood friendships and are less likely to be involved in bullying. Insecure - avoidant are most likely to be victims and insecure - resistant are likely to be the bullies
• this was by Myron and smith

Question 3

Outline relationships in adulthood

Answer 3

romantic relationships = Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver performed the love quiz. They first assessed their most important relationship, the number of partners and their attachment type. The securely attached participants had the most successful partners whereas the avoidant had jealousy and fear of intimacy.
Parenting = Bailey et al, the mothers with the best attachment with their babies had good quality relationships with parents

Question 4

Give a strength

Answer 4

• there is support from other studies. Securely attached babies in mostly all studies have the most advantages. Whereas disorganised attachment has serious disadvantages

Question 5

What are two limitations

Answer 5

1. early attachment is assessed retrospectively. most research doesn’t assess attachment in early life and revisit the same people later. Research often relies on participants themselves their relationships with parents and attachment styles. This means it relies on honesty and we do not know what type of attachment is actually being measured
2. Confounding variables, attachment quality and later development can be affected by confounding variables. This could be influenced by parenting style or genetically influenced personalitys