The Influence of Childhood On Adult Relationships Flashcards
Parent-child relationships– effects of childhood abuse in later relationships
Those who have experienced physical abuse in childhood are more likely to report increased rates of depression, anger and anxiety. Research suggests that victims of sexual abuse experience difficulties creating healthy relationships in adulthood. Those who have experienced both forms of abuse have difficulty in trusting others. Distancing and isolation can inhibit the development of romantic attachments in adulthood. Those who suffered childhood abuse have difficulty forming healthy attachments and formed disorganised attachments. This lead to difficulty in regulating emotions. Which is important in maintaining and forming relationships
Parent child relationships– attachment, caregiving and sexuality
What we experience as romantic love is an integration of 3. Caregiving; knowing how one cares for another, learned by copying the behaviour of an attachment figure. Sexuality; learned from early attachment is. Attachment; behaviour of primary caregiver promotes an internal working model and so infant expects the same behaviour in later relationship
Interaction with peers–Childhood friendships
Children learn from their experiences with other children. The way a child thinks about themselves and others is determined by specific experiences which then become internalized. So children develop a sense of their own value as a result of interactions with others which determines how they approach adult relationships. Children’s friendships are training grounds for adult relationships. Having a close friend who you can show affection to and share secrets with and personal information promotes feelings of trust, acceptance and a sense of being understood. Which are all important in later relationships.
EVALUATION–Parent-child relationships
Parental relationships- research support
Fraley conducted a meta-analysis finding correlations of .10-.50 between early attachment type and later relationships. Could be due to insecure-anxious infants being more unstable. However, it could be that an individuals attachment type is determined by the current relationship. Kirkpatrick and Hazan found that break-ups were associated with secure to insecure attachment shifting.
EVALUATION:
Love quiz support for role of attachment in later adult relationships
Those who were securely attached as children tended to have happy and long lasting relationships, they believed love was enduring. Insecurely attached found that adult relationships were hard and they were more likely to be divorced and thought that true love was rare.
2 evaluation points of the love quiz
Validity- participants had to remember their childhood experiences to determine what type of attachment they had.
Unethical- no protection from harm as they have to remember childhood experiences/blame parents for not having a relationship.
However, the love quiz has research support by Simpson:
He studied participants over the course of their life and found that if a child was rated as securely attached then they had higher social competence.They had closer friends and when older, were more expressive and emotionally attached to their romantic partners. Supports the idea that childhood attachments have an influence on adult relationships.
Deterministic theory?
Many happy relationship partners were found to have not been securely attached as children meaning something else has influenced them e.g. environment.
Non-human species
Rhesus monkeys reared with adequate parents but inadequate peers displayed inappropriate social and sexual behaviors as adults. Showing the importance of peer relations for adequate adjustment into adulthood.
