The influence of early attachment on adult relationships,

Question 1

What was Hazan and Shavers procedure and findings?

Answer 1

-They placed a ‘Love Quiz’ in a US small town newspaper
- The quiz consisted of a multiple-choice questionnaire to assess current and childhood attachment types.
-The questionnaire also asked questions about attitudes towards love, to assess the internal working model.
- They analysed 620 volunteer sample responses, 205 from men and 415 from women.

• When analysing self-report of attachment history, they found that the prevalence of attachment styles was similar to that found in infancy
  – 56% were classified as secure, 25% as avoidant and 19%
  are resistant.
• They also found a positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences.
• Securely attached adults described their love experiences as happy, friendly and trusting; they emphasised being able to accept and support their partner despite faults.
• These relationships were more enduring – 10 years on average compared to five and six years for resistant and avoidant participants.

Question 2

A03 - zimmerman - other factors

Answer 2

• Zimmerman et al (2000) showed that life events such as parental divorce can influence adult security.
• Research by Rutter and Quinton (1988) found that women with difficult early experiences developed security if they had good school experience and strong adult relationships.
• Hence, rather than adult behaviour being shaped by childhood attachment alone, research suggests that later experiences also play
  an important role in adult relationships.

Question 3

A03 - Correlation not causation

Answer 3

-We can’t claim that the relationship between early attachment and, for example, later love styles is one of cause and effect. -

• it is possible that both attachment style and later love styles
  are caused by something different – such as innate temperament.

-Kagan’s temperament hypothesis proposes that an infant’s temperament affects the way a parent responds and thus may
be a determining factor in infant attachment type.

• The individual’s temperament may explain their
  issues ) with relationships later in life.

In this case temperament could be the variable
that explains early attachment and later love style rather than the attachment behaviour as suggested by the internal working model.