Attachment Flashcards
1
Q
Define attachment.
A
- an enduring, two way, emotional tie to a specific other person.
- can be seen to have developed when an infant shows stranger anxiety and separation protest.
2
Q
Give examples of caregiver-infant interactions.
A
- Bodily contact - physical interactions between carer + infant help to form the attachment bond, especially in the period immediately after birth, often skin to skin -
- Mimicking/imitation - infants seem to have an innate ability to imitate carers facial expressions,
- Caregiverese adults use a modified form of vocal language that is high-pitched, slow + repetitive. This aids communication
- Reciprocity
- Interactional synchrony
- Sensitive responsiveness- adult pays attention to infant’s communications and responds in an appropriate manner meeting child’s needs (emotional and physical)
3
Q
Define interactional synchrony
A
- two-way coordinated rhythmic exchanges between carer and infant
- from as early as two weeks (during the critical period)
- Emotional responses reflect each other
4
Q
Outline and evaluate research on interactional synchrony
A
- ✅ Condon & Sander (1974) analysed frame by frame video recordings of infants’ movements to find they co-ordinated their actions in sequence with adults’ speech.
- ✅ Isabella et al strengthened this by finding, during a study of 30 mothers and their babies, that infants with secure attachments demonstrated more evidence of such behaviour during their first year.
Eval:
- Increases the accuracy and objectivity of the findings - used video recordings. - Inferences still being made.
- IS is not found in all cultures , which weakens the idea that it is necessary for attachment formation.
-Le Vine et al (1994)reported that Kenyan mothers have little physical contact or interactions with their infants, but such infants do have secure attachments.
5
Q
Define reciprocity
A
- when an infant and caregiver respond to each other’s signals
- It’s a turn-taking interaction, a kind of “conversation”.
- Brazelton et al. (1975) described the interaction between infants and caregivers as a ‘dance’ where each is responding to the other person’s moves
6
Q
Outline and Evaluate research on reciprocity
A
- Jaffe et al (1973) suggested that infants coordinated their actions with caregivers (like a conversation).
-
Tronick et al. (1978) – Still Face Experiment: mothers were asked to interact with their babies as usual, then suddenly adopt a neutral, expressionless face. The infants quickly became distressed showing Infants expect and rely on reciprocal responses, and mutual connection
eval: - interpreting infant behaviour can be difficult. Babies often move or vocalise randomly, so it can be hard to determine whether responses are not just coincidental.
- This lowers the internal validity of observational studies on reciprocity.
7
Q
Outline Shaffer’s stages of attachment
A
1.Pre-attachment phase (birth to 3 months) = prefer ppl over objects. Start to smile at ppl
2. Indiscriminate phase (3 to 7/8 months) = being to discriminate between familiar + unfamiliar people but they will still allow strangers to handle and look after them.
3. Discriminate phase (7/8 months onwards) = develop specific attachments, staying close to particular people + becoming distressed when separated from them. Display stranger anxiety + separation protest
4. Multiple attachment (9 months onwards] = form strong emotional ties with other major caregivers, like grandparents. The fear of strangers weakens, but attachment to the mother figure remains strongest.
8
Q
Outline Schaffer + Emerson’s research procedure on attachment formation.
A
- Longitudinal study was conducted on 60 newborn babies + their mothers from a working-class area of Glasgow.
- Mothers + babies were studied each month for the 1st year of their lives in their own homes + again at 18 months. Observations were conducted, as well as interviews with the mothers, with questions being asked about whom infants smiled at, whom they responded to, who caused them distress, etc.
- Attachment was measured through:
Separation protest
Stranger anxiety
9
Q
E
Outline and Evaluate Schaffer & Emerson’s findings
A
- Most infants went on to develop multiple attachments.At 18 months87% had at least 2 attachments with 31% having 5 or more attachments.
-
39% of infants’ prime attachment was not to the mother. link to role of the father
eval: - Sample size too small - not representative
- Data was collected by interviews + observations: prone to bias + inaccuracy.
- high Mundane realism, as it was conducted under everyday conditions, meaning that the conclusions drawn about the formation of attachments can be seen as having high validity.
10
Q
Give the four factors that affect the relationship between dathers and children.
A
- Degree of sensitivity - show more sensitivity to child’s needs = more secure attachments to their children
- Type of attachment with own parents - single-parent fathers form similar attachments with their children that they had with their own parents.
- Marital intimacy - the degree of intimacy a father has within his relationship with his partner affects the type of attachment he will have with his children.
- Supportive co-parenting - the amount of support a father gives to his partner in helping to care for children affects the type of attachment he will have with his children.
11
Q
Describe the historical evolution of the role of fathers in child growth.
A
- some argue that males are biologically unsuitable to raise children and men are providers and ‘breadwinners’ of the family and the mothers are more suited to anurturing and childrearing role.
- Now , men have a more active role and some researchers have seen that males can quickly develop sensitive responsiveness when assuming the position of main care providers
12
Q
Describe the role of the father and the importance of active play
A
- role focused on active and stimulating play compared to the comforting style of mothers
- encourages children to take risks, develop confidence, and learn through experience, which
- which aids in development key skills such as communication, sociability, and even language development
13
Q
Outline and Evaluate research on active play and the role of the father
A
- Geiger (1996) showed that fathers’ play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable while mothers are more affectionate.
- HoweverLamb (1987) found that children oftern prefer interacting with fathers when in a positive emotional state. Supporting that that fathers are preferred as playmates but only in certain conditions.
- Children who grow up without fathers have often been seen to do less well at school + have higher levels of risk taking + aggression, especially in boys.
- This suggests fathers can help prevent – developmental outcomes.
- CA: Pedersen points out that most studies have focused on female single mothers from poor socioeconomic backgrounds, so it may be social factors related to poverty that produce these outcomes, not the absence of fathers
14
Q
Define imprinting
A
- Imprinting is where an offspring will follow the first moving object they see once born
- a form of attachment in animals
15
Q
Outline Lorenz’ goslings research on imprinting
A
Procedure:
- Lorenz randomly split batch of gosling eggs into 2 batches, 1 of which was hatched naturally by the mother + the other hatched in an incubator.
- Lorenz made sure he was the first moving object the incubated goslings encountered to allow for imprinting, when born
- Following behaviour was then observed and recorded.
- marked all the goslings to identify whether they were naturally hatched or incubator-raised and placed them under a box.
- The box was then removed and following behaviour again recorded.
16
Q
Outline the findings of Lorenz’ goslings
A
- Naturally hatched goslings went straight to their mother, while the incubated goslings went to Lorenz, showing no bond with their natural mother.
- These bonds proved to be irreversible; would only follow the imprinted object in both groups
- Imprinting would only occur within a brief, set time period of 4-25 hours after hatching. ( critical period) -
- When varying the time taken to imprint he found that info imprinting ocured the gosling would lose the ability to imprint
- Goslings imprinted onto humans would, as matured adult birds, attempt to mate with humans.
17
Q
Evaluate Lorenz’ findings
A
- Imprinting is irreversible, suggesting the ability is under biological control, as learned behaviours can be modified by experience.
- brief, set time period for imprinting influenced Bowlby’s idea of a critical period in humans
- The fact that adult human-imprinted goslings exhibit sexual advances to humans shows the importance of early behaviour upon future relationships, something that Bowly incorporated into his continuity hypothesis.
- Extrapolation issues = the attachment behaviour of geese is not necessarily that of humans.
- Unethical= geese imprinted on humans died, + couldnt mate.
- WSI- lorenz joined nazi party: extremist views, be aware of cognitive and research bias,
18
Q
Outline the aim of Harlow’s monkey
A
Aim : To test learning ( cupboard love) theory by comparing attachment behaviour in baby rhesus monkeys
19
Q
Outline Harlow’s monkeys procedure.
A
Procedure:
- Two types of surrogate mother were constructed - a harsh ‘wire mother’ and a soft ‘towelling mother’.
- 16 baby monkeys were used, four in each four caged conditions:
- wire, milk mother + towelled no milk
- wire no milk + towelled milk
- wire and milk
- towelling and milk
- The amount of time spent with each mother, as well as feeding time, was recorded.
- The monkeys were frightened with a loud noise to test for mother preference during stress.
- A larger cage was also used to test the monkeys’ degree exploration. (activities, game room, unfamiliar objects, monkey exploring can interact)
20
Q
Outline the findings of Harlow’s monkeys
A
Findings
- Monkeys preferred contact with the towelling mother when given a choice , regardless of whether she produced milk; they even stretched across to the wire mother to feed while still clinging to the towelling mother.
- Monkeys with only a wire surrogate had diarrhoea, an indicator of lack of comfort and severe exposure to stress caused by no attachment figure
- When frightened by a loud noise, monkeys clung to the towelling mother in conditions where she was available.
- In the larger cage conditions, monkeys with towelling mothers explored more and visited their surrogate mother more often.
21
Q
Evaluate Harlow’s monkeys
A
- influenced Bowlby in devising his maternal deprivation hypothesis, where he saw any disruption of the attachment bond as having serious, irreversible effects.
- Harlow did not believe that his work supported Bowlby’s belief of a child’s innate need for mother love.- believed in contact comfort as integral for attachment which can be given by any figure ( maternal or not)
- Extrapolation issues: Humans are more complex then monkeys.
- Highly unethical: Sackett (2002), a student of Harlows, believes that Harlow’s research was so unjustifiably unethical that the American animal liberation movement was born out of it.
22
Q
Define:
- cupboard love theory
- learning theory
A
Cupboard love theory - the belief that attachments are formed with people who feed infants
Learning theory - the belief that attachments develop through conditioning processes
23
Q
Name the two types of learning theory
A
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
24
Q
describe classical conditioning
A
- learning by association. Before conditioning, food is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) which produces an unconditioned response (UCR) of pleasure as a relief from hunger.
- The caregiver is a neutral stimulus (NS), who produces no conditioned response.
- the child associates the caregiver (NS) who feeds them with the food (UCS).
- Through repeated pairing, the caregiver becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) who is associated with the pleasure from feeding.
- leads to attachment formation
25
describe operant conditioning
- OC is learning through reinforcement of behaviour thus increasing the chances of the behaviour occuring again.
- positive = receives pleasurable outcome , negative = receives negative outcomes.
- attachments thus occur thorugh caregivers becoming associated with reducing the unpleasant feeling of hunger so that the caregiver becomes a reward themself.
26
# AO3
outline research against learning theory.
Against :
- Shaffer and Emerson 1964 found THAT in 3% of caases , the mother was not the baby's main attachment figure, suggesting that nfeeding is not the primary explanation of attachment.
- Harlow's monkeys
- Methodological issues for example Pavlov’s research on dogs and Skinner’s research with rats and pigeons, is criticised for its over‐reliance on animals. They argue that behaviourist explanations are reductionist , not considering internal mental processses or the complex emotional nature of attachments.
27
Outline research for learning theory
- Dollard & Miller argued that in their first year , babies are fed 2000 times , by the main carer , which creates ample oppurtunity for association. - supporting operant conditioning
- Bowlby argued that they do play a part in helping form attachments but are not the main reason - emotional security is.
-
28
Outline Bowlby's explanation of attachment
- Bowlby had the idea that infants have an innate tendency to make an attachment with 1 attachment figure, usually the mother, programmed by evolution
- Attachments evolved via the process of natural selection to ensure that offspring stayed close to caregivers.
- thorugh specific behaviours called social releasers such as crying , smiling following and clinnging
29
Outline Bowlby's monotropic theory
- Infants form one special attachment. Through the monotropic attachment, the infant forms an internal working model which is a mental template for future relationship expectations. If there’s a healthy attachment with the caregiver then the infant will develop strong relationships later in life.
- Babies must form an attachment during the critical period which is between 3-6 months. He later acknowledged that infants could form an attachment after this period (up to three years of age); however, the successful formationwould be increasingly difficult after this initial period.
- Bowlby said that if an attachment didn’t form during this time frame then the child would be damaged for life –socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically.
30
Evaluate Bowlby's monotropic theory : For
- Lorenz et al found that certain animals have an innate tendency to respond immediately to specific stimuli. This suggests that such innate ‘pre-programming’ provides an evolutionary advantage , as by staying close to such individuals . newborn animals are safe from predators. This supports Bowlby’s evolutionary theory.
- Although Schaffer + Emerson found that children tended to have multiple attachments . they did have a primary attachment figure.
31
Evaluate Bowlby's monotropic theory : Against
- Schaffer + Emerson found that multiple attachments are the norm , which goes against monotropy as does the fact that 39% of children had their main attachment to someone other than the main carer
- Bowlby's theory has been used by right wing political figures as scientific proof that women should be at home mothering children and not at work.
- Rutter found that infants diplay a range of attachment behaviours towards attachment figures other than their mothers and there is no particular attachment behaviour used exclusiverly towards mothers.
32
Describe Ainsworth's three attachment types
type A : insecure -avoidant: infants are willing to exlore , low stranger anxiety, avoid contact at return of their caregiver
type B: securely attached : high exploration, high stranger anxiety, caregivers have high sensitive responsiveness, easy to calm.
type C: insecure-resistant: unwilling to explore, high stranger anxiety. upset by separation + reject contact. Caregivers are ambivalent to infants needs.
33
Outline Ainsworth's research in determining attachments.
- assessed types of attachment in 9-18 month old infants. The Strange Situation involves placing a child and their mother in a novel environment of mild stress, whereby they would be observed and videoed through a one-way mirror during a series of eight different situations.
- measures 4 key behaviours: stranger anxiety , seperation anxiety , exploration behvaiours and reunion behaviours.
- In her original experiment, Ainsworth found the following distribution of attachment types: securely attached – 66%, insecure– avoidant – 22%, and insecure–resistant – 12%.
34
Evaluate Ainsworth's strange situation:
| weaknesses
- Methodological weakness of Ainsworth’s strange situation is the use of an overt observation. The parents knew that they were being observed through a one way mirror and may have displayed demand characteristics. - may have showed more sensitive responsiveness - altered children’s behaviour and thus lowers internal validity.
- culture bias - van Ijzendoorn’s research highlights the culture bias demonstrated in Ainsworth’s Strange Situation, by reporting significant differences in the distribution of
attachment types in different cultures.
- For example, Germany has the highest rate of insecure–avoidant attachment which may be the result of different childrearing practices and not a more ‘insecure’ population. In Germany there is a general desire to keep some interpersonal distance between parents and infants; therefore, parents would generally discourage proximity‐ seeking behaviours within the Strange Situation.
- 15% were classed as Type D suggesting Ainsworth’s work to be incomplete and unable to fully explain all of the different types of attachments.
35
Describe Van Ijzendoorm's cultural variations of attachment research.
- van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) conducted a meta‐ analysis of 32 studies from eight different countries that had used Ainsworth’s Strange Situation. In total, the results of over 1,990 infants were included in the analysis.
- Their research produced several key findings in relation to the distribution of attachment in different countries with secure attachment being the most common type of attachment in all cultures examined.
36
# halfway!!
Outline key findings in Van Ijzendoorm's cultural variation research.
- Japan (collectivist cultures) showed higher levels of insecure–resistant attachment whereas Germany (individualistic culture) showed higher levels of insecure–avoidant attachment.
- Van Ijzendoorn’s research further highlights the culture bias demonstrated in Ainsworth’s Strange Situation, by reporting significant differences in the distribution of
attachment types in different cultures.
- For example, Germany has the highest rate of insecure–avoidant attachment which may be the result of different childrearing practices and not a more ‘insecure’ population. - Grossman and Grossman
- In Germany there is a general desire to keep some interpersonal distance between parents and infants; therefore, parents would generally discourage proximity‐seeking behaviours within the Strange Situation which might bias the results of attachment research in Germany which therefore incorrectly categorise children as ‘insecure’.
37
What is Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis?
- explains what happens if monotropic attachments are broken. Bowlby argues that disruption of the attachment bond , even short term disruptions , results in serious and permanent damge to a child's emotional, social and intellectual development.
38
Describe short-term separation
- consists of brief , temporary separations/disruption of an attachment bond.
- Bowlby described the distress caused in terms of the PDD model: protest, despair and detachment.
39
outline and evaluate research on the impacts of short term separation
- Robertson & Robertson reported their research in films, one of which featured John, 17 months, who had experienced extreme distress while spending 9 days away from his pregnant mother in the hospital. Upon return, John was thrown into confusion and demonstrated the PDD model, suffering serious and irreversible damage.
eval:
- Took children into their own home, providing them with an alternative attachment and a normal home routine, and found this prevented severe psychological damage, suggesting negative outcomes aren't inevitable.
- Douglas found that separation of less than a week below ages of 4 was correlated with behavioural difficulties.
- eval:
- Much evidence is correlational and does not show causality. Kagan et al. found no direct causal link between separation and later emotional and behavioural difficulties.
40
describe long term deprivation
- involves lengthy or permanent sepaaration from attachment figures.
- usually though divorce
41
outline research on long-term deprivation
- Hetherington found that only about 25% of children experience long term adjustment problems, with most children able to adapt - schaffer found that nearly all children are negatively affected by divorce short term.
- Rodgers & Pryor found that children experiencing 2 or more divorces have the lowest adjustment rates and the most behavioural problems, suggesting that continual broken attachments increase the chances of negative outcomes for children.
- Kiernan found that children experiencing divorce score lower than none on measures of social development, educational attainment, and physical health.
42
Evaluate research on long term deprivation
- richards 1987 found that attachment disruption through divorce leads to resentment and stress, while the death of an attachment figure is more likely to result in depressio than delinqunecy. Implies different causes produces different outcomes.
- Research has allowed psychologists to create strategies to help children cope with divorce. Some American states have a legal requirement for divoricing parents to attend an education program providing emotional warmth and support.
| I
43
Describe privation
- concerns children who have never formed an attachment bond.
- it is most likely to cause lasting damage
44
Outline research on privation
- the Bulldog Bank Children
- Rymer (1993) Genie ,
- Koluchova - Czech twins
45
Outline the Bulldog Bank Children Research
- Freud & Dann (1951) reported on the Bulldog Bank Children who were orphaned at a few months of age in a Nazi concentration Camp. They were taken at age 3-4 to a centre and were hostile to adults and did not know what to do with toys. They were attached to one another and refused to be separated They made rapid developments in physical and intellectual capabilities , and those that were traceable made good recoveries and had successful adult relationships.
46
Outline the research on Genie.
- Rhymer (1993) reported on Genie , a girl denies human interaction beaten and strapped at a potty seat until age 13. She could not speak or stand. She received years of therapy and was tested constantly improving her language abilities and IQ. She moved to a foster home where she was further abuse and deteriorated physically and mentally.
47
Outline the research on the Czech twins
- Koluchova reported on Czech twins who were locked in a cellar for 5 and a half years and abused physically. They were underdeveloped physically and intellectually. They were given physical therapy and were eventually adopted by 3 child centered sisters. At age 14 their intellectual social emotional and behavioral functioning were near normal and they both married and had children
48
Evaluate research on privation
- iit may be that the close attachments the Czech twins and the bulldog bank children had to each other explain why they made lasting progress whereas genie who had no attachment made little progress. However, Moskowitz (1983) reports that the BC were all individually adopted and never saw each other again and so should have exhibited the effects of disrupted attachment from each other
- case studies are usually used to study extreme privation as it is unethical or impractical to use other methods.
- A key issue with this is that they are dependent upon retrospective memories that may be selective or even incorrect. There is no way of fully knowing what these individuals experienced. Genie's mother often gave conflicting views on what happened to her.
49
Describe institutionalisation and its effects
- childcare provided by orphanages and children homes
- often involves a mix of privation and deprivation effects often showing disinhibited attachment , characterise by clingy , attention-seeking behaviour and indiscriminate sociability to adults
50
Outline Bowlby's 44 Thieves Studies Research
| research for institutionalisation
- Bowlby supported his theory with the 44 Thieves study, where he compared 44 juvenile thieves with a control group of non-thieves who had suffered emotional problems. 32% of the thieves exhibited affectionless psychopathy, lacking a social conscience. None of the control groups was classed in this way. 86% of the affectionless psychopaths had experienced maternal separation compared to 17% of the thieves who were not affectionless psychopaths. This supports Bowlby’s idea that maternal deprivation can have serious and long-lasting negative effects.
51
Outline Goldfarb's research on institutionalisation
| research for institutionalisation
Goldfarb (1943) ) compared 15 children raised in social isolation in institutions from 6 months - 3 and a half years with 15 children who went straight from natural mothers to foster homes. At age 3 , socially isolated children lagged behind fostered on measures of abstract thinking, social maturity, rule following + sociability. 10-14 yrs continued to perform poorly, average IQ 72, fostered children's IQ 95.
52
Outline Tizard & Hodges research on institutionalisation
| research for institutionalisation
- Tizard & Hodges studied children placed into institutional care in first 4 months of life/ Had no attachments with mothers . High staff turnover and the institutes policy prevented attachments forming with carers. Used a control group of children raised in their natural homes and found that those who remained in the institution had no strong attachments and problems relating to peers. Adopted children did however from strong attachments with their parents but not with non-family members.
53
Evaluate research on institutionalisation
- The early studies of children raised in institutions that Bowlby based his MDH on had serious methodological flaw (e.g. Goldfarb study didn’t use random samples, so possible that fostered children naturally brighter, more sociable + healthier than socially isolated children- and that is why they were fostered rather than placed in institutional care).
- In Tizard & Hodge's study, the more socially skilled children may have been adopted and so found it easier to form attachments within their adoptive families. Also suffered from atypical sample attrition where over time the more troubled children drops out , affecting the reliability of the results.
- the 44 thieves study, is correlational; deprivation and delinquency could be linked as a third factor. Children who experience deprivation may also experience extreme poverty, have contact with criminal relatives who act as role models or have a family history of mental health problems.
-Tizard and Hodges found that the children who were adopted after being institutionalised, were able to develop strong attachments within their families, suggesting that through loving care, the development of close attachments is possible.
54
Outline The aim and procedure Romanian Orphan Studies.
| research for institutionalisation
- Rutter et al assessed whether loving and nurturing care could overturn the effects of privation the children had suffered in Romanian orphanages.
- 111 Romanian orphans were initially assessed for height, head circumference and cognitive functioning on arrival in Britain. all children were again assessed at age 4. A control group of 52 British adopted children were also assessed
- British adopted children (who had been separated from their mothers) didn’t suffer developmental outcomes, can be that separation from carers will not on its own cause negative developmental effects.
55
Outline the findings from Romanian Orphan's studies
| research for institutionalisation
- Around 50% of the Romanian orphans were retarded in cognitive functioning on arrival at initial assessment and most were underweight. the control group did not show these deficits
- At age 4 years, the Romanian orphans showed great improvements in physical and cognitive development, with the orphans adopted before 6 months of age doing as well as the British adopted children.
56
Evaluate Romanian Orphans Studies
| research for institutionalisation
- children have only been assessed up to the age of 4 years, so subsequent follow-ups will be required to assess the long-term effects of institutionalisation and the effects of subsequent enriching environments
- only some of the children received detailed clinical investigations, so it is difficult to fully generalise the findings
- Because the children were not studied while in the Romanian orphanages, it is not possible to state which aspects of privation were most influential
- Morison and Elwood found similar results with a group of Romanian orphans adopted by Canadian adoptive parents . Suggesting Rutter's findings are reliable.
57
What is the continuity hypothesis?
| the influence of early attachment on childhood
- the idea that there is consistency between early emotional experiences and later relationships.
- this idea is based upon the internal working model where an infant's primary attachment forms a model for future relationships.
58
Outline research on the influence of early attachment on childhood relationships
| the influence of early attachment on childhood
- Youngblade & Belsky found that 3-5 year old securely attached children were more curious , competent, empathetic, resilient and self-confident , got along better with other children and were more likely to form close friendships.
- Mullis et al reported that in late childhood attachments that are made to peers reflect those made to parents in infancy. Laible (2002) backed this up by finding that in late childhood indidivuals transfer attachment behaviours learned in childhood to social situations and peer groups.
- Westermack reported that children who form close friendships in the first six years of life do not generally go on to form adult sexual relationships with each other, which suggests early attachment do affect childhood and adult relationships.
59
Evaluate research on the influence of early attachment on childhood relationships
- early attachment types can be seen to influence the development of indidivual differences in cognitve ability, emotional responses and social skills , all of which influence the quality of later childhood relationships.
- evolutonary reasoning where those who form attachments in early life do not in later live to prevent related individuals from inbreeding.
- perceiving the quality of later relationships as being caused soley by the quality of early attachments is somewhat deterministic. It is likely that other factors are influential too , like financial pressures or age differences between partners.
60
- research indicates an intergenerational continuity between adult's attachment types and their children including children adopting the parenting styles of their own parents.
- there also appears to be continuity between early attachment styles and the quality of later adult relationships
- However those who fail to achieve secure attachments in childhood are still able to develop secure adult realtionships
61
Outline Hazan & Shaver research on attachment processes
| outline aim and procedure
aims:
- explore whether there is a direct correlation between adult attachment style and parenting recieved
- adults with different attachment styles would have distinct mental models and social interactions.
- participants, aged 14 -82, were given a 'love quiz' , where they described their feelings about romantic relationships and experiences with their parents/
- sample 1 = 205 men and 415 women
- sample 2 - 108 students ( 38 men and 70 women) who answered qs on self perception and loneliness
-
62
Outline Hazan & Shaver research findings on attachment processes
- 56% were securely attached and felt comfortable with intimacy and dependency and had trusting relationships
- 23% in sample 1 and 25% in sample 2 were insecure avoidant and tended to avoid closeness , found it difficult to trust others.
- 19% in sample 1 and 20% in sample 2 were insecure resistant and were the most vulnerable to loneliness and expressed significant self-doubt and fears regardding their partners commitment.
63
Evaluate Hazan & Shaver's research
- limited as it is a questionnaire and thus there are individual differences in how the questions are interpreted as participants may lie or misinterpret questions.
- results are based on retrospective data and so the validity of the findings depends on one’s ability to recall their childhood memories.
- the internal working model is unconscious, and so we are not aware of the influence our internal working model has on our relationships. This means that the results of the self-reports are limited as it can only collect what respondents are aware of.
- research showed continuity of childhoood attachment style into adulthood doesnt alwaus occur.
64
Outline research on the influence of early attachment on adult relationships
- McCarthy (1999) assessed the quality of ault relationships of 40 women aged 25-44 with childhood insecure attachments. Women with insecure-avoidant attachments had less successful adult romantic relationships , while those with insecure-resistant attachments had problems forming non-romantic adult friendships , supporting the idea of an IWM.
- Kirkpatrick & David (1994) studied 300 dating couples for three years, finding that those identified as having secure childhood attachments were more likely to have stable and satisfying relationships, supporting the idea of continuity from an internal working model.
- Kunce & Shaver found that women classed as having childhood insecure-resistant attachments reported the highest levels of 'compulsive caregiving', that is, they were most likely to agree with statements such as i cant seem to stop mothering my partner too much."
65
Evaluate the influence of early attachment on adult relationships
- Wood et al 2003) beleives the quality of relationship results from the interaction of two people's attachment styles. Therefore insecurely attached people can have secure relationships if they are in relationhsips with securely attached people.
- The intenral working mdoel is not fully supported. Steele et al found that onlt a small corrrelation of 0.17 between having a secure attachment type in childhood and ealry adulthood, while Zimmerman et al (2000) found that attachment style at 12-18 months of age did noot predict the quality of ealry relationshops, while life events experienced such as parental divorce had a much larger influence.
- Kagan’s temperament hypothesis suggests infant and adult relationships are linked but are due to an inherited high or low reactive temperament. He found through research, high reactivity results in distressed babies who grow into outgoing children and adults. This biological explanation explains the findings that attachment styles are linked across a lifetime but without the need for an internal working model.
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