Attachment: Influence Of Early Attachment On Later Relationships

Question 1

Kerns (1994) Peer Relationships In Childhood.

Answer 1

• Attachment type is associated with quality of peer relationships in children.
• Securely attached infants tend to go onto from the best quality childhood friendships.
• Insecurely attached infants later have friendship difficulties.

Question 2

Myron-Wilson And Smith (1988) Bullying.

Answer 2

• Bullying behaviour can be predicted by attachment type.
• Assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using standard questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from London.
• Secure children were not likely to be involved in bullying.
• Insecure-avoidant were most likely to be the victims and insecure resistant were more likely to be the bullies.

Question 3

McCarthy (1999) Friendship And Romantic Relationships.

Answer 3

• Relationship between attachment type and effects of both romantic relationships and friendships.
• 40 women who were assessed when they were infants to establish their early attachment type.
• Those who were securely attached infants had best friendships and romantic relationships.
• Insecure avoidant struggled with intimacy.
• Insecure resistant have problems with maintaining friendships.

Question 4

Hazan And Shaver (1987) Romantic Relationships.

Answer 4

• Relationships between attachment type and effects on both romantic relationship or friendships.
• Those who secure attachment were more likely to have good and longer lasting romantic experiences.
• Secure attachment had good long romantic experience.
• Insecure avoidant attachment tended to have jealousy and fear of intimacy.

Question 5

Bailey Et Al Internal Working Models And Parenting.

Answer 5

• IWM affects the child’s to be a parent their own as they base parenting style on IWM, therefore attachment types tend to be passed through generations.
• Bailey looked at attachment types of 99 mothers to their babies with SS and their own mothers.
• Majority of women had the same attachment classification to their babies and their own mother.

Question 6

Evaluation: Limitation - Methodological Issues.

Answer 6

• A limitation is that most studies have issues with validity.
• These studies typically use interviews or questionnaires to assess attachment as a child in later years.
• A related problem concern the retrospective nature of assessment.
• Looking back in adulthood at one’s early attachment lacks validity because it relies on accurate recollections.

Question 7

Evaluation: Limitation - Mixed Evidence.

Answer 7

• Another limitation is that the evidence of continuity is mixed.
• Zimmer (2000) assessed infant attachment type and adolescent attachment to parents.
• There was little relationships between quality of infant and adolescent attachment.
• This is a limitation because it is not what we would expect if internal working models were important in development.

Question 8

Evaluation: Limitation - Causation.

Answer 8

• Several studies indicate associations but this is not the same as causation.
• A third environmental factor such as parenting style might have a direct effect on both attachment and child’s ability to form relationships with others,
• Temperament may also influence both attachment and later relationships.
• This is a limitation because it is a counter to Bowlby’s view that the internal working model caused these outcomes.

Question 9

Evaluation: Limitation - Theoretical Issues.

Answer 9

• There is theoretical problem with research related to internal working models.
• Internal working models are unconscious; we are not directly aware of their influence on us.
• We would not expect to get direct evidence about them by means of interviews and questionnaires - it is not possible to report on something you are not aware of.
• This is a potential limitation of most research involving the concept of internal working models.

Question 10

Evaluation: Limitation - Exaggerate Influence.

Answer 10

• The influence of infant attachment on future relationship is exaggerated.
• People are not doomed to always have bad relationships just because they had attachment problems they just have a greater risk of problems.
• By over-emphasising this risk we become too pessimistic about people’s future.