Attachment : Influence of early attachment on later relationships

Question 1

What is an internal working model and who initially suggested it?

Answer 1

Bowlby suggests that a baby’s first relationship with their primary attachment figure creates a mental representation of this relationship and this model acts as a template for all future relationships

If a baby experiences poor early attachments/relationships, their internal working model would suggest they may struggle to form healthy relationships in the future

Question 2

How do early attachments influence relationships in childhood?

Answer 2

Securely attached form best quality childhood friendships

Insecurely attached tend to experience friendship difficulties and may be involved in bullying

Question 3

Which researchers assessed attachment type and bullying involvement?

Answer 3

Rowan Myron-Wilson and Peter Smith

Question 4

Describe the research into relationships in childhood conducted by Myron-Wilson and Smith

Answer 4

Myron-Wilson and Smith
- assessed attachment type and bullying involvement in 196 children from London using questionnaires
Findings:
- secure children - unlikely to be involved in bullying
- insecure avoidant - most likely to be victims of bullying
- insecure resistant - most likely to bully others

Question 5

Which researchers used a ‘love quiz’ to research relationships in adulthood?

Answer 5

Hazan and Shaver

Question 6

Outline the procedure and findings to research conducted by Hazan and Shaver

Answer 6

Hazan and Shaver studied the association between attachment type and adult relationships

Procedure:
- analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’ printed in American local newspaper - love quiz split into 3 parts: current relationship, general experiences and attachment type

Findings:
- 56% secure attachment type - most likely to have good and long-lasting romantic relationships
- 25% insecure-avoidant attachment type - tended to show signs of jealousy and fear of intimacy

This suggests that patterns of attchment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships

Question 7

Which researchers conducted studies into relationships in adulthood?

Answer 7

1. Hazan and Shaver - love quiz
2. McCarthy - women who had also been assessed as babies
3. Heidi Bailey - 99 mothers and their babies and with their mothers

Question 8

Outline research conducted by McCarthy into adult relationships

Answer 8

McCarthy:

Procedure : studied 40 adult women who had also been assessed as babies
Findings :
- securely attached babies = best adult relationships
- insecure - avoidant babies = struggle with intimacy in romantic relationships
- insecure - resistant babies = problems with maintaining friendships

Question 9

Outline research conducted by Heidi Bailey into adult relationships

Answer 9

Heidi Bailey : studied how a person’s internal working model impacts their parenting style

Procedure : studied the attachments of 99 mothers to their babies (using strange situation) and to their own mothers (using interviews)

Findings: most women had the same attachment classification to both their babies and their own mothers

Question 10

What is a strength of research into how early attachments influence later relationships?

Answer 10

There is lots of evidence to support that early attachments do influence later relationships
- eg McCarthy - studied 40 women who had also been assessed as babies and found that those who were classified as securely attached went on to have the best adult relationships whilst those who were insecurely attached experienced issues like struggling with intimacy in romantic relationships and struggling to maintain friendships
- eg Heidi Bailey - studied the attachments of 99 women to their babies and to their own mothers and found that most women had the same attachment classification to both their babies and their mothers
This means that early attachment types do have a significant influence on later relationships, supporting Bowlby’s concept of an internal working model

Question 11

What are 2 limitations of research into the influence of early attachment?

Answer 11

1. Most research is not longitudinal as this takes a very long time, so researchers often gather info about early attachments simply by asking people about their childhood experiences - this poses issues with the validity of these kinds of studies
   - eg p.s may not have accurate perceptions of their childhoods and they may miss out important details
   - also, people may act on demand characteristics and so might not be completely honest about what they experienced as children
   This means that most studies may be confounded with other factors, meaning they may have low internal validities
2. The idea of an internal working model and studying the influence of early attachments on later relationships is extremely deterministic and reductionist
   - eg the theory suggests that people who were insecurely attached as children are inevitably going to experience issues with forming healthy relationships in the future
   - however there is plenty of research evidence showing that many insecurely attached children grow up to experience happy and fulfilling relationships
   - furthermore it ignores the influence of other factors which may impact a person’s future relationships, like genetically-influenced personality traits
   This means that a person’s adult relationships may not be entirely down to the early attachments they had as a child, and Bowlby’s theory of an internal working model might not be completely valid