Evaluating types of attachment

Evaluating types of attachment

1. Effects of attachment type

   • Bowlby's theory predicted that there would be continuities between early attachment experiences and later social and emotional behaviour.
   • Behaviour in later childhood.
     • A number of longitudinal studies support the claim that there is a link between attachment types and later social functioning. Prior And Glaser provide the following summary: Secure attachment is associated with positive outcomes such as less emotional dependence and higher achievement orientation and interpersonal harmony. Avoidant attachment is related to later aggressiveness, and generally negative affect. Resistant attachment is associated with greater anxiety and withdrawn behaviour. Disorganised attachment is linked to hostile and aggressive behaviour.
   • Adult romantic behaviour.
     • Bowlby believed that the reason for this link was because the mother's behaviour creates an internal working model of relationships that leads the infant to expect the same in later relationships. Hazen and Shaver (1987) investigated this hypothesis using a 'Love Quiz' in a newspaper. The quiz asked about early experiences, about current love experience involvements and also about attitudes towards love.

2. Factors Influencing attachment type

   • Sensitivity
     • Ainsworth developed the Maternal Sensitivity Scale to rate mothers' behaviours such as: sensitivity-insensitivity to infants' signals, acceptance-rejection, cooperation-interference and accessibility-ignoring. Using this scale Ainsworth et al. (1978) found key group differences in maternal scores in the Strange Situation: Mothers of securely attached infants were more sensitive,accepting, cooperative and accessible. Mothers of insecurely attached infants were more unresponsive to crying and less affectionate. Mothers of avoidant infants were more rejecting, paid less attention to infants when entering the room. Mothers of resistant infants tended to be occupied with the routine activities when holding the infant.
   • Maternal Reflective functioning
     • Some studies have actually found rather low correlations between measures of maternal sensitivity and the strength of attachment (e.g Raval et al., 2001). Slade et al. (2005) found a greater role for the maternal reflective functioning - the ability to understand what someone else is thinking and feeling. They suggest that maternal reflective thinking rather than sensitivity may be the central mechanism in establishing attachment type.