Evaluation of Bowlby

Bowlby seems to concentrate on the role of the mother and neglected the father believing the latter to be of little significance. Later research has shown that the father can play a useful role and lamb (1983) suggests that often children prefer the rough and tumble play they get with the father.
Bowlby seemed to overlook the relationships the child develops with its brothers and sisters. Schaffer (1996) describes these as horizontal relationships as opposed to the vertical relationships with parents, teachers and other adults.
Zimmerman et al (2000)
1. Assessed attachment style of children ages 12 to 18 months and then in a longitudinal study checked again at the age of 16 years
2. They found that early attachment style was not a good predictor of later relationships and also discovered that life events such as parental divorce had a much greater impact.
A poor early start can be overcome by positive experiences at school and good adult relationships (Rutter & Quinton 1988).
Hazan and Shaver (1987): The Love Quiz’
1. Procedure
  1. The researchers asked people to volunteer to take part in the study. They were given 2 questionnaires, one to determine their early relationships with parents, the second their later, adult romantic attachments.
2. Findings
  1. They found three basic types of childhood attachment and related these to later adult attachments:
    1. Secure
      1. Close warm relationship with parents and between parents
        Secure, stable and loving relationship with partner
        6% divorced
    2. Avoidant
      1. Mother was cold and rejecting
        Fear of intimacy, emotional highs and lows, jealousy
        12% divorced
    3. Anxious ambivalent
      1. Father was perceived as unfair
        Obsessive, jealous and emotional highs and lows
        10% divorced
3. Conclusion
  1. Early attachments do affect later, romantic attachments.
4. Evaluation of the Love Quiz
  1. Poor piece of research because;
    1. Self selecting sample:
      1. The participants volunteered after reading an advert in the Rocky Mountain News. This is a poor way of selecting participants since you are not getting a cross section of the public
    2. Questionnaire
      1. People tend not to answer truthfully, particularly on issues of relationships, instead wanting to make themselves look good
    3. Retrospective
      1. It seems unlikely that people’s memory of their childhood experiences will be accurate
    4. Cause and effect
      1. The researchers have shown a relationship between early attachments and later ones and are assuming that the childhood experience has caused the adult experience

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Evaluation of Bowlby

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	Created by danny-hudson97 about 10 years ago