Influence of early attachment

Influence of early attachment

1. Bowlby's concept of internal working model is similar to schemas

2. Infant learns what relationships are like from experience and how partners behave towards each other

   • It is an operable model of self and attachment partner based on joint attachment history (Bretherton and Mulholland 1999)
     • It is operable because it is used to predict future behaviour

3. Hazan and Shaver

   • Love quiz in an American newspaper asking about current and previous attachment to identify attachment types. Asked questions about attitudes towards love, assessing the internal working model.
     • Procedure
   • 620 responses - 205 male and 415 female
   • Analysing the self - report attachment history attachment styles = similar o that found in infancy
     • 56% secure
     • 25% aviodant
     • 19% resistant
     • Findings
   • Positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences.
     • Secure = happy love experiences, trusting and accepting. Enduring 10 yr+ relationships
     • Resistant and avoidant = 5 / 6 years
   • Relationship between internal working model and attachment type.
     • Secure = positive internal working model

4. Behaviours influenced by IWM:

   • Childhood friendships - Minnesota child - parent study found continuity between early attachment ad later emotional / social behaviour. Securely attached infants had a higher social competence, empathy and were popular later on in life.
   • Poor parenting - Harlow's research with monkeys demonstrated links between poor attachment and later difficulties with parenting. Quinton showed the same with humans.
   • Romantic relationships - Hazan and schaver study
   • Metal health - lack of attachment during critical period results in lack of IWM. Children with attachment disorder have no preferred attachment figure, inability to relate to others, severe neglect / frequent change of caregivers.

5. Evaluation

   • Correlational rather than experimental and cannot be proven as cause and effect - other influencing factors
   • Retrospective flawed as memories may not be exact
     • But other studies support Hazan and Shaver i.e. simpson proving childhood attachment predict later life
   • Overly determinist - states that those w/o secure attachment are doomed in later life. NOT THE CASE