parental influence

parental influence

1. Bowlby

   • early childhood experiences have a life long effect: for example if a child is not able to form a secure attachment to their primary care giver, then they will be unable to form close romantic relationships later on
     • schwartz et al : may be because attachment love and lust have similar emotional responses to anxiety and fear e.g. increased heart rate/ breathing rate etc

2. Collins and Van Dulmen

   • minnesota longitudinal study of parents and children
   • found that securely attached infants formed greater social skills, were more secure in their friendships and were more emotionally attached to romantic partners later on in life
   • links to sternbergs triangle - intimacy is a key component of consummate love

3. Freud

   • Oedipus complex
     • if a boy can identify with his father and become like him then the boy will gain fatherly attributes
     • if not then he will seek relationships with aspects of mother love such as nurturing and unconditionally loving
   • electra complex
     • if a girl can identify and internalise their femininity then they will seek partners with fatherly attitudes
     • if not then she will partly relate to traditional male roles such as tomboys, mechanics and pursuing intellectual skills
     • massively outdated!!!!!!!
   • evaluation
     • very androcentric (based on male views)
     • these constructs have not been operationalised and so are not empirical (cannot measure penis envy!)

4. "the dream"

   • Levinson: during adolescence, you start thinking about the person you'd like to be in the future
     • Gould: this is the time when you realise that your future may be different from your parents' and this is normal. if you believe that any future not similar to your parents to be bad/ wrong it is seen as a form of separation anxiety