Booklet 3 relationships

Effects of childhood on relationships - A01

• Bowlby:
• Bowlby believed that the type and quality of relationships an individual has with their primary caregiver provides the foundation for all future relationships, by creating an internal working model.
• He stated that later relationships are likely to be a continuation of early attachment types (secure and insecure) because the behaviour of the infants primary caregiver promotes an internal working model of relationships which leads them to expect the same in later relationships.
• In some extreme cases, a child's internal working model can lead them to develop an attachment disorder.
• Hazen and Shaver:
• Also concluded that early experiences can dictate subsequent adult relationships. They argued that early experiences affect three areas - romantic relationships, care giving and sexuality.
• Their love quiz advertised in a newspaper for volunteers and involved participants being assessed on their childhood attachment types, and their feelings towards adult relationships.
• They found that secure adults believed in lasting love & weren't afraid to get close, avoidant adults were skeptical about the existence of true love and were less accepting of their partners and resistant adults reported emotional extremes of jealousy and passion, and reported a desire to merge with their partner.

Effect of childhood on relationships - A02

• Van der Kolk and Fisher:
• Found that individuals who were abused during childhood had difficulty forming healthy attachments and formed disorganized attachments instead.
• These disorganized attachments led to difficulty regulating emotions; a key aspect in forming and maintaining healthy relationships.
• This supports Bowlby's internal working model.
• Berenson et al:
• Provided support for the claim that individuals who were abused during childhood have a difficult time developing adult relationships.
• They found that women who were abused during childhood later displayed negative reactions towards another person, such as the expectation of rejection and emotional distancing.
• This supports Bowlby's internal working model.

Influence of Culture on relationships

• Importance of love: A01
• Western (individualistic) cultures tend to form romantic relationships on a voluntary basis - they choose their partners freely. However in eastern (collectivist) cultures, involuntary or arranged relationships are much more common.
• For Chinese people, romance and love is only considered in light of responsibility to parents and family.
• Spontaneous expression of love, especially sex outside of marriage, is not considered appropriate in Chinese culture.
• A02
• Moore and Leung tested this predicted cultural difference by comparing Chinese people to Australian people and found contradictory evidence. Contrary to the stereotypical view that romance is a characteristic only of western cultures, positive attitudes about romantic love were reported by Chinese participants too.
• Furthermore, in some rapidly developing countries there has been a move away from arranged marriages. In China, instances in which the parents dominate partner choice has declined from 70% in 1949 to less than 10% in the 1990's.

Influence of Culture on Relationships

• Differences in loneliness: A01
• Cultures that promote a strong desire for romantic relationships can greatly influence the feeling of romantic loneliness for young adults who are not involved in a romantic relationship.
• Seepersad suggested that young adults in western cultures like the UK and US would feel more romantic loneliness than young adults in eastern cultures like China and Korea because of the high desire for romantic relationships in their culture.
• A02
• Seepersad found that US students reported significantly higher levels of loneliness when not in a romantic relationship that Korea students not in a romantic relationship.
• This suggests a strong emphasis on the importance of romantic relationships in Western cultures which may amplify an individuals feeling of loneliness.