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Influence on Early Attachments - Coggle Diagram
Influence on Early Attachments
Internal Working Model
Infant learns about a relationship from experience with how their parents behaviour towards each other.
This provides a blueprint for the infant on how relationships should be later on in their adolescence/ adulthood.
Childhood friendships - securely attached individuals in infancy had highest rates for social competence in childhood, were more popular and friendly so made friends more easily.
Poor parenting - lack if IWM means individuals lack a reference point to form relationships with their own children.
Romantic relationships - Love Quiz study, link between early attachment type and later relationships, securely attached individuals have longer lasting romantic relationships.
Mental health - lack of attachment in critical period could result in lack of IWM. Attachment disorder - child has no preferred attachment figure, inability to relate or interact with others evident before 5 and experience neglect or frequent change of caregiver. This is classified under DSM as a distinct psychiatric condition.
Continuity Hypothesis
Helps predict future relationships.
Securely attached infants grow up to social, securely attached adults.
Insecure infants struggle to form strong attachments when they are older.
Evaluation
Correlation not causation - research linking IWM to early attachment and later relationships was not done by experiment. Cannot be claimed that IWM determines later relationships.
Rely on retrospective classification - adults are being asked about their childhood which can be flawed as memories are not perfect. However, longitudinal studies e.g. Simpson 2007, have found the same results as Hazan and Shaver.
Overly determinist - suggests very early experiences have a fixed effect on later relationships, but this is not always the case, Simpson 2007 concluded an individual's past unalterably determines future relationships.
Low correlations - not all research has a strong positive correlation, Fraley 2002 - review of 27 samples of infants assessed in infancy then again later (from 1 month to 20 years). Correlations from 0.5 to 0.1 as insecure-resistant is more unstable. Pose challenge to attachment research as don't suggest attachment type is very stable.
Alternative - Feeney 1999 - adult attachment matches properties of relationship rather than individual
Hazan and Shaver 1987
Love Quiz sent out in small American newspaper
Received 605 responses; 205 from men and 415 from women. In which they had to self-report on childhood and adult relationship experiences through a questionnaire - issue with small sample and self-report bias.
Found prevalence of attachment styles was similar to infancy - 56% secure, 25% avoidant, 19% resistant. Positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences. Relationship between conception of love (IWM) and attachment type.