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ATTACHMENT- influence of attachment on childhood and adult relationships -…
ATTACHMENT- influence of attachment on childhood and adult relationships
the internal working model and continuity hypothesis are the two key points of this sub-topic
Hazan and Shaver love quiz
received 620 responses from a newspaper love quiz examining feelings of romance. then they were catagorised into:
secure (balance between close and indeoendent) 56%
avoidant 25%
anxious 19%
Ps also completed questions that tested their attachment type with their parents
FINDINGS: correlation between adult and child attachment types. securely attached adults believe love was long lasting, reported being happy in their relationships and didnt tend to get divorced. insecure types reported more loneliness
the amounts of each type was similar to the amount of each type found by Ainsworth
this suggests theres a link between our infant attachment style and our attachment types with adults
NEGATIVE- the results are correlational and the use of a volunteer sample and self-report method can cause us to question the validity
measuring adult attachment
Hazen and shaver measured in the same way as Ainsworth
AAI. Main et al developed the adult attachment interview. 20 question semi-structured interview which reveals the internal working model. The results werent anything to do with the answers to the questions but more the quality of the conversation. there were 4 types :
Dismissing- P was insecure/defensive
Autonomous- secure
Preoccupied- Insecure and overthinker
Unresolved- childhood trauma
the types predict own early attachment and attachment with their own infants in the strange situation, showing a continuity
its expected that children with a secure attachment type will go on to be more socially capable in childhood rather than insecure types because they have a healthy and working internal working model
EVALUATIVE RESEARCH
POSITIVE- Verissimo et al. observations of preschool childrens relationships with mothers and fathers assessed and compared with follow up assessment of interactions with others at nursery. strong attachment to father was best predictor of ability to make friends at school.
this suggests that a strong attachment to the father has an important influence on the quantity and quality of childhood friendships
POSITIVE- McCarthy.
studied 40 women who were assessed for attachment style while in infancy (this is good because it meant type wasnt assumed and based on potential poor recall etc). Adults with long lasting and secure adult relationships were those that were deemed secure while in infancy, they also had higher levels of self esteem. insecure avoidant had poor romantic relationships, resistant had poor friendships. both insecure groups were more likely to have lived with a deviant partner
this suggests that early attachment style is linked to the quality of both adult romantic relationships and friendships
EVALUATION
POSITIVE- understanding that the origin of childhood friendships from the childs IWM has practical applications. schools can use this knowledge to help children alter their IWM to address issues like bullying and loneliness in childhood- this could help children achieve relationship stability in adulthood
NEGATIVE- all research is correlational. not possible to establish C&E so it could be another fctor that dictates the qualoity of adult and infant attachment.
NEGATIVE- Kagen provides alternate hypothesis called the temprament hypothesis. suggests infants have an innate biological personality which can result in their infant and adult attachment
NEGATIVE- validity of a self report method in many studies of infant attachment is problematic, especially in the assessment of adult attachment type. memory is reconstructive and unlikely to be accurate
NEGATIVE- continuity hypothesis is highly deterministic in suggesting the types of relationships we have as adults are due to the internal working model we have developed in infancy. people like to believe they have full control over their relationships including responsibility ofver whether or not the relationship is successful, so this theory could make people feel doomed to poor relationships