In pairs complete the Agony Aunt task Influence of early attachments Learning outcomes: Describe how attachment can affect childhood relationships Describe how attachment can affect adulthood relationships Evaluate (using additional research) the continuity hypothesis and internal working model In pairs complete the Agony Aunt task

Attachment with parents Relationship with peers Attachment theory Attachment with parents Relationship with peers Later romantic relationships Bowlby According to ___________Attachments are instinctive, formed to help survival. The first attachment we form is to our parents and will depend on how __________ the parental care is. The attachment type you develop in childhood (secure/insecure) will continue into later relationships. This is known as the ____________ _____________ sensitive continuity hypothesis

Continuity hypothesis Children’s attachment types are reflected in their later relationships INTERNAL WORKING MODEL where an infant’s primary attachment forms a model (template / schema) for future relationships Continuity between early attachment experiences and later relationships

Try the Harry Potter Task

INFLUENCE OF ATTACHMENT ON CHILDHOOD RELATIONSHIPS According to attachment theory, the child who has a secure attachment style should be more confident in interactions with friends. Considerable evidence has supported this view For example, the Minnesota study (2005) followed participants from infancy to late adolescence. They found continuity between early attachment and later social behaviour. Securely attached children were rated most highly for social competence later in childhood, they were less isolated and more popular than insecurely attached children.

INFLUENCE OF EARLY ATTACHMENT ON CHILDHOOD RELATIONSHIPS Hartup et.al (1993) reported that children with a secure attachment type are more popular at nursery and engage more in social interactions with other children. In contrast, insecurely attached children tend to be more reliant on teachers for interaction and emotional support.

INFLUENCE OF EARLY ATTACHMENT ON ADULT RELATIONSHIPS Research indicates an inter-generational continuity between adults attachment types and their children, including children adopting the parenting styles of their own parents. People tend to base their parenting style on the internal working model so attachment type tends to be passed on through generations of a family. Research by Bailey et.al (2007) found that the majority of women had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers.

INFLUENCE OF EARLY ATTACHMENT ON ADULT RELATIONSHIPS There also appears to be continuity between early attachment styles and the quality of later adult romantic relationships In a study of attachment of both romantic relationships and friendships, McCarthy (1999) studied 40 adult women who had been assessed as infants to establish attachment type. Those classed as securely attached infants had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships.

INFLUENCE OF EARLY ATTACHMENT ON ADULT RELATIONSHIPS KEY STUDY Hazan & Shaver designed a study to test the internal working model (we have looked at this already) This study supports a relationship between childhood attachment type and adulthood attachment type

Anxious avoidant types were more doubtful about the existence of love, believing that it did not happen in real life. They also felt that they did not need a happy relationship to get lots out of life INSECURE AVOIDANT: Avoids closeness and comfort Secure types expressed a belief in lasting love. They found others trustworthy and were confident that they were lovable SECURE: safe base. Comfortable in relationships Anxious resistant types fell in love easily and often but rarely found true love. They felt insecure and experienced self doubt in love INSECURE AMBIVILANT RESISTANT: alternates between closeness and distance

Evaluation of Hazan & Shaver Don’t forget… Evaluation of Hazan & Shaver A weakness of the H & S study is that they used self-report measures (interview/survey) to assess attachment styles and relationships with parents. These could be subject to social desirability bias. This would mean the findings MAY lack validity as the ppts may have not told the truth. A further weakness is that recalling memories of infant experience may not always be accurate. People’s long term memories may not be accurate. This would once again mean the findings MAY lack validity. Furthermore this was a correlational study so does not show cause and effect – we cannot say that attachment DOES have an affect on adult relationships as there may be another explanation which has not been considered

Evaluation of H & S Don’t forget… A strength is that many studies have found similar findings to Hazan & Shaver. For example….Feeny & Noller (1990) found that securely attached individuals had the most long-term enduring romantic relationships whilst anxious-avoidant had the most short lived and least intense relationships. Supportive evidence means we can be more confident in the findings and this suggests Hazan & Shaver’s results are reliable (consistent/trustworthy). In turn this adds further support for the continuity hypothesis theory 

Additional Supporting Evidence comes from longitudinal research Additional Supporting Evidence comes from longitudinal research. For example Simpson et al (2007) At 1 year old - parents reported on attachment behaviours At 6-8 years old - teachers rated peer interactions At 16 years old – were asked to describe their close friendships Then in adulthood - romantic partners were asked to describe their experiences Securely attached infants = higher social competence as children = closer to their friends at 16 years = more expressive and emotionally attached to romantic partners.

There are some contradictory findings  A longitudinal study of 44 children in Germany by Zimmerman et.al (2000) found that childhood attachment type was not a good predictor of attachments in adolescence, and that life events often altered secure attachments to an insecure type in adulthood.

Conflicting evidence suggests there may be …. An alternative explanation for continuity in relationships for example the temperament hypothesis. An infant’s temperament may affect the way a parent responds and so may be a determining factor in infant attachment type. The infant’s temperament may explain their issues (good or bad) with relationships in later life too.

Multiple choice Which of these is a true statement concerning Bowlby’s internal working model theory? They serve as templates for future relationships They are the result of temperament They predict perfectly what sort of relationships people will have They cannot be changed

Possible Exam questions Describe what research has shown between the link between early attachment and adult relationships. ( 6 marks) 2. Describe & evaluate research into the influence of attachment on later childhood and adult relationships. (12 marks)

What else? Don’t forget… Can we generalise? Who were the sample? Where was it conducted? Any ethical issues? Can we apply this at all? Does it have an application to real life?