Studied by 0 people
Looks like no one added any tags here yet for you.
Research support (+)
Kerns (1994) found securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best quality childhood relationships whereas insecurely attached babies have significant relationship difficulties, e.g. no special friend in childhood
Illustrates support of the long-lasting effects of attachment types and IWM (continuity hypothesis)
Theoretical problems (-)
Too deterministic as it suggests all future relationships are based on factors out of our control and if anything goes wrong in infancy someone is damaged permanently
Many have free will and behave in completely different ways in relationships compared to parents
Hence, early attachments impact on future relationships can be seen as too pessimistic with an overemphasis on psychic determinism
Research problems (-)
Influence of attachment type on later relationships can be considered as somewhat reductionist
While this area of research does not reduce relationships right down to influences at the biological level, it still reduces the complex influences by focusing purely on parental relationships, in doing so ignoring wider social influences such as similar social demographics
Evidence suggests that other influences are as important as well, e.g. early maturity/puberty and how this directly impacts childhood relationships, therefore being an incomplete theory
Application (+)
Concept of an internal working model and continuity hypothesis have had useful real life applications as it stresses the importance of caregiver sensitivity in infancy and encourages the formation of strong, secure attachment relationships
Need for more foster and adoptive parents, however it is difficult due to ensuring you have the right levels of sensitivity and may have to take part in parenting classes
Therefore, early childhood is critical and has far-reaching implications
