Influence of early attachment on later life

What did Kerns and Smith look at?

the influence of early attachment on later childhood

What did Kerns find?

that securely attached infants tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached children can go on to have friendship difficulties

What did Smith assess?

attachment type and bullying among 196 children aged 7-11 from London

What did Smith find?

• securely attached children were very unlikely to be involved in bullying

• insecure-avoidant were more likely to be victims of bullying

• insecure-resistant were more likely to be the bullies

What did Bailey et al look at?

the influence of early attachment on parenting style

What method did Bailey et al use to look at this?

he used the strange situation to assess the attachment between a mother and a baby. They then interviewed the mothers to determine their own attachment type as an infant

What did Bailey et al find?

that the majority of women had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers

What did Hazan and Shaver look at?

the influence of early attachment on romantic relationships

What method did Hazan and Shaver use?

they analysed 620 replies to a love quiz which assessed their relationships, love experiences and attachment types

What did Hazan and Shaver find?

that those who were securely attached were most likely to have good and long-lasting romantic experiences. Insecure avoidants tended to show jealousy and a fear of intimacy

What method did McCarthy use to study the influence of early attachments on romantic relationships?

studied 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were babies to establish their early attachment type

What did McCarthy find?

securely attached had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships, insecure-resistant had particular problems with maintaining friendships and insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships

How is the fact that research into the influence of early attachment relies on self-report data a weakness?

because some people may exaggerate their answers or lie about them due to social desirability and wanting to make themselves look better. This means that the research lacks internal validity as the researchers might not actually be measuring the influence of early attachment on later life

Give an example of weakness

for example, Hazan and Shaver analysed 620 replies to a love quiz that had three parts and got their results from this quiz

How is the fact that some of the researchers have exaggerated the influence of early attachments a weakness? (+counter/development)

as it is deterministic. This is because it can lead to the self-fulfilling prophecy, as the children of each category may feel like they have no choice but to become what the researchers conclude

D : Additionally, it can be seen as socially sensitive and damaging

Give an example of this weakness

for instance, Smith’s research found that securely attached children are very unlikely to be involved in bullying, insecure avoidant children were most likely to be victims of it and insecure resistant were most likely to be the bullies

How is the fact that there are mixed findings when it comes to the influence of early attachments on later life a weakness?

as if consistent conclusions can’t be found, then the research is unreliable and lacks inter-observer reliability specifically

Give an example of this weakness?

for example, Zimmerman(2000) found that there was very little relationship between quality of infant and adolescent attachment

How is the fact that most of the studies into the influence of early attachments on later life have issues with validity a weakness?

as the research lacks population validity meaning it can’t really be generalised as the options did not have enough variation to describe different people

Give an example of this weakness

for instance, Hazan and Shaver conducted a classical study in 1987 on the association between attachment and adult relationships by printing a ‘love quiz’ in an American local newspaper. This ‘love quiz’ consisted of a questionnaire with only 3 options per question, limiting the answers that could be given