3b. Evaluation on Influence of early attachment on later relationships

What is the strength of influence of research on the influence of early attachment on later relationships?

Strength of influence of research on the influence of early attachment on later relationships=

• research which supports the idea of IWM affecting later relationships

Why is research which supports the idea of IWM affecting later relationships a strength?

Research which supports the idea of IWM affecting relationships a strength=

• Simpson et al assessed infant attachment at age 1. They also found that ppts who were securely attached as infants were rated as having higher social competence as children and clsoer to their friends at age 16 and were more expressive and were emotionally attached to their romantic partners in early adulthood. (longitudinal)

• This supports the view that attachment type does predict relationships in adult life (predicitve validity)

What are the limitations of research on the influence of early attachment on later relationships?

Limitations of research on the influence of early attachment on later relationships=

• research linking IWM and later relationships show that is correlational

• research lacks (external) validity

• research that doesn’t support the continuity hypothesis

Why is research linking IWM and later relationships show that is is correlation, a limitation?

A limitation of research linking IWM and later relationships is that it is correlational.

Therefore we cannot claim that early attachment and love stules is one of cause and effect.

It is possible that both attachment and love styles are caused by something different, for eg, temperament. Kagan’s temperament hypothesis states it is the infant’s temperament which affects the way a parent responds and thus may be a determining factor in attachment type. The individual’s temperament may explain their issues with relationships later in life.

This suggests that in this case temperament is an intervening variable and therefore the IWM explanation could be a simplistic view of the influence of early attachment.

Why is research lacking (external) validity a limitation of the influence of early attachment on later relationships?

Research lacking (external) validity is a limitation of the influence of early attachment on later relationships=

Hazan and Shaver asked adults to recall retrospectively about their early lives in order to assess attachment. Their answers may also have been affected by social desirability.

This is important as recollections like this are likely to be flawed as memories of the past are not always accurate.

Why is ‘there isresearch that does not support the continuity hypothesis, a limitation of the influence of early attachment on later relationships?

Limitation is that there is research which does not support the continuity hypothesis, eg that childhood attachment predicts adult attachment type.

Zimmerman researched infant and adolescent attachment types and found no relationship between the quality of attachment at these 2 points

This suggest that the influence of the IWM could be said to be overly deterministic