Influence of Early Attachment on Relationships

Introduction

• Early relationships with parents potentially influence future relationship success.
• Exploring how attachment in infancy affects childhood and adult relationships.
• Concerns about poor early attachment leading to generational cycles of unfulfilling relationships.

Internal Working Model

• Concept by Bowlby: Infants develop an internal schema based on experiences with caregivers.
• This schema influences expectations about trust and affection in relationships.
• Continuity Hypothesis: Future relationships mirror the infant's internal working model.

Attachment Styles

• Ainsworth's classification:
  • Secure: Positive social abilities and secure later relationships.
  • Insecure-Avoidant: Avoid intimacy.
  • Insecure-Resistant: Struggle with autonomy, leading to ineffective relationships.
• Hazan and Shaver's research on adult attachment styles:
  • 56% secure, 25% avoidant, 19% anxious.
  • Correlation between adult and infant attachment styles.

Maternal Deprivation Theory

• Bowlby's theory: Disrupted care in infancy leads to social, emotional, and intellectual difficulties.

Research and Evaluations

• Hazan and Shaver collected data from a 'love quiz' to study relationships.
• McCarthy's study: Secure infants -> secure adult relationships; Insecure -> problematic relationships.
• Mari and Wilson studied 196 children, linking parenting styles to bullying and victimhood.

Role of Fathers

• Verissimo's study: Father's role crucial for socialization, leading to more friendships.

Practical Applications

• Understanding attachment's impact can inform educational interventions to improve children's social skills.
• Stable relationships can have economic benefits by reducing divorce and family breakdown.

Criticisms of Research

• Reliance on correlational data, lacking cause and effect.
• Self-report methods may introduce bias (memory, demand characteristics, social desirability).

Alternative Explanation

• Kagan's Temperament Hypothesis: Inherited temperament influences relationship styles independently of early attachments.

Conclusion

• Debate between predetermined relationship styles vs. the belief in free will.
• Continuity Hypothesis: Potentially deterministic outlook on relationships.