Discuss The Influence Of Childhood On Adult Relationships
Discuss the influence of childhood on adult relationships (8 +16)
Childhood is the early ages in a person’s life. In childhood we all have difference experiences that shape who we become and how we interact. There are multiple explanation into the influence of attachment styles and interaction with peers on relationships as an adult.
Bowlby proposed the internal working model to explain the influence of childhood on adult relationships. He suggested that the type and quality of relationship that a child has with their primary caregiver forms an internal working model. The internal working model forms a schema of what a relationship is, emotional experiences to expect and how reliable/available the attachment figure is. Bowlby suggested the internal working model acts as a template for future relationships. Therefore adult relationships reflect early attachment styles. Hazan and Shaver (1987) investigated the link between attachment style and later adult relationships. They asked participants to comment on their childhood attachment experiences and the most important romantic relationship of their life. They found adults securely attached as infants tended to have happy and lasting adult relationships. Adults insecurely attached as infants found adult relationships more difficult and were more likely to be divorced. This study therefore evidences how a person’s attachment style and so their internal working model provides the foundation for later adult relationships.
Hazan and Shaver’s study reliant on retrospective data as participants had to recall experiences from their childhood to correlate with variable such as marital satisfaction in adulthood. Providing some of the participants were in their 80s suggests their memory of childhood experiences is likely to be inaccurate. Therefore data lacks validity and further impacts the internal validity of their findings.
Empirical support for the importance of childhood attachment shaping adult relationships
Childhood is the early ages in a person’s life. In childhood we all have difference experiences that shape who we become and how we interact. There are multiple explanation into the influence of attachment styles and interaction with peers on relationships as an adult.
Bowlby proposed the internal working model to explain the influence of childhood on adult relationships. He suggested that the type and quality of relationship that a child has with their primary caregiver forms an internal working model. The internal working model forms a schema of what a relationship is, emotional experiences to expect and how reliable/available the attachment figure is. Bowlby suggested the internal working model acts as a template for future relationships. Therefore adult relationships reflect early attachment styles. Hazan and Shaver (1987) investigated the link between attachment style and later adult relationships. They asked participants to comment on their childhood attachment experiences and the most important romantic relationship of their life. They found adults securely attached as infants tended to have happy and lasting adult relationships. Adults insecurely attached as infants found adult relationships more difficult and were more likely to be divorced. This study therefore evidences how a person’s attachment style and so their internal working model provides the foundation for later adult relationships.
Hazan and Shaver’s study reliant on retrospective data as participants had to recall experiences from their childhood to correlate with variable such as marital satisfaction in adulthood. Providing some of the participants were in their 80s suggests their memory of childhood experiences is likely to be inaccurate. Therefore data lacks validity and further impacts the internal validity of their findings.
Empirical support for the importance of childhood attachment shaping adult relationships