Influence of Early Attachment on Later relationships
Attachment and later relationships
Internal Working Model
Internal working model- John Bowlby (1969) suggested that a child having their first
relationship with their primary attachment figure forms a mental representation of this
relationship. This internal working model acts as a template for future relationships.
This quality of the child’s first attachment is crucial because this template will powerfully
affect the nature of their future relationships. A child whose first experience is a loving
relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to assume that this is how relationships are
meant to be. They will then seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within
them, i.e., without either being too uninvolved or being too emotionally close (typify type A
behaviour) or being controlling and argumentative (type C behaviour).
A child with bad experiences of their first attachment will bring these bad experiences to
bear on later relationships. This may mean they struggle to form relationships in the first
place or they may not behave appropriately when they have them, displaying type A or type
C behaviour towards friends and partners.
Relationships in later childhood
Attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood. Securely
attached infants tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas
insecurely attachment infants later have friendship difficulties (Kern 1994)
In particular, bullying behaviour can be predicted by attachment type. Rowan Myron-Wilson
and Peter Smith (1998) assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using standard
questionnaires in 196 children ages 7-11 from London. Secure children were unlikely to be
involved in bullying. Insecure-avoidant children were the most likely to be victims and
insecure-resistant children were most likely to bullies.
Key Terms
Childhood relationships- Affiliations with other people in childhood, including friends and
classmates and adults such as teachers.
Adult relationships- Those relationships the child goes on to have later in life as an adult.
These include friendships and working relationships but effects mostly relationships with
romantic partners and the persons own children.
Internal working models- The mental representations we all carry with us for our
attachment to our primary care giver. They are important in affecting our future
relationships because they carry our perception of what relationships are like.
Attachment and later relationships
Internal Working Model
Internal working model- John Bowlby (1969) suggested that a child having their first
relationship with their primary attachment figure forms a mental representation of this
relationship. This internal working model acts as a template for future relationships.
This quality of the child’s first attachment is crucial because this template will powerfully
affect the nature of their future relationships. A child whose first experience is a loving
relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to assume that this is how relationships are
meant to be. They will then seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within
them, i.e., without either being too uninvolved or being too emotionally close (typify type A
behaviour) or being controlling and argumentative (type C behaviour).
A child with bad experiences of their first attachment will bring these bad experiences to
bear on later relationships. This may mean they struggle to form relationships in the first
place or they may not behave appropriately when they have them, displaying type A or type
C behaviour towards friends and partners.
Relationships in later childhood
Attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood. Securely
attached infants tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas
insecurely attachment infants later have friendship difficulties (Kern 1994)
In particular, bullying behaviour can be predicted by attachment type. Rowan Myron-Wilson
and Peter Smith (1998) assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using standard
questionnaires in 196 children ages 7-11 from London. Secure children were unlikely to be
involved in bullying. Insecure-avoidant children were the most likely to be victims and
insecure-resistant children were most likely to bullies.
Key Terms
Childhood relationships- Affiliations with other people in childhood, including friends and
classmates and adults such as teachers.
Adult relationships- Those relationships the child goes on to have later in life as an adult.
These include friendships and working relationships but effects mostly relationships with
romantic partners and the persons own children.
Internal working models- The mental representations we all carry with us for our
attachment to our primary care giver. They are important in affecting our future
relationships because they carry our perception of what relationships are like.
