Preview

How Do Adults Perceive That Significant Others in Their Lives (I.E. People Who Are or Have Been Important to Them) Have Affected Their Development? Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
435 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Do Adults Perceive That Significant Others in Their Lives (I.E. People Who Are or Have Been Important to Them) Have Affected Their Development? Essay Example
TITLE: How do adults perceive that significant others in their lives (i.e. people who are or have been important to them) have affected their development?

ABSTRACT: This study focuses on the how early relationships with significant others (i.e. parental figures) affect later development and future adult relationships. In this case how our vertical relationships shape our horizontal adult relationships. A qualitative analysis was carried out on pre-existing, edited material, filmed interview and printed transcript. Thematic analysis did show that significant others may have impacted on the development of future relationships. Specifically on attachment theory

INTRODUCTION: Developmental psychology looks at whether our experiences during childhood has an affect on lasting relationships in adulthood. This study looks at one aspect in development, attachment theory. John Bowlby (1940) (cited in Wood et al. 2007) theory was that a 'child has a natural drive to form bonds with a primary care giver'. Bowlby believed that the important for a mother and child to form a ' healthy internal working model (expectations of how two people relate to one another, established during childhood and the affects on later adult relationships). Mary Ainsworth (1954) (cited in Wood et al. 2007) spent some time working with Bowlby researching 'maternal deprivation', ( lack of mother experiences in infancy) ant the affect this had on child development. And through this research Bowlby believed he found this had a significant affect on juvenile delinquency. Ainsworth went on to further her research and identified different types of attachment between mother and child, based on observed behaviour inn laboratory assessments Ainsworth identified three infant attachment classifications, (1) type A: insecure, anxious avoidant, (2) type B: secure, and (3) type C: insecure, anxious ambivalent. This led Mary Main (1985) (cited in Wood et al. 2007) to developing a way of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Furthermore, there are few weaknesses that Bowlby`s attachment theory displays. For instance, his theory promotes the idea that attachment behaviour has evolved therefore the child`s development presents good face validity. But he fails to take into consideration that these evolutionary ideas he proposes are seen as outdated and not universal to today’s modern society. Secondly, the theory is viewed as gender bias because it emphasises on the role of the mother being the caregiver. There is a research that has shown within two parent families, the father `s involvement in the quality of attachment can play major role in the child’s behaviour and development (Grossman & Grossman,…

    • 108 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This essay will describe and evaluate Bowlby’s theory of attachment and maternal deprivation hypothesis. The essay will describe the two theories, weighing up the strengths and the weaknesses. It will include supporting research by Shaffer and Emerson, Ainsworth and Harlow, along with criticisms by Rutter.…

    • 2361 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many researchers have studied attachment; however, John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth are the researchers responsible for the origination of the attachment theory, therefore also becoming catalysts for the research of attachment in the late eighteenth century. Attachment, as defined by Ainsworth, is “‘an affectional tie’ that an infant forms with a caregiver—a tie that binds them together in space and endures over time” (Berger, 2014, p. 142). Furthermore, as described in Berger, the attachment theory assesses the behaviors associated with four identified types of infant attachment. These four types include secure, insecure-resistant/ambivalent, insecure avoidant, and disorganized attachment. Berger defines each of these types as follows: securely…

    • 186 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    PSYCH 600 Attachment Style

    • 1155 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Modern attachment theory, founded by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, studied the relationship between children and their caregivers. Attachment theory was applied to adult romantic relationships in the late 1980’s by Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver. They found interactions between adult romantic partners and interactions between children and their caregivers shared similarities. There are four main attachment styles identified in both adults and children. The adult styles are secure, anxious-preoccupied, dismissive-avoidant, and fearful-avoidant. The children styles are secure, anxious-ambivalent, anxious-avoidant, and disorganized. The core principles of attachment theory apply to both types of relationships.…

    • 1155 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Attachment theory is a concept in developmental psychology that concerns the importance of "attachment" in regards to personal development. John Bowlby was the first Psychologist to experiment this childhood development that he believed depended heavily upon a child's ability to form a strong relationship with at least one primary caregiver. Bowlby’s studies led him to believe that children needed someone dominant for support and reassurance. Without this relationship, Bowlby felt that children would long for stability and security. On the other side of this theory, he believed a child with a strong attachment to a parent knows that they will have their “backs”, and will tend to be more adventurous and eager to have new experiences. Mary Ainsworth…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fshs 2 Exam

    • 2037 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Past families and past experiences also create a barrier to developing intimacy. Our close family not only affects our intimacy but so does multigenerational influences. Intergenerational Family Theory shows that this is true. Our relational functioning is passed down from generation to generation and each experience affects us and how we develop intimacy towards others.…

    • 2037 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bowlby Attachment Theory

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the 1980s, Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver were able to garner a lot of attention, then, when they turned attachment theory on adult relationships. In their studies, they looked at a number of couples, examining the nature of the attachments between them, and then observed how those couples reacted to various stressors and stimuli. In the case of adults, it would seem that a strong attachment is still quite important. For example, in cases where the adults had a weak attachment, there were feelings of inadequacy on the part of both parties. When attachments were too strong, there were issues with co-dependency. The relationships functioned best when both parties managed to balance intimacy with independence. Much as is the case with developing children, the ideal situation seemed to be an attachment that functioned as a secure base from which to reach out and gain experience in the world.…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Contribution tma05

    • 2471 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Bowlby's attachment theory identifies three types of internal working models underpinning three basic infant attachment styles which were later translated empirically by Mary Ainsworth (1989) into infant attachment classifications. The attachment theory relies on the assumption that these internal working models are stable over time and enduring, hence each type of Ainsworth's infant attachment types can be associated with their related adult attachment styles (Wood, Littleton, Oates, 2007). Also it counts on the premise that having established a robust internal working model during early childhood, one is then bound to have 'healthy' relationships in adulthood (Wood, Littleton, Oates, 2007).…

    • 2471 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Humans are social beings and need to be with others and form relationships but our relationship behaviors do not "come naturally" and they need to be learned similar to other social skills (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005, p.77). Many psychologists argue that the kind of relationships infants have with their primary caregivers is the blueprint for the later life relationships (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005). Behaviors in adult relationships' are influenced by the kinds of relationships and attachments they have experienced in their early years with their primary caregivers. This is the basic perspective of the theory of attachment styles that claims that the kind of bonds we form early in life influence…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The first relationship a child has with their parents or carers acts as an enduring model, shaping the capability to enter and maintain a positive relationship with family, friends and partners. It is understood that the initial and influential experiences with the people who first raised the child will affect their long-term emotional wellbeing.…

    • 2187 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Lifespan psychology is concerned with the ways in which we change and develop throughout our life and aims to find out firstly if “developmental change in just one aspect of our psychology (personality, biological and cognitive factors) will have an impact on some or all of the others” (Wood, Littleton & Oates, 2007) and secondly if, these factors are affected more by nature (internal factors) or nurture (external factors). One of the theories called upon to explore this is attachment theory which was first introduced by John Bowlby (1907-1990). A British psychoanalyst who was intrigued by the bonds between parent and child and the high levels of distressed he witnessed by the child during separation from the parent. Bowlby believed the distress behaviours shown by the child such as “crying and searching are adaptive responses to separation…from the primary attachment figure” (Fraley, 2010) providing an “evolutionary function” as the primary caregiver provides the essentials for survival at that point.…

    • 2601 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Psychodynamic Approach

    • 1908 Words
    • 8 Pages

    32) Subsequent research of Main Fand Goldwyn (1984) (cited by Barnes. p.32) showed that the nature of the attachment established in childhood strongly influence significant adult relationships and can even past onto the next generation. For instance, a secure attached child as classified by "Strange Situation" would become an autonomous-secure adult, whilst an anxious/avoidance child would become a dismissing-detached adult (Barnes, p. 32)If what we established in early familial relationships did remain and affect our adult relationships, then are we consciously aware of these transferences? And are they opened to change, or are they simply a repetition?Although it seems that individual have the autonomy lo act or choose his or her partner, both in sexual relationships and in marriages, the underlying motivation for them lo behave as such, are in fact, with a hidden agenda that even themselves cannot be consciously aware. All those childhood experiences that remained and transferred to the current relationships are conflicting emotions that had been repressed into the unconsciousness. According to psychodynamics, these repressed feelings can only be unraveled by the…

    • 1908 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Attachment Theory

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Ainsworth observations, `the strange situation` procedure highlight emotional bond that connects mother/infant, she believed, much like Bowlby 1969(Farrington-Flint 2014 p 77) that responding sensitively and appropriately to the child’s requirement, such behaviour appears universal across cultures. Attachment theory provides an explanation of how the parent/child relationship materializes and influences development, this is supported by Psychologist Bowlby, Harlow, Lorenz theories of attachments. Bowlby also suggested a child forms one primary attachment initially, acting as a model for all future social relationships towards others, peers and personal relationships so disrupting it can have consequences. Whereas John Watson (Farrington-Flint 2014 p 133) proposed through the process of conditioning, explaining aspects of attachments though patterns of stimulus and reaction. The nature via nurture debate continues, and appears that a mixture of both enhances attachments. However the question remains can attachments if delayed be rebuilt over time of which it can but with some consequences as seen in The Open University (2014) ‘Feral children’ which focus on nature/nurture factors in cases such as feral children, Romanian orphans, highlighting extreme…

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The types of attachment an infant experiences form a template for that infant’s future attachments. This is called an internal working model and plays a role in guiding future relationships. A secure child will develop a positive internal working model of itself because it has received sensitive emotional care from its primary attachment figure. An insecure-avoidant child will develop an internal working model in which it sees itself as unworthy because its primary attachment figure has reacted negatively to it during the sensitive period for attachment formation.…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For this assignment, I am choosing to write about the Attachment Theory, because the concepts of this theory had captured my attention during class. The Attachment Theory was discovered by John Bowlby, which he had examined and analyzed the relationships between a child and their caregiver. Bowlby was attempting to understand the extreme distress from infants, who had been separated from their parents, which left the infants in discomfort. The most important stages of the Attachment Theory is during the first nine months of the infant’s life, when the bond of the newbond and caregiver must be endless, to create a trust and hopeful relationship. A child without a caregiver will likelyhood have relationship issues with another human being or…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays