How does early attachment influence later relationships?
The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model.
Covers AQA 4.3 the influence of early attachment on later relationships, including the internal working model, the continuity hypothesis and the Hazan and Shaver love quiz.
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What this dot point is asking
AQA wants you to explain how early attachment, through the internal working model, influences childhood and adult relationships. The exam skill is to set out the mechanism (the internal working model and the continuity hypothesis), to cite the evidence, and to evaluate it without overclaiming causation.
The internal working model and continuity
The internal working model is the central mechanism linking early experience to later life. According to Bowlby, the infant's first relationship generates a set of expectations about relationships in general: whether others are trustworthy and responsive, and whether the self is worthy of love. A securely attached infant forms a positive model and carries forward expectations of warmth and reliability, whereas an insecurely attached infant forms a model coloured by inconsistency or rejection. Because this model operates as a template, it shapes how the person behaves in friendships, romantic relationships, and eventually as a parent (which is why attachment patterns can be transmitted across generations). In childhood, securely attached children tend to form better, less conflictual friendships; Myron-Wilson and Smith (1998) found insecure-avoidant children were more likely to be victims of bullying and insecure-resistant children more likely to be bullies, illustrating the model's reach into peer relationships.
Evidence
Hazan and Shaver analysed 620 replies to a newspaper love quiz that assessed both current romantic experiences and recollections of early attachment. They found a clear association between the two: about 56% of respondents were secure and reported trusting, durable relationships, while avoidant respondents feared closeness and resistant respondents were preoccupied and jealous. This supports the continuity hypothesis, but it must be evaluated carefully. The data are correlational, so they cannot establish that early attachment causes adult relationship style; an alternative is that an innate temperament influences both. The study also relied on retrospective self-report of childhood, which may be distorted by memory and social desirability. Finally, the continuity is probabilistic, not deterministic: people are not condemned by their early attachment, and later relationships and experiences can reshape the internal working model, which is an important and reassuring evaluative point.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 20194 marksExplain how the internal working model can influence later relationships.Show worked answer →
A 4-mark item (about 2 AO1, 2 AO2). Markers want the mechanism, not just a definition.
The internal working model is a mental template of relationships formed from the infant's first attachment. It contains expectations about how relationships work, whether others can be trusted, and how lovable the self is. A securely attached infant develops a positive model, expecting relationships to be loving and reliable, and so forms trusting friendships and romantic relationships later. An insecurely attached infant develops a negative model, expecting rejection or inconsistency, and so may avoid intimacy or become clingy.
A full-mark answer defines the model, then explains the causal mechanism by which it carries expectations from the first relationship into later ones, with an example of secure versus insecure outcomes.
AQA 20216 marksDiscuss research into the influence of early attachment on adult relationships.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark item, roughly 3 AO1 (the research) and 3 AO3 (evaluation).
Research: Hazan and Shaver (1987) placed a "love quiz" in a newspaper, measuring respondents' early attachment and their current romantic experiences. They found a correlation: securely attached people reported happy, trusting and lasting relationships, insecure-avoidant people feared and avoided intimacy, and insecure-resistant people were preoccupied and jealous.
Evaluation: the data are correlational, so we cannot conclude that early attachment causes adult relationship style, since a third factor (such as temperament) may underlie both. The study also used retrospective self-report of childhood, which may be inaccurate or biased. Markers reward outlining the love quiz findings plus at least two developed limitations (correlation and retrospective self-report).
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- Animal studies of attachment: Lorenz and Harlow.
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- Explanations of attachment: learning theory and Bowlby's monotropic theory. The concepts of a critical period and an internal working model.
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- Types of attachment: secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant. Ainsworth's Strange Situation. Research into types of attachment.
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- Cultural variations in attachment, including van IJzendoorn.
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Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Psychology (7182) specification — AQA (2015)