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Into The Influence Of Childhood Experiences On Adult Relationships Essay

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Into The Influence Of Childhood Experiences On Adult Relationships Essay
Examine the influence of childhood experiences on adult relationships:

Adult relationships are influenced by our internal working model as proposed by Bowlby. Our internal working model is developed throughout our life and contains information about an individuals development and functioning. In terms of the internal working model in childhood, it is based on early experiences with the mother or primary care giver (monotropy – one special attachment figure). Therefore, our internal working model influences our expectations about our adult romantic and peer relationships and also about how available and reliable the other person is likely to be.

A love quiz study by Hazen and Shaver provided evidence of the attachment styles in childhood …show more content…
However, many studies to do with attachment style including Hazen and Shaver’s love quiz are retrospective. The participants were asked to recall their attachment and relationship with their mother form when they were a child. Therefore, the participants’ answers may have been distorted or incorrectly recalled due to poor memory. This inaccurate information may lead to the results also being inconclusive therefore affecting both the validity and reliability of these studies. So it may be imprecise to say that attachment styles in childhood always influences our attitude to romantic adult relationships.

Furthermore, this theory is deterministic as our internal working model is suggested to determine our attitudes and behaviour towards romantic relationships. Therefore, this suggests that once an individuals internal working model and attachment style is developed in childhood, the influence in adulthood cannot be changed. Thus, other factors such as cultural, social (peer influence) and social desirability factors are not taken into account but these are important factors as they can also easily influence adult
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