Research is correlational
Type: Criticism
- Research is correlational rather than experimental
- Therefore cannot claim early attachment type causes relationship experiences later in life
- Other factors may have a direct effect on both attachment and quality of later relationships
- i.e., a child’s temperament
- Researchers are unable to conclude that the internal working model determines later relationships as there may be other factors that cause the difference found
Retrospective classification
Type: Criticism
- Most studies rely on retrospective classification - asking adults questions about their early lives in order to assess infant attachments
- Recollections may be flawed as memories may not be accurate and respondents may lie about their early childhood experiences due to social desirability bias as they may be embarrassed to reveal any negative experiences
- This means the research may be low in internal validity as it is no measuring one of the variables that it intends to measure: infant attachment types
Support for Hazan and Shaver
Type: Positive
Study: Simpson et al. (2007)
- Found participants who were securely attached were rated as having higher social competence as children, being closer to their friends at age 16 and were most expressive and emotionally attached to their romantic parters in early adulthood
- Supports the view that attachment type does predict relationships in adult life
Overly deterministic
Type: Criticism
- Research suggests that very early experiences have a fixed effect on later adult relationships
- Suggesting that there is nothing an individual can do to control their future relationships if they were insecurely attached as an infant
- However researchers have found that there are many cases where participants were experiencing happy adult relationships despite not being securely attached as infants
- Simpson et al. (2007) claims that the research does not suggest that an individual’s past unalterably determines the future of their relationships0