Attachment - Hazen &Shaver (1987)

OUTLINE

• Opportunity sample
• Questionnaire for people aged between 14 & 82
• Conducted in the USA
• Advertised as a "love quiz" in a local newspaper
• Two independent variables - the persons infant attachment type and their attitude to their most important love relationship
• Multi-choice questions
• 620 out of 1200 answers analysed 

RESULTS

• 56% had a secure infant attachment, whereas 25% had an insecure avoidant infant attachment and 19% had an insecure ambivalent infant attraction

Secure Infant Attachment

• Happy, friendly relationships
• Accepting and supportive of their partners
• Least likely to be divorced
• Average relationship length of 10 years

Insecure Avoidant Infant Attachment

• Afraid of intimacy 
• More highs and lows in their relationships
• Prone to jealousy
• Most likely to say they can get along fine
• Average relationship length of 6 years

Insecure Ambivalent Infant Attachment

• More prone to obsession
• Experience extreme sexual attraction
• Experience extreme jealousy
• Most likely to be divorced
• Average relationship length of 5 years

CRITICISMS

1 - The sampling method may have given an unrepresentative sample

• Only certain types of people may have responded
• More females in the sample caused a gender bias
• Can be class/culture biased as it was in a local newspaper

2 - The method relies too much on respondents giving honest/accurate answers

• May lie, exaggerate or cover up certain details
• May have inaccurate memories of upbringing
• May have a biased view of childhood

3 - The questionnaire used closed questions which may not have gone into depth

• Relationships are complex
• May want to elaborate on their answer, but they cannot