To prove that later love
relationships are predictable
from knowledge of previous
attachments
Method?
Study took place in USA. In a
magazine, questionnaire published
as 'Love Quiz' asked people aged
14-82 closed questions about
relationships. 2 variables were
measured : a person's infant
attachments and their attitude
towards their most important love
relationship
Results?
1200 replied but only 620 were analysed; 56%
had secure, 25% avoidant and 19% ambivalent
attachments as children. Those who were
securely attached had mutual trust and were
less likely to divorce whereas those who were
insecurely attached found relationships harder
and fell in and out of love easily
Conclusion?
Hazan and Shaver concluded that there is a
clear relationship between attachments at
infancy and the type of relationship people
have in adulthood
Limitations
*Sampling method may give
unrepresentative sample; possibly
gender biased as in general more
women read magazines compared
to men
*Used closed
(multichoice)
questions;
participants could
not elaborate.
Relationships are
complex so giving one
simple answer could
lead to inaccurate
results because the
replies were not
detailed enough
*Relies heavily on honest answers;
participants could be sensitive talking
about their families and love lives
leading to untruthful of exaggerated
responses. Also, people were reporting
on their childhood, making results
inaccurate as their memories may have
become distorted or portrayed wrongly