The relationships between internal working models of caregiving : Care for child and care for partner

Caregiving behavior, the important element in dyadic relationship, occurred by activation of caregiving behavioral system. Repeat experiences of such activation constructs a type of mental representation, as a terminology in attachment theory, internal working model (IWM). It is said that such IWMs of caregiving are constructed for each recipient separately. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between IWMs of caregiving for different recipients and these influences toward parental sensitivity. From the results, caregiving IWM have high correlations between different recipients. In addition, attachment and caregiving toward marital partner show unique influences on sensitivity