The impact of religion and spirituality on psychological adjustment is a continuing area of concern. This preliminary study attempted to examine the effects of religious orientation, retrospective accounts of child-parent attachment and current accounts of attachment to God on trait anxiety and existential well being, based on questionnaire responses of a sample of 116 adults from Sydney, Australia. Small, significant effects of attachment to God on the prediction of adjustment were found above the effects of child-parent attachments. Intrinsic religious orientation mediated the relationship between attachment to God and adjustment. In addition, groups were formed according to correspondence and compensation routes to secure religious attachment. Results gave preliminary support to a differentiation, rather than a surrogacy, model of compensation. Further work to examine the process whereby attachment to God does or does not compensate for insecure child-parent attachment is needed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AinsworthM. (1972). Attachment and dependency: A comparison. In Attachment and dependency. (GewirtzJ., Ed.) (pp. 97–137). Washington DC: Williamson.
2.
AinsworthM. (1973). The development of infant-mother attachment. In CaldwellB., & RicciutiH. (Eds.), Review of Child Development Research, Volume 3 (1–94). Chicago: Chicago University Press.
3.
AinsworthM. (1985). Attachments across the life span. Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 61, 792–812.
4.
AllportG.W. (1950). The individual and his religion.New York: MacMillan.
5.
AltemeyerB., & HunsbergerB. (1992). Authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, quest, and prejudice. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 2, 113–133.
6.
BaronR. M., & KennyD. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.
7.
BartholomewK., & HorowitzL. (1991). Attachment styles among the young: A test of a four-category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 226–244.
8.
BassettR., CamplinW., HumphreyD., DorrC., BiggsS., DistaffenR., DoxtatorI., FlahertyM., HunsbergerP.J., PoageR., & ThompsonH. (1991). Measuring Christian maturity: A comparison of several scales. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 19, 84–93.
9.
BatsonC. D., & VentisW. L. (1982). The religious experience: A social-psychological perspective.New York: Oxford University Press.
10.
BeckR. (2006). God as a secure base: Attachment to God and theological exploration. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 34, 125–132.
11.
BeckR., & McDonaldA. (2004). Attachment to God: The attachment to God inventory, tests of working model correspondence, and an exploration of faith group differences. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 32, 92–103.
12.
BelavichT., & PargamentK. (2002). The role of attachment in predicting spiritual coping with a loved one in surgery. Journal of Adult Development, 9(1), 13–29.
13.
BowlbyJ. (1969). Attachment and Loss. Volume 1: Attachment.New York: Basic.
14.
BowlbyJ. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory.London: Tavistock/Routledge.
15.
BuffordR., PaloutzianR., & EllisonC. (1991). Norms for the spiritual well-being scale. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 19, 56–70.
16.
CollinsN. L., & ReadS. J. (1990). Adult attachment, working models and relationship quality in dating couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 644–663.
17.
CollinsN. L., & ReadS. J. (1994). Cognitive representations of attachment: The structure and functions of working models. In BartholomewK., & PerlmanD. (Eds.), Attachment processes in adulthood, Advances in Personal Relationships, Vol. 5. (53–90). Pennsylvania: Kingsley.
18.
CrowellJ. A., & TrebouxD. (1995). A review of adult attachment measures: Implications for theory and research. Social Development, 4, 294–327.
19.
EgelandB., & EricksonM. F. (1987). Psychologically unavailable caregiving: The effects of development on young children and the implications for intervention. In BassardM., GermainB., & HartS. (Eds.), Psychological maltreatment of children and youth.New York: Pergamon.
20.
EllisonC. W. (1983). Spiritual well-being: Conceptualization and measurement. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 11, 330–340.
21.
EllisonC. W., & SmithJ. (1991). Toward an integrated measure of health and well-being. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 19, 35–48.
22.
FonagyP. (1999). Transgressional consistencies of attachment: A new theory.Dallas: Wiley.
23.
GoldenJ., PiedmontR. L., CiarrocchiJ. W., & RodgersonT. (2004). Spirituality and burnout: An incremental validity study. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 32, 115–125.
24.
GorsuchR. L., & McPhersonS. E. (1989). Intrinsic/extrinsic measurement: I/E revised and single-item scales. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 11, 53–64.
25.
GranqvistP. (1998). Religiousness and perceived childhood attachment: On the question of compensation or correspondence. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37, 350–367.
26.
GranqvistP. (2002). Attachment and religiosity in adolescence: Crosssectional and longitudinal evaluations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 260–270.
27.
GranqvistP., & HagekullB. (1999). Religiousness and perceived childhood attachment: Profiling socialized correspondence and emotional compensation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 38, 254–273.
28.
GranqvistP., & HagekullB. (2003). Longitudinal predictions of religious change in adolescence: Contributions from the interaction of attachment and relationship status. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20, 793–817.
29.
GranqvistP., & KirkpatrickL. A. (2004). Religious conversion and perceived childhood attachment: A meta-analysis. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 14, 223–250.
30.
HazanC., & ShaverP. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511–524.
31.
KirkpatrickL. A. (1992). An attachment theory approach to the psychology of religion. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 2, 3–28.
32.
KirkpatrickL. A. (1997). An attachment-theory approach to the psychology of religion. In SpilkaB., & McIntoshD. N. (Eds.), The psychology of religion: Theoretical approaches.Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
33.
KirkpatrickL. A. (1998). God as a substitute attachment figure: A longitudinal study of adult attachment style and religious change in college students. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 961–973.
34.
KirkpatrickL. A., & HoodR. W. (1990). Intrinsic-extrinsic orientation: Boon or bane?Journal for the Scientific Study of, Religion, 20, 442–462.
35.
KirkpatrickL. A., & ShaverP. R. (1990). Attachment theory and religion: Childhood attachments, religious beliefs and conversion. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 29, 315–334.
36.
KirkpatrickL. A., & ShaverP. R. (1992). An attachment theoretical approach to love and religious belief. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 266–275.
37.
KojetinB., McIntoshD., BridgesR., & SpilkaB. (1987). Quest: Constructive search or religious conflict?Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 26, 111–115.
38.
LevinJ. S., & ChattersL. M. (1998). Religion, health, and psychological well-being in older adults: Findings from three national surveys. Journal of Aging and Health, 10(4): 504–531.
39.
MainM., KaplanN., & CassidyJ. (1985). Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 501–2, 66–104.
40.
MastersK. S. (1991). Of boons, banes, babies and bath water: A reply to the Kirkpatrick and Hood discussion of intrinsic-extrinsic religious orientation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 30, 312–317.
41.
McDonaldA., BeckR., AllisonS., & NorsworthyL. (2005). Attachment to God and parents: Testing the correspondence vs. compensation hypotheses. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 24, 21–28.
42.
NielsonM., & FultzJ. (1995). Further examination of the relationships of religious orientation to religious conflict. Review of Religious Research, 36, 369–381.
43.
ProctorM. T. (1998). Attachment to God: Is it a viable concept? The relationship between attachment to God, child and adult attachment experiences, God concept and the quality and nature of attachment to God. Unpublished thesis. UWS, Australia.
44.
SchneiderE. L. (1991). Attachment theory and research: Review of the literature. Clinical Social Work Journal, 19, 251–266.
45.
SpielbergerC. (1983). Manual for the state-trait anxiety inventory.California: Consulting Psychologists Press.
46.
SroufeL. A., & FleesonJ. (1986). Attachment and the construction of relationships. In HartupW. W., & RubinZ. (Eds.), Relationships and development (pp. 239–252). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
47.
SroufeL. A., & WatersE. (1977). Attachment as an organizational construct. Child Development, 48, 1184–1199.
48.
VentisW. L. (1995). The relationships between religion and mental health. Journal of Social Issues, 51, 33–48.
49.
WatsonP., MorrisR., & HoodR. W. (1990). Extrinsic scale factors: Correlations and construction of religious orientation types. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 9, 35–46.
