In a two-wave survey study designed to extend and refine previous research on religion as an attachment process, college students completed a four-category attachment-style measure and several religiosity measures at Time 1; a subsample also completed identical religiosity measures about 4 months later (Time 2). Analysis of Time 1 data (N= 1,126) extended previous findings by demonstrating that positive mental models of both self and others were related cross-sectionally to positive images of God and perceived relationships with God. Longitudinal analyses (N = 297) revealed that positive religious change over time was predicted by negative models of self and positive models of others. Discussion focuses on the dynamics of religious belief and change as a function of psychological attachment processes.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ainsworth, M.D.S. (1985). Attachments across the life span. Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 61, 792-812.
2.
Ainsworth, M.D.S. , Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
3.
Argyle, M. , & Beit-Hallahmi, B. (1975). The social psychology of religion. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
4.
Bartholomew, K. (1990). Avoidance of intimacy: An attachment perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 147-178.
5.
Bartholomew, K. , & Horowitz, L. M. (1991). Attachment styles in young adults: A test of a four-category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 226-244.
6.
Benson, P. , & Spilka, B. (1973). God image as a function of self-esteem and locus of control. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 12, 297-310.
7.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books.
8.
Bretherton, I. (1985). Attachment theory: Retrospect and prospect. In I. Bretherton & E. Waters (Eds.), Growing points in attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 50 (1-2, Serial No. 209), 3-35.
9.
Bretherton, I. (1987). New perspectives on attachment relations: Security, communication, and internal working models. In J. D. Osofsky (Ed.), Handbook of infant development (2nd ed., pp. 1061-1100). New York: John Wiley.
10.
Carpenter, E. M. , & Kirkpatrick, L. A. (1996). Attachment style and presence of a romantic partner as moderators of psycho physiological responses to a stressful laboratory situation. Personal Relationships, 3, 351-367.
11.
Cassidy, J. , & Shaver, P. R. (in press). Handbook of attachment theory and a research. New York: Guilford.
12.
Collins, N. L. , & Read, S.J. (1990). Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 644-663.
13.
Deutsch, A. (1975). Observations of a sidewalk ashram. Archives of General Psychiatry, 32, 166-175.
14.
Feeney, B. C. , & Kirkpatrick, L. A. (1996). The effects of adult attachment and presence of romantic partners on physiological responses to stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 255-270.
15.
Feeney, J. A. , Noller, P., & Callan, V. J. (1994). Attachment style, communication and satisfaction in the early years of marriage. In D. Perlman & K. Bartholomew (Eds.), Advances in personal relationships (Vol. 5, pp. 269-308). London: Jessica Kingsley.
16.
Hazan, C. , & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511-524.
17.
Hazan, C. , & Shaver, P. R. (1994). Attachment as an organizational framework for research on close relationships. Psychological Inquiry, 5, 1-22.
18.
James, W. (1902). Varieties of religious experienceNew York: Longman.
19.
Jubis, R. (1991). An attachment-theoretical approach to understanding children's conceptions of God Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Denver, Colorado.
20.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. (1992). An attachment-theoretical approach to the psychology of religion. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion2, 3-28.
21.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. (1994). The role of attachment in religious belief and behavior. In D. Perlman & K Bartholomew (Eds.), Advances in personal relationships (Vol. 5, pp. 239-265). London: Jessica Kingsley.
22.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. (1995). Attachment and religious experience. In R. W. Hood, Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of religious experience: Theory and practice (pp. 446-475). Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press.
23.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. (1997). A longitudinal study of changes in religious belief and behavior as a function of individual differences in adult attachment style. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 36, 207-217.
24.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. (in press). Attachment and religious representations and behavior. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment theory and research. New York: Guilford.
25.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. , & Davis, K. E. (1994). Attachment style, gender, and relationship stability: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 502-512.
26.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. , & Hazan, C. (1994). Attachment styles and close relationships: A four-year prospective study. Personal Relationships, 1, 123-142.
27.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. , & Shaver, P. R. (1990). Attachment theory and religion: Childhood attachments, religious beliefs, and conversion. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 29, 315-334.
28.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. , & Shaver, P. R. (1992). An attachment-theoretical approach to romantic love and religious belief. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 266-275.
29.
Pargament, K. I. , Ensing, D. S., Falgout, K., Olsen, H., Reilly, B., Van Haitsma, K., & Warren, R. (1990). God help me (I): Religious coping efforts as predictors of the outcomes to significant negative life events. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 793-824.
30.
Pargament, K. I. , & Park, C. L. (1995). Merely a defense? The variety of religious means and ends. Journal of Social Issue, 51(2), 13-32.
31.
Parkes, C. M. (1972). Bereavement: Studies of grief in adult life. New York: International Universities Press.
32.
Shaver, P. R. , & Hazan, C. (1993). Adult romantic attachment Theory and evidence. In D. Perlman & W. Jones (Eds.), Advances in personal relationships (Vol. 4, pp. 29-70). London: Jessica Kingsley.
33.
Shaver, P. R. , Hazan, C., & Bradshaw, D. (1988). Love as attachment: The integration of three behavioral systems. In R. J. Stemnberg & M. L. Barnes (Eds.), The psychology of love (pp. 68-99). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
34.
Simpson, J. A. , Rholes, W. S., & Nelligan, J. S. (1992). Support seeking and support giving within couples in an anxiety-provoking situation: The role of attachment styles. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 434-446.
35.
Skolnick, A. (1986). Early attachment and personal relationships across the life course. Life Span Development and Behavior, 7, 173-206.
36.
Sroufe, L. A. , & Waters, E. (1977). Attachment as an organizational construct. Child Development, 48, 1184-1199.
37.
Strahan, B. J. (1991). Parents, religion, and interpersonal orientation: An attachment theory perspective Unpublished master's thesis, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California.
38.
Ullman, C. (1989). The transformed self The psychology of religious conversion. New York: Plenum.
39.
Weiss, R. S. (1973). Loneliness: The experience of emotional and social isolation. Cambridge: MIT Press.
