Different Attachment Styles in Relation to Children’s Drawings of God: A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Symbols in a Dutch Sample

Abstract

The development and functioning of representations of God are complex processes, in which psychological and cultural factors mutually influence each other. Attachment is a psychological factor that can provide insights into the representation and communication of ideas and experiences regarding supernatural agents in children’s drawings and narratives. Our hypotheses: (1) Securely attached children will use more God representation-related symbols in their drawings than insecurely attached children, (2) These symbols will have a referring and self-transcending character. We explore children’s drawings of God and their accompanying narratives with regard to attachment styles. We describe our theoretical framework and discuss the research process, our use of theory and materials, and our findings. We also present a qualitative analysis of drawings by both insecurely and securely attached children, focusing on qualitative aspects of the drawings and their use of religious symbols. Secure attachment is associated with more God representation-related symbols. Other drawing aspects also relate to attachment. We compare the occurrence of attachment characterizations of relationships with God, the padding of the paper, and the use of anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic images. Finally, we focus on the concrete localization of God on the paper, and the figurative place where children imagined God to be.