Differentiated Styles of Attachment to God and Varying Religious Coping Efforts

Abstract

The Attachment to God Inventory (AGI) and Religious Coping Activities Scale (RCAS) were given to 159 church-going adults. A median split using AGI Avoidance and Anxiety scales divided participants into Secure (24.46%), Dismissing (20.14%), Preoccupied (25.18%), and Fearful (30.22%) styles. These four groups were analyzed in relation to the six scales of the RCAS. Results indicated that Secure and Preoccupied used more Christian activities and ideas in coping. Secure also scored higher on religious avoidance, turning to religion to avoid problems. Dismissing focused more on good works and also avoided any sense of pleading. Fearful showed greater anger and doubt toward God. The only scale that failed to show a difference was the scale which represents the notion of using the church and pastor as a means of support. One can see that religious adults have differing attachment styles and vary in their use of religion to cope with life experiences.

Attachment to God, Psychological Need Satisfaction, and Psychological Well-Being among Christians

“…Both secure and insecure styles of attachment to God have been reported amongst Christian believers (Beck & McDonald, 2004;Belavich & Pargament, 2002;Rowatt & Kirkpatrick, 2002), and just as adult attachment styles are differentially associated with psychological well-being so too are styles of attachment to God. Thus, secure attachment to God is associated with positive religious coping including accessing God as a source of strength, engaging in good deeds, and displaying fewer expressions of discontent with, or blame of, God (Cooper, Bruce, Harman, & Boccaccini, 2009). Secure attachment to God is also associated with reduced psychological symptoms (Limke & Mayfield, 2011) and greater life satisfaction (Kirkpatrick & Shaver, 1990), although life satisfaction may not be associated uniquely with attachment to God after the effects of self-esteem and experiential representations of God are considered (Zahl & Gibson, 2012).…”

“…Support for this model of attachment is provided by research demonstrating that secure attachment to God is associated with seeking God in times of stress or danger, and subsequently experiencing a sense of protection by God. For example, people reporting a secure attachment to God were more likely to turn to God in times of stress and to use spiritually-based coping strategies than those with insecure attachment to God (Cooper et al, 2009). Secure attachment to God also buffers the relationship between stress and lowered life satisfaction (Wei et al, 2012), suggesting that securely attached believers experience protection by God.…”

Attachment to God: Differentiating the Contributions of Fathers and Mothers Using the Experiences in Parental Relationships Scale

“…In fact, attachments to God predict psychological well-being even after controlling for individuals' attachments to their primary caregivers (Miner, 2009). Similarly, research has suggested that styles of attachment to God are associated with the use of religious activities to cope with life experiences (Cooper, Bruce, Harman, & Boccaccini, 2009).…”

The Relationship between Transformational Leadership Behavior, Adult Attachment, and God Attachment

“…Responses to each item are evaluated on a 7-point Likert scale where 1 indicates “strongly disagree” and 7 indicates “strongly agree.” Questions on the AGI anxiety scale include “I often worry about whether God is pleased with me” and questions on the AGI avoidance scale include such items as “I prefer not to depend too much on God”). The scales reflect good reliability where Cronbach’s alpha (α) for AGI anxiety = .84 - .89 and the Cronbach’s α for AGI avoidance = .82 -.88 (Beck, 2006; Beck & McDonald, 2004; Cooper, Bruce, Harman, & Boccaccini, 2009). The internal consistency of both AGI subscales for this study was acceptable (AGI anxiety Cronbach’s α = .92 and AGI avoidance Cronbach’s α = .83).…”