Attachment theory and psychology of religion

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Attachment theory and psychology of religion research explores the ways that a belief in God can fulfill the criteria of an attachment figure and examines how individual differences in attachment lead to correspondence or compensation pathways.

God the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism

In monotheistic thought, God is conceived of as the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith. God is usually conceived as being omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (all-present) and as having an eternal and necessary existence. These attributes are used either in way of analogy or are taken literally. God is most often held to be incorporeal (immaterial). Incorporeality and corporeality of God are related to conceptions of transcendence and immanence of God, with positions of synthesis such as the "immanent transcendence".

Contents

Introduction to attachment theory

Attachment theory began with evolutionary psychologist John Bowlby in 1969. Attachment theory was initially grounded in the observation that human beings appear to be born with an innate psychobiological system (the "attachment behavioral system") that motivates them to seek proximity to significant others (attachment figures). [1] This revolutionary theory has found application in topics such as friendships, romantic relationships, coping with stress, loneliness and grief. [2]

Attachment theory dynamics of long-term relationships between humans

Attachment theory is a psychological model attempting to describe the dynamics of long-term and short-term interpersonal relationships between humans. "Attachment theory is not formulated as a general theory of relationships; it addresses only a specific facet": how human beings respond in relationships when hurt, separated from loved ones, or perceiving a threat.

John Bowlby British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst

Edward John Mostyn Bowlby, CBE, FRCP, FRCPsych was a British psychologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, notable for his interest in child development and for his pioneering work in attachment theory. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Bowlby as the 49th most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Bowlby described an attachment system as an evolved behavioral system in humans and other primates, which was designed by natural selection to maintain proximity between people and their attachment figures. He postulated that the attachment system is in line with control systems theory, a goal-corrected, or homeostatic system. The system monitors proximity to the primary caregiver, friends, [3] pets, [4] romantic partners and compares it to the desired level of proximity. If the attachment figure is regarded as unavailable or not near enough, attachment behaviors are activated and deactivated when the attachment figure becomes sufficient. [2]

On the "flip side" of attachment is the exploration system. When the exploration system is activated, the attachment system is deactivated. While the attachment system keeps the primary caregiver, adult romantic partner, pets or friends in close proximity, the exploration system allows for acquiring and practicing new skills while exploring the environment. [1] These two functions are crucial in defining and distinguishing attachment relationships from other types of interpersonal relationships. Insecurely attached individuals either defensively minimize closeness seeking behaviors or maximize behaviors to become closer to attachment figure. [1] These two behaviors can be conceptualized as avoidant attachment (the extent to which a person distrusts attachment figure and strives to maintain behavioral independence and emotional distance) and anxious attachment (the degree to which a person worries that an attachment figure will not be available partly because the anxiously attached person doubts his or her own lovability and value). [1]

God as an attachment figure

Psychoanalysis has a long history of conceptualizing religious belief in terms of relationship between the self and others. [2] A religious believer's perception that they have a relationship with a deity or God leaves open the question of whether such a relationship is an attachment relation. It is easy to draw analogies between beliefs about God and mental models of attachment figures, but it is a difficult distinction to make that God "really" can be an attachment figure. [2] In addition, research has shown that adult attachments and attachment to God are fundamentally distinct phenomenon, for instance Simon and Low (2003). [5] Kirkpatrick suggests that for many people in many religions, the attachment system is fundamentally involved in their thinking, beliefs, and reasoning about God and their relationship to God. According to this theory our knowledge of how attachment processes work in non-religious relationships should prove useful in understanding the ways in which people see God and interact with God. [2]

Psychoanalysis psychological theory that was founded in 1890 by the Viennese neurologist Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalysis is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques related to the study of the unconscious mind, which together form a method of treatment for mental-health disorders. The discipline was established in the early 1890s by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud and stemmed partly from the clinical work of Josef Breuer and others. Psychoanalysis was later developed in different directions, mostly by students of Freud such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav Jung, and by neo-Freudians such as Erich Fromm, Karen Horney and Harry Stack Sullivan. Freud retained the term psychoanalysis for his own school of thought.

Seeking and maintaining proximity to God

One biological function of the attachment system, according to Bowlby, [6] is to maintain proximity between a person and an attachment figure. Religions provide many ways that believers can maintain closeness to God. Most theistic traditions describe God as being omnipresent, that is, is all places at all times, and while this is a key aspect of religion that creates closeness to God it is not the only way. Virtually all religions have a place or building in which believers come to worship and be closer to their deity or God. Within these places of worship, as well as outside of them, there is an array of idols and symbols; such as artwork, jewelry, and images of crosses that serve to remind believers of God's closeness. [7] Granqvist and Kirkpatrick suggest that prayer is the most important way that believers maintain proximity to God. [7]

Prayer invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity

Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards God or gods, a deceased ancestor, or a saint. More generally, prayer can also have the purpose of thanksgiving or praise, and in comparative religion is closely associated with more abstract forms of meditation and with charms or spells.

God as haven of safety

Another function of the attachment system, according to Bowlby, [6] is the attachment figure serving as a haven of safety in times of danger or threat. Bowlby [6] also described three situations that activate the attachment behaviors: (1) frightening or alarming environmental events; (2) illness, injury or fatigue; and (3) separation or threat of separation from attachment figure. [7]

God as secure base

A "secure base" provides security for exploration in one's environment. [7] By most definitions God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. Bowlby [6] described a secure base and its psychological effects as this, "When an individual is confident that an attachment figure will be available to him whenever he desires it, that person will be much less prone to either intense or chronic fear than will an individual who for any reason has no such confidence." It is easy to see how God would be the most secure of secure bases. [7]

In religious scripture God is often described as by one's side, one's rock and fortress, one's strength, and many other terms that reflect an attachment relationship. Research done by Myers (1992), as mentioned by Granqvist and Kirkpatrick, [7] on the psychological outcomes associated with "attachment to God" (such as religious faith giving believers a sense of optimism and hope for the future) suggest that at least some forms of religiousness are associated with the kind of confident, self-assured approach to life that a secure base is thought to provide.

Responses to separation and loss

Ainsworth (1985), as mentioned by Granqvist and Kirkpatrick, [7] outlines the fourth and fifth defining criteria of attachment as concern responses to separation from, or loss of, the attachment figure per se: The threat of separation causes anxiety in the attached person, and loss of the attachment figure causes grief. Because of God's perceived omnipresence, it is difficult to determine whether God meets these criteria. A believer does not lose a relationship with God as he or she loses a human relationship. There are instances in religious life when believers are unable to experience God as they did at some point in their life. It is important to note that in most Christian belief systems, separation from God is the very essence of hell. [7]

Perceiving God as stronger and wiser

Bowlby [6] further described an "attachment relationship" as a weaker, less competent individual having another individual that he or she perceives as stronger and wiser, but this is now known to be wrong, as research has identified that adult attachments include friendships, romantic relationships and even pets [8] in which the reciprocal partner, be it human or non-human, is not necessarily perceived as stronger or wiser.

Individual differences

Individual differences in attachment security often affect the output of the attachment system in human relationships. In the same way, they often modify the effects of attachment processes in the context of believers' perceived relationships with God. [1] Two general hypotheses have been suggested and are seen as describing two distinct developmental pathways in religion—the compensation hypothesis and the correspondence hypothesis. [7]

Compensation pathway

The compensation pathway is related to the regulation of distress following experiences with insensitive caregivers. This situation describes a negative answer to the question of whether an attachment figure is sufficiently near, attentive, responsive, and approving. [1] According to the attachment theory this situation activates attachment behaviors to restore an adequate degree of proximity, but under certain condition the individual may anticipate that their efforts are unlikely to be successful. Bowlby described what is likely to happen if such a case occurs, "Whenever the natural object of attachment behavior is unavailable, the behavior can become directed towards some substitute object. Even though it is inanimate, such an object frequently appears capable of filling the role of an important, though subsidiary, attachment 'figure.' Like the principal attachment figure, the inanimate substitute is sought especially when a child is tired, ill or distressed". [6] :313

Granqvist and others [1] suggest that people should also be able to turn to God as a substitute attachment-like figure under such conditions. The compensation pathway's focus is on the degree to which experiences with insensitive caregivers and/or attachment insecurities are associated with use of God and religion to regulate attachment-related distress.

Studies on attachment and religion have been ambiguous with no clear findings. According to Hall, Fukujima and Delaney after an independent review of literature: "On the surface, it appears that the empirical literature to date presents a rather inconsistent picture." [9] The same authors in 2010 found that the compensation model was not supported, and insecure individuals high in parental insensitivity were not more religious. [9]

Hagekull and Granqvist in 2001 found that childhood insecure attachment to a mother were strongly related to holding positive beliefs about astrology, the occult, parapsychology and UFOs in a Swedish sample. [10] Since these New Age beliefs, such as parapsychology or astrology are unrelated to a personal God, these results argue against the model that insecure individuals adopt concepts involving a personal loving God to compensate for inadequate childhood relationships.

Granqvist and Kirkpatrick [11] found that people who had sudden conversions to religion not only outscored non-converts in parental insensitivity but also outscored individuals who had experienced a more gradual increase in religiousness, however, the same authors have also found that people who suddenly deconverted from a religion, such as agnostics and atheists also scored higher in childhood insecure attachments to a mother or father. [12] Similarly to insecure parental attachment, insecure romantic attachment predicts sudden religious conversions and deconversions. [1]

Correspondence pathway

Bowlby [6] suggests attachment patterns continue across time partly because the way a person sees themselves and others (internal working model) guides behavioral, emotional, and cognitive responses in social interactions over the life span. The correspondence hypothesis suggests individual differences in religious beliefs and experience should correspond with individual differences in the internal working models and attachment patterns. [1] This theory suggests a "secure" IWM of self and others predicts viewing God as supporting. A person with a preoccupied or anxious attachment may be expected to have a deeply emotional, grasping relationship with God, while a person with an avoidant attachment would be expected to view God as remote or inaccessible. [1]

The correspondence hypothesis suggests securely attached people would be expected to reflect the religious standards while insecurely attached people would not be expected to reflect their attachment figure's religious standards. [13] People who report being more cared for by parents score higher on measures of religiousness, but only if their parents also displayed high levels of religiosity. [13] Another study found that such people had a higher assessed religiosity as socially rooted in the parental relationship. This aspect of the correspondence hypothesis, that is, people reflecting attachment figure's religious standards, can be called "social correspondence". [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

Strictly speaking, psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to the diverse contents of religious traditions as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. The extraordinary range of methods and frameworks can be helpfully summed up regarding the classic distinction between the natural-scientific and human-scientific approaches: the first cluster proceeds by means of objective, quantitative, and preferably experimental procedures for testing hypotheses regarding the causal connections among the objects of one's study. In contrast, the human-scientific approach accesses the human world of experience using qualitative, phenomenological, and interpretive methods, with the goal of discerning meaningful rather than causal connections among the phenomena one seeks to understand.

Attachment disorder is a broad term intended to describe disorders of mood, behavior, and social relationships arising from a failure to form normal attachments to primary care giving figures in early childhood. Such a failure would result from unusual early experiences of neglect, abuse, abrupt separation from caregivers between 6 months and three years of age, frequent change or excessive numbers of caregivers, or lack of caregiver responsiveness to child communicative efforts resulting in a lack of basic trust. A person's attachment style is permanently established before the age of three. A problematic history of social relationships occurring after about age three may be distressing to a child, but does not result in attachment disorder.

Gratitude feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive

Gratitude, thankfulness, or gratefulness, from the Latin word gratus ‘pleasing, thankful’, is a feeling of appreciation felt by and/or similar positive response shown by the recipient of kindness, gifts, help, favors, or other types of generosity, towards the giver of such gifts.

Mary Dinsmore Ainsworth was an American-Canadian developmental psychologist known for her work in the development of the attachment theory. She designed the strange situation procedure to observe early emotional attachment between a child and its primary caregiver.

In psychology, an affectional bond is a type of attachment behavior one individual has for another individual, typically a caregiver for her or his child, in which the two partners tend to remain in proximity to one another. The term was coined and subsequently developed over the course of four decades, from the early 1940s to the late 1970s, by psychologist John Bowlby in his work on attachment theory. The core of the term affectional bond, according to Bowlby, is the attraction one individual has for another individual. The central features of the concept of affectional bonding can be traced to Bowlby's 1958 paper, "The Nature of the Child's Tie to his Mother".

Attachment in children

Attachment in children is "a biological instinct in which proximity to an attachment figure is sought when the child senses or perceives threat or discomfort. Attachment behaviour anticipates a response by the attachment figure which will remove threat or discomfort". Attachment also describes the function of availability, which is the degree to which the authoritative figure is responsive to the child's needs and shares communication with them. Childhood attachment can define characteristics that will shape the child's sense of self, their forms of emotion-regulation, and how they carry out relationships with others. Attachment is found in all mammals to some degree, especially nonhuman primates.

In psychology, the theory of attachment can be applied to adult relationships including friendships, emotional affairs, adult romantic or platonic relationships and in some cases relationships with inanimate objects. Attachment theory, initially studied in the 1960s and 1970s primarily in the context of children and parents, was extended to adult relationships in the late 1980s.

Attachment measures refer to the various procedures used to assess attachment in children and adults.

Cupboard love is a popular learning theory of the 1950s and 1960s based on the research of Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, Melanie Klein and Mary Ainsworth. Rooted in psychoanalysis, the theory speculates that attachment develops in the early stages of infancy. This process involves the mother satisfying her infant's instinctual needs, exclusively. Cupboard love theorists conclude that during infancy, our primary drive is food which leads to a secondary drive for attachment.

Maternal deprivation separating infants and young children from their mother

The term maternal deprivation is a scientific term summarising the early work of psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, John Bowlby on the effects of separating infants and young children from their mother although the effect of loss of the mother on the developing child had been considered earlier by Freud and other theorists. Bowlby's work on delinquent and affectionless children and the effects of hospital and institutional care led to his being commissioned to write the World Health Organization's report on the mental health of homeless children in post-war Europe whilst he was head of the Department for Children and Parents at the Tavistock Clinic in London after World War II. The result was the monograph Maternal Care and Mental Health published in 1951, which sets out the maternal deprivation hypothesis.

The evolutionary psychology of religion is the study of religious belief using evolutionary psychology principles. It is one approach to the psychology of religion. As with all other organs and organ functions, the brain's functional structure is argued to have a genetic basis, and is therefore subject to the effects of natural selection and evolution. Evolutionary psychologists seek to understand cognitive processes, religion in this case, by understanding the survival and reproductive functions they might serve.

History of attachment theory

Attachment theory, originating in the work of John Bowlby, is a psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory that provides a descriptive and explanatory framework for understanding interpersonal relationships between human beings.

Mary Main is an American psychologist notable for her work in the field of attachment. A Professor at the University of California Berkeley, Main is particularly known for her introduction of the 'disorganized' infant attachment classification and for development of the Adult Attachment Interview and coding system for assessing states of mind regarding attachment. This work has been described as 'revolutionary' and Main has been described as having 'unprecedented resonance and influence' in the field of psychology.

Secure attachment is classified by children who show some distress when their caregiver leaves but are able to compose themselves knowing that their caregiver will return. Children with secure attachment feel protected by their caregivers, and they know that they can depend on them to return. John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth developed a theory known as attachment theory after inadvertently studying children who were patients in a hospital at which they were working. Attachment theory explains how the parent-child relationship emerges and provides influence on subsequent behaviors and relationships. Stemming from this theory, there are four main types of attachment: secure attachment, ambivalent attachment, avoidant attachment and disorganized attachment.

Most scientists agree that religiosity is not an independent personality trait, but something that can have the effect of personality traits. Viewing religiosity through the lenses of differing personality characteristics provides a relatively empirical way to study a difficult concept. Over time, the act of being religious has been a consistent behavior across almost every culture, and thus provides evidence that our personality can help explain the seeming predisposition of religious people.

There are multiple consequences of different attachment patterns that are formed in childhood development. This article will explore the way attachment patterns are formed, how parents pass on their attachment styles, long-term consequences of attachment patterns, and cross cultural attachment patterns.

Attachment and Health is psychological model which considers how attachment theory pertains to people’s preferences and expectations for the proximity of others when faced with stress, threat, danger or pain. In 1982 the American Psychiatrist, Lawrence Kolb, noticed that patients with chronic pain displayed behaviours with their healthcare providers akin to what children might display with an attachment figure, thus marking one of the first applications of attachment theory to physical health. Development of adult attachment theory and adult attachment measures in the 1990s provided researchers with the means to apply attachment theory to health in a more systematic way. Since that time it has been used to understand variation in stress response, health outcomes and health behaviour. Ultimately, the application of attachment theory to health care may enable health care practitioners to provide more personalized medicine by creating a deeper understanding of patient distress and allowing clinicians to better meet their needs and expectations.

Internal working model of attachment is a psychological approach that attempts to describe the development of mental representations, specifically the worthiness of the self and expectations of others' reactions to the self. This model is a result of interactions with primary caregivers which become internalized, and is therefore an automatic process. John Bowlby implemented this model in his attachment theory in order to explain how infants act in accordance with these mental representations. It is an important aspect of general attachment theory.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Granqvist, P., Mikulincer, M. & Shaver, P. R. (2010). Religion as attachment: Normative processes and individual differences. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14. doi: 10.1177/1088868309348618
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kirkpatrick, L. A., (2005). Attachment, evolution, and the psychology of religion. New York: Guilford Press.
  3. ↑ ATTACHMENT AS A PREDICTOR OF FRIENDSHIP OUALITIES IN COLLEGE YOUTH by JOCELYN A. SAFERSTEIN, SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY, 2005, 33(8), 767-776
  4. ↑ Pets as safe havens and secure bases: The moderating role of pet attachment orientations, Sigal Zilcha-Manoor, Journal of Research in Personality, 2012
  5. ↑ Journal of Psychology and Theology, 2010: Adult Attachment, God, Attachment and Gender in Relation to Perceived Stress by Sarah R. Reiner
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bowlby, J. (1969/1982). Attachment and Loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Granqvist, P. & Kirkpatrick, L. A. (2008). Attachment and religious representations and behavior. In J. Cassidy, P. R. Shaver, J. Cassidy, P. R. Shaver (eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd ed.) (pp. 906–933). New York, NY US: Guilford Press.
  8. ↑ Pets as safe havens and secure bases: The moderating role of pet attachment orientations by Sigal Zilcha-Mano, Journal of Research into Personality, 2012
  9. 1 2 TODD W. HALL, Attachment to God and Implicit Spirituality, Clarifying Correspondence and Compensation Models, Journal of Psychology and Theology, 2010
  10. ↑ Personality and cognitive predictors of New Age practices and beliefs by Miguel Farias, Gordon Claridge and Mansur Lalljee, Personality and Individual Differences, 2005
  11. ↑ Granqvist, P. & Kirkpatrick, L. A. (2004). Religious conversion and perceived childhood attachment: A meta-analysis. International Journal For The Psychology Of Religion, 14(4), 223-250. doi:10.1207/s15327582ijpr1404_1
  12. ↑ Attachment, Evolution and the Psychology of Religion by Lee A. Kirkpatrick, 2005
  13. 1 2 3 Granqvist, P. (2002). Attachment and religiosity in adolescence: Cross-sectional and longitudinal evaluations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(2), 260-270. doi:10.1177/0146167202282011
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